Building fresh (budget)

[RC413]

I have had great luck with my current system! Hoping for the same with the next...

Current system: 2000 Dodge Caravan HD OEM style battery under hood, Yellow top in the back, ignition powered relay to connect. Fused for safety on both ends, otherwise zero monitoring or other features. Rear battery powers 12v outlets and usb outlets. Used to run fantastic fan and charge phones, cameras, lights... Has been flawless for 4 years now.

New Plans...

2005 Chevy Express chassis, 140 amp alternator, all OE now... Have 2 100ah AGM batterys for the back and probably throw the yellow top from the old van in as the stater battery for now. New needs. Roof mounted Max Air fan, interior portable fantastic fan, Dometic CFX65DZ, same phone/light/camera as old van, minor interior led lighting. I want to keep all the rear stuff separate from the starter battery on this as well. (sleep better knowing that if I screw up and kill the rear batterys I can still stray the truck in the am...)Longest trips are less than 30 days and 90%+ include driving every day...


1. Any reason I should not keep using the relay based system from the old van...?

2. Is going with a solar controller and 2 100w flexible (stick on the roof) panels from amazon worth it?

3. For the times possible, and when sitting at home I plan or a battery charger/maintainer to keep the rears good to go.



Thanks for any help/real world experience.

Ross

 

[brianjwilson]

The flexible solar panels don't last. I had 3 of them, and a lot of forum members used them on four wheel campers. After a year or so most of them seem to have failed and finally got recalled. They were great for a while. Super low profile and light weight. But they were heat and cool and expand, get wavy on the surface and have internal wire breaks.

Stick with a traditional glass panel. They are heavier but much more reliable.

Solar is great regardless. The ignition based relay is perfectly fine for bulk charging and the solar can top off and maintain the batteries. Great solution it you want to keep it cheap and simple.

If you felt like spending a little more, you could go with something like a blue sea automatic charging relay as many of us have and the solar panels will also charge the starting battery. When there is a charging voltage from either side (plug in battery charger, solar controller or alternator) it will connect and charge both battery banks.

Another option is of course a ctek d250s which is an automatic 20 amp battery to battery charger (multistage charging so it can actually top off the batteries) and also functions as a solar controller. One simple unit to handle it all, very simple wiring.

 

[RC413]

Blue Sea ACR 500amp looks like the way to go, even trying to K.I.S.S. The manual disconnect switch would be a nice feature if needed.

No complications having solar going while engine running? I assume not with a decent solar controller...

As far as solar goes, I was hoping to keep the roof profile to a minimum with the slimline "flexible" solar panels glued down. Had anyone had any real world luck with them working or are they mostly cheap China crap?

Solar controllers are new to me. No real plans to have more than 2-300w of panel EVER, just looking for something that can accommodate AGM batterys and not waste energy.

Thanks for the input guys. Glad my old settup worked as well as it did, and didnt get laughed at too hard here...

Ross

 

[DRLexpress]

Thanks for starting this thread. I was wondering where are you going to tie into your power system. I am just starting to plan a dual battery system for my 2004 Express. It has from the factory a second fuse box under the drivers seat that is powered through a 125amp fuse in the main fuse box under the hood. It appears that the second fuse box powers all the options that I don't have, no power windows, door locks, rear A/C, etc. I am planning to tie in to that supply and put the isolation relay under the seat or beside the house battery 3' or 4' away. I like K.I.S.S. I know some say put the relay close to the main battery but I don't see why this would not work.

Doug

 

[RC413]

Thanks for starting this thread. I was wondering where are you going to tie into your power system. I am just starting to plan a dual battery system for my 2004 Express. It has from the factory a second fuse box under the drivers seat that is powered through a 125amp fuse in the main fuse box under the hood. It appears that the second fuse box powers all the options that I don't have, no power windows, door locks, rear A/C, etc. I am planning to tie in to that supply and put the isolation relay under the seat or beside the house battery 3' or 4' away. I like K.I.S.S. I know some say put the relay close to the main battery but I don't see why this would not work.

Doug

Good ideas, ha!

I am planning on tying in at the alternator and main battery for the rear system, for no other reason than thats what I have done before...

I have the same fuse box and the same lack of features. I am planning an overhead power station for my gps, phone chargers, and misc cab lighting. I saw the fuse box when I ripped out the floor to clean and thought it would be a great settup as a power supply, for what I need in the cab.


Thanks Ross

 

[DRLexpress]

I guess I am just more lazy than you. My way I don't have to run a big wire through the fire wall. Its already there and very little current being used.

Doug

 

[RC413]

Doug,

I agree completely with your settup. If I were to just be running a single rear battery and less load I would not hesitate to do that. My only hangup is that I have a 145amp alternator paired with 200ah of battery in the back, I am simply thinking overkill/efficient wiring to the rear. Ill be running it along the frame rail and up into the box anyway as opposed to trying to fight it through the firewall.

 

[DRLexpress]

Got ya. The other plus to your way is you could use your house battery to boost your main battery if needed.

Doug

 

[ajmaudio]

I'll second, or third, not using flexible panels. I know the profile is attractive but they just dont cut it, and arent reliable yet. Do you want to "keep tabs" on your battery condition often or prefer the solar system to just work in the background and never give it much thought?