Just bought my first Pop-Up Truck Camper and have some questions.

[mhbell]

I just bought a new to me Pop-up truck camper. Its a 2007 Starcraft Pine Mountain Roadstar In prima condition. I plan to put 200 watts of solar on it with a 100 amp deep cycle Lithium Lifepo4 battery. The camper has the old Elixir ELX-25 converter which is shot. I knew this when I bought the camper and because I'll be adding solar I will want to change the converter anyway to one that will fully charge the Lifepo4 battery. So far I've narrowed it dow to a PD4135 controller or a WF8735-ad controller, BUt from what I've read although they both will detect the battery type, they will only charge the lifepo4 to 80 percent . Can anyone shed some light on this or recomend a good replacement for the ELX_25 that fully supports lithium battery.
tia Mel

 

[FAW3]

Carefully assess your specific needs as far as AC & DC power requirements and the sun availability where you typically roam.

Our FWC Hawk came well optioned and included shore power & AC converter, powered roof fans, compressor refrigerator, furnace as well as a roof mounted solar panel and solar controller. We use a 100ah Lithium battery. We have no issues with just this single battery - based on our specific pattern of power usage.

Over the past 3 years we never use AC shore power. The existing solar set up, at times (shade/low sun angle) augmented with a portable panel with an extension cord covers all our power needs. The solar controller set to Li-ion fully charges the battery.

Food for thought: The factory FWC AC/DC converter will also not charge a Lithium battery to 100%...but that last 20% is easily delivered by the solar system.

Enjoy setting up your new camper. Safe and fun travels!

 

[mhbell]

Carefully assess your specific needs as far as AC & DC power requirements and the sun availability where you typically roam.

Our FWC Hawk came well optioned and included shore power & AC converter, powered roof fans, compressor refrigerator, furnace as well as a roof mounted solar panel and solar controller. We use a 100ah Lithium battery. We have no issues with just this single battery - based on our specific pattern of power usage.

Over the past 3 years we never use AC shore power. The existing solar set up, at times (shade/low sun angle) augmented with a portable panel with an extension cord covers all our power needs. The solar controller set to Li-ion fully charges the battery.

Food for thought: The factory FWC AC/DC converter will also not charge a Lithium battery to 100%...but that last 20% is easily delivered by the solar system.

Enjoy setting up your new camper. Safe and fun travels!

Thank You Faw3 for the valuable info. I still need to get a Converter as the ELX-25 is toast along with the lead acid battery. It was this way when I bought it. any recommendations for a converter panel. I only need 4 dc fused circuits and 2 ac circuit breakers

 

[Dave in AZ]

I just bought a new to me Pop-up truck camper. Its a 2007 Starcraft Pine Mountain Roadstar In prima condition. I plan to put 200 watts of solar on it with a 100 amp deep cycle Lithium Lifepo4 battery. The camper has the old Elixir ELX-25 converter which is shot. I knew this when I bought the camper and because I'll be adding solar I will want to change the converter anyway to one that will fully charge the Lifepo4 battery. So far I've narrowed it dow to a PD4135 controller or a WF8735-ad controller, BUt from what I've read although they both will detect the battery type, they will only charge the lifepo4 to 80 percent . Can anyone shed some light on this or recomend a good replacement for the ELX_25 that fully supports lithium battery.
tia Mel

Here, I think this rough Energy Audit for truck popup camping might be a good start to help! I posted it this week.

Power Required, Truck/Car camping

To determine what size powerstation or 2nd battery system you need for your camping or overlanding, the first thing required is to do an "energy audit" to figure out daily use, for both peak dc watts, 120Vac watts, and total Watt-hrs used for battery sizing. How you will recharge will determine...

forum.expeditionportal.com

 

[dstefan]

Beyond the good comments already given here, I’d suggest that you think about what kind of things you want to power. Initially, I was swayed a bit by all the talk about inverters and put in a small Victron 500 watt inverter, which I fairly quickly took out as the weight wasn’t needed and I never really used it. That’s due to really wanting to have the lightest, minimalist but comfortable camper I could manage.

As a consequence, I have nothing that I use routinely that needs 120v AC. More and more you can use nothing but 12v DC, if you want. Depends on your style of camping and whether you have to have a microwave, or an induction plate or a electronic kettle, etc. Nothing wrong with any of that it’s just a different approach.

Some of this decision also involves your other fuel sources. I am used to propane, had the stove setup already, had a small 5lb tanks, can’t stand diesel fuel (for a heater) and drive a gas truck in the US. So pretty easy decision to be 12v exclusively. I can plug in to a 120v source if needed for my fridge and can even use my Victron Blue Smart charger as a 12v power supply/converter if I plan to be in powered places, but I never have and don’t even bring it with me.

I also don’t use solar, though I have a 100 watt portable panel which I have used early on. My 100AH LiFePo battery is solely charged via a 25 amp DCDC National Luna charger (which also includes an MPPT solar controller for when I think I need a solar top up if I’m gonna be stationary for more than 5 days, which is the max I’ve gone with out charging the battery while camping).

It’s all horses for courses and depends on how you know you want to travel and camp. I’m not suffering at all; it seems pretty lux compared to what I did for decades up to 4 years ago. I have heat, can cook, run my fridge in any weather, plenty of lights, charge my and my wifes devices (6 total plus my camera) ,[edit: also run a 12v heating pad for my bad back, a 12v electric blanket, run a WeBoost] etc. I never worry about my power needs as 4 to 5 days is the max I can stand to be in one place anyway.

YMMV! Have fun!

 

[mhbell]

I installed the Progressive Dynamics PD4135 which has a switch for the lifepo4 battery. It will supply a constant voltage to the battery when the switch is on. No 3 or 4 stage charging. Since I will only be using the camper mostly during the summertime for fishing or traveling I don't need a lot of extras and the 200 watts of solar should be ample without the added DC to DC controller or the extra heavy wiring from my truck or a battery isolator. Basically the only electrical from my truck will be for the clearance lights on the camper which is required in most states while driving at night. The fridge can operate on propane for at least a week or more, without worrying about propane. I will be installing LED interior lights so basically the current draw on the lifepo4 battery will almost be negligible. I've installed several Solar systems on Several rv's over the past 5 years. here is a link to my converter install. CLICK HERE
Mel