Need the solar/power pros to weigh in

[DaveInDenver]

With this type Perko.
Be careful, While it wont mate in reverse polarity, if fiddling with it, its pins can make contact reversed.

Fwiw, Thought I would try these plastic circular connectors on a floodlight project.
They not arrived yet. So far, no comment on their quality. But I think I used them before on import machine. Aside from a bit of flash left on its moulding, I thought were good quality.

Did they include the sweet ball cap?

 

[shade]

Did they include the sweet ball cap?

View attachment 539773

They have a full list of ****** options. Looks like the kind of stuff I'd buy for $1 at the thrift store and wear to bother people.

 

[DaveInDenver]

They have a full list of ****** options. Looks like the kind of stuff I'd buy for $1 at the thrift store and wear to bother people.

Just thought it was funny. Guessing it's targeted advertising.

 

[shade]

Yeah, I saw that. Maybe I'm wrong, but The Town Butler appears to be selling their wares with all of those odd phrases on them, not just using them for demo shots.

 

[TantoTrailers]

Fridge arrived, fit is awesome. Im a noise princess so the compressor running is a bit more noise than I was hoping for so I may be in the "fridge off at night" camp. I hooked it up to my Watt meter and with just the fridge running I was pulling a max of 37W and it averaged out around 30W while running feom 74f to 34f.

I get my second Aims Power 120w foldable tomorrow so I will get a chance to test my 240w series setup. I think I should be good with that.

Need to determine if the thermal cover is helpful in the galley or not on the fridge.

 

[TantoTrailers]

Got my wiring all redone for the solar. 12/2 landscape wire + Anderson PowerPole connectors as recommended! Too bad I finished too late to test today. Excited to finally be "done" with this part. Packs down really small too!

 

[luthj]

The Renogy manual for that charge controller says to allow for good ventilation around the vent areas. I think that box is going to severely limit cooling air (even when open).

 

[TantoTrailers]

Heat is one of my concerns and I will be monitoring it closely during the first few tests in the field. The unit itself doesn’t have any vents or fans or openings for airflow. There is a heatsink on the back.

 

[shade]

Heat is one of my concerns and I will be monitoring it closely during the first few tests in the field. The unit itself doesn’t have any vents or fans or openings for airflow. There is a heatsink on the back.

It isn't seeing much air flow in the case. That may have been a factor in your test results being only half the panel ratings. Try popping it out of the case and standing it upright so air can be directed over the heatsink as designed. You may be pleasantly surprised with a bump in output.

 

[dreadlocks]

Can you mount it to the lid part? ie, flip it and reverse it.. <record scratch> and make the recess the lid and the flat part the mounting.

Like your powerpole job, thats how I did my solar.. vinyl sleeves + marine shrink..

 

[luthj]

Can you put it on a hinge with a spring to make it pop up when open? Say 30-45 degrees? A very thin centrifugal blower (think laptop fan) could possibly fit next to it to circulate some air.

 

[TantoTrailers]

It’s a tight fit so it’s basically just sitting in the box, I refrained from permanent mounting once I read the note about airflow in the manual when I first got all this stuff. Can it really get that hot with the gear I am using (I ask because I seriously don’t know first hand)? It never felt warm to the touch and those tests were within a minute of turning on the system, I never ran the panels very long, not more than 10 mins. I have the opposite wall of my galley fully free of any equipment so I can easily permanently mount it in there if things make it necessary to do so.

 

[TantoTrailers]

What if I cut out the entire back of the case minus a small rim to hold the unit in place? It’s not really for protection but to contain the unit nicely with a handle and something I can lock to my rig if necessary. I could also cut out some vent holes in the front.

 

[shade]

I'd test it before changing anything.

At mid-day, let it run for an hour in the box, record the output, remove it from the box, and see what happens over the next hour.

 

[TantoTrailers]

Cool I will do some testing. I do not intend on running anything on the load terminals of this controller, strictly charging. My AMG is getting shore charge in the garage now so it won’t be useful for testing and my sonar battery will likely be close to full after an hour. That’s my only battery sources right now so I’m not sure how to perform an isolated 2 hour test session. It is my understanding that as the battery gets closer to full it requires less power from the panels? If true then charging the same battery after hour 1 outside of the box may not be a true test since the battery may be pulling less then anyway? I’m so new to this sorry guys. Ideally I would have 2 separate same size batteries at equal discharge, charge one for an hour inside the box, charge the other for an hour without the box. Any other test scenarios I can setup? Maybe using the load terminals for the sake of testing? I don’t have an inverter, no need for one at this time, so what else can I connect to the load terminals?