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A 20W won't do much to keep your battery charged except while it is in storage. A group 24 battery will be about 80 amp-hours. You will need a 60W to 100W panel to keep it charged if you are using it every day.

No reason why you would need to disconnect your solar panels while driving. The regulator on your truck will not allow your batteries to be overcharged. Your solar charge controller will do the same. That is a top-notch charge controller, BTW. I have been running solar on my RVs for years...

Nice! Thanks for the pics.

It looks like a really nice camper, just waiting to be built...

The only reliable way to tell is to plug it into a MSW inverter. If it burns up the answer is no. If it runs OK the answer is yes. Of course if the answer was no, you have just wasted a bunch of money. A lot of things will run OK on MSW power. A few will burn up. ALL things will run on...

There is some (small) danger of having the inverter in the same box as a sealed battery like the Optima. It is a big danger with a flooded battery. A bigger problem is running the inverter in that small, confined space. It will overheat with any appreciable load. You could build a wall...

On my 99 TJ the width of the body end of the hinge is 2-7/8", the tailgate end is 1-3/4".

I agree those wires are too small. A rule of thumb is when using 2 wires in parallel (I assume thats what you mean by "double strands") is that the effective wire is 3 gauges bigger. Two 16 AWG wires are effectively a 13 AWG wire, and two 18 AWG wires are 15 AWG. I would recommend cutting the...

It will be better if you run the negative all the way back to the battery. The chassis is usually not that good of a conductor.

The Y connectors are all you need. Make sure your charge controller can handle 10 amps or more. No diodes necessary, and a junction box isn't needed for only 2 panels.

Those ebay connectors are 16 AWG - not big enough. These are 12 AWG, much better (scroll down to third item): http://www.solarseller.com/low_voltage_dc_pumps__lvm__teel__accessories__plugs_and_extensions.htm 10 AWG would be even better if you can find them. The wires on your solar panels with...

Check the polarity of your new batteries and wiring. Light bulbs and fans will work on either polarity (the fan runs backwards) but fluorescent lights and the furnace ignitor won't.

Sad, but true.

That is nice!!!

dwh said "(The main reason it's a bad idea to mount it on the roof is turbulence.)" Mounting this thing 2 feet above the camper roof (that is what it appears to be in the picture in TCM) is going to put it in very turbulent air. I believe him when he says it will not overcharge your battery...

You have something in common with them "I am not an engineer or an architect, ..." I think you have at least two things in common with the majority of people who design those commercially made campers.

That controller is designed to charge a battery. It needs a battery on its output to do anything. Its not like a power supply that puts out voltage whether there is a load or not. If you hook up a fully charged battery you won't see much. Try putting a load on the battery, like a brake light...

I have a 300W Samlex inverter in my camper to run my laptop and modem. It has been running fine for just over 2 years now. It does not have a remote switch however.

Yes, that is an all-electric car. I think they are seeing it as a temporary power source during power outages - sort of like what a UPS does for a computer. This would not work well for camping, but then an electric car would not work well for a camping trip anyway due to their limited range...

Now that has my attention!