Trying to set up my Cherokee to run a fridge off solar.

[65BAJA]

You have a lot of solar for a relatively small battery bank. Based on my experience with my truck, I would recommend that you consider replacing you manual switch, which you will forget to connect or disconnect, with an automatic switch, such as this one. http://www.bluesea.com/products/7620/ML-ACR_Automatic_Charging_Relay_-_12V_DC_500A

This will have the added benefit of allowing your solar kit to charge and maintain your starter batteries. You have so much solar, why waste it?

All the best!

I am thinking about a third battery. The space the batteries are sitting in, there is just enough room for a third. The box I am building for them will be built with a third in mind just in case. Three will give me 225AH total. That should be about three days of reserve (to 50% on the batteries) during bad weather.

Thanks for the suggestion on the auto switch. After killing my first yellow top I have been pretty prudent about the boat switch with these batteries. I like the K.I.S.S. principle too. If the auto switches work good though I'm always open to improving my system.

 

[65BAJA]

All done!

Lets go camping.:sombrero:

 

[65BAJA]

I sorta ran out of real estate on the board. I am going to tear it apart and redo it in a vertical orientation.

 

[CaliMobber]

I love it man. you have a system most RV would be jealous of haha. Even on a cloudy day your solar will make good amount of power.

handybob is the man! glad you did your homework. I read ever inch of his site when my friend told me about it.

 

[65BAJA]

Thanks!

The system is up and running now. The wiring layout didn't turn out as clean as I wanted it so I might redo some of it this weekend. My ARB fridge has been running off the system for a week now. It usually starts the day in the high 80 percentile for state of charge when I leave for work in the morning. It is always 100% when I get home. As a test I ran my espresso machine off the inverter one morning. It pulls ~95amps @12V. :Wow1: I pulled three shots and steamed for three minutes. The house batteries were at 74% when I was done. By the time I got home they were back up to 100%.

It's first outing will be next weekend. Going up to Loon Lake for Cantina For The Con. 3 days and nights. We will see how it does.

 

[CaliMobber]

yea my buddy has a system very simalar to yours on his trailer. main diff is he has trojan batteries. camping for a week he always had the arb fridge on, used a heated blanket every night, brewed up a small pot of coffee everyday and used the nights a bunch. even with 2 trojans drained to 50% the solar would bring them back up by around noon

 

[wrcsixeight]

Please note that when devices indicate 100% state of charge, they are wrong 99% of the time. Those with flooded batteries can test specific gravity, but AGMs are different. for example regarding 100%, my solar charge controller, when it requires less than 1 amp to hold 14.9v, it considers the battery 100%.

Now my alternator does 14.9, and after several minutes feeding a depleted battery 35 to 75 amps it will get the battery upto 14.9, at which point the solar controller limits current, below that 1 amp threshold, and now my battery monitor claims the battery is 100%, yet it might still be in the 65% range.

YOur batteries are wired in an imbalanced manner. You should have the (+) hooked to one battery and the (-) to the other battery. In your current set up the 'closer' battery will work harder than the more distant, and it will yield reduced battery life and performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBNoIOOl37I&list=UUoPqTkOluQsuu3RpGnxVwFw&index=10

 

[65BAJA]

YOur batteries are wired in an imbalanced manner. You should have the (+) hooked to one battery and the (-) to the other battery. In your current set up the 'closer' battery will work harder than the more distant, and it will yield reduced battery life and performance.

Actually I do have it wired + of Batt1 to - of Batt2.

 

[65BAJA]

Cut out a new board to mount the electronics.

 

[CaliMobber]

I know your kidding about the + on one batt to - on the other as that would give you 24v. + to the + and - to the - for 12v.

And I see your at 12.6 on meter haha

He has all high quality product and an amp flow meter. when it says 100% it will be at 100%, It monitors ever amp leaving the battery and tells you when all those amps have returned.

System still looking good buddy!

 

[65BAJA]

I have three batteries. The three batteries are all paralleled to each other. The inverter/charger - lead is connected to the - of batt 1. The charger + lead is connected to the + of Batt 3. Thusly the charger is charging across a BIG 12V bank of three batteries.

 

[CaliMobber]

ahh, ok that makes more sense. So have you just left it running continuously yet? batteries always back full each day?

 

[65BAJA]

The fridge has been plugged in for about three weeks now I think. I don't always have the solar hooked up though. Some times I plug in the inverter charger when I get home from work when I know I'm going to be driving it the next day. I only set up the solar when the Jeep is going to be sitting and I'm riding the bike instead.

I did use it to go camping last weekend. I ran my ~900watt coffee maker for 1/2 ish hour in the morning for three days and of course the fridge was plugged in the whole time. It got down to 86% one morning after running the coffee machine but by the end of the day it was back up to 100%.