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harryn · 05-20-2018, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrocamper

Today I was up on the roof installing the MicroAir EasyStart. The hardest part was opening the covers and putting in a hole with bushing to locOated the controller part of the hardware in the front of the a/c out of the way of everything. The wiring was simple. I put it all back together and did 5 a/c startups and verified with my infrared thermometer that the unit was putting out chilled air. I waited 10 minutes between startups. I noticed the startup of the compressor no longer makes much noise.

Once the training period was over I was ready for the inverter test. I disconnected the TT-30P from my house power. I turned on the a/c while on inverter. I watched the inverter controller panel and saw a 107% startup peak and it settled down quickly. I was pulling 115 amps from my batteries when the air conditioner compressor and fans where running. My battery voltage was at 12.7 volts after about 5 minutes. I plugged in a 60 amp Lithium battery charger and my discharge load was reduced by the 60 amps. I let the A/C run for about 15 minutes and turned it off. I turned it on 3 minutes later and the EasyStart waited a couple of minutes for the 5 minute restart delay. The compressor started up and the inverter continued to carry the load.

Once I get the 625 watts of solar on the roof plus the 180 watts on the truck I will test it again. My plan is to let the Honda EU2200 power the 60 and 30 amp Lithium chargers as needed with the excess going to the batteries. Once they are full the generator eco-throttle should kick back when the chargers only have to make up the difference between the solar output and the air conditioner inverter load.

Should work just fine. Our typical sprinter install is 100 amp-hr x 48 volt AGM pack and 420 watt solar. The air conditioning is operated the same way - except no need for an easy start.. The honda 2000 runs in eco mode.

astrocamper · 05-20-2018, 09:01 PM

Finished installing 625 watts of solar on the roof today with my wife's help. We now have a total of 805 watts of solar to use off the grid.

It was too late in the day to get a good performance test. Hope to do that tomorrow. I had good voltage off of all 3 panels but shade from the neighbors trees covered the panels before I could finish testing.

astrocamper · 05-23-2018, 09:36 AM

I figured out how to add one more 160 watt panel. I wanted to make use of the ZAMP 10 amp controller that was already installed and connected to a 20 watt panel on the air conditioner. I will use aluminum angle stock and U brackets to attach to the "luggage" rack near the rear of the roof. The added height of the rack will allow me to clear the front side of the bathroom fantastic fan vent be a bit higher to avoid the air conditioner shadow when parking the trailer facing south. I will use the ZAMP SAE wire connection already on the roof to connect to the controller. I will have the materials on hand to install it this Saturday.

This will give me 805 watts on the trailer and 180 watt on the truck camper shell.

astrocamper · 05-23-2018, 10:39 PM

Today was the first day with some sunshine I got about 2.44 KWatt*hours out of my panels today. I went on the roof tonight and noticed how dirty the panels were since we installed them on Sunday. I had a tree removed that was next to the parked trailer making it difficult to park. The pine tree left a lot of junk on the panels along with some bird junk. With the tree gone today I should be able to keep them a bit cleaner.

astrocamper · 05-27-2018, 06:50 PM

I built brackets out of aluminum angle and square stock to hook up a 160 watt panel to the luggage rack at the rear of the trailer. The square stock was used to elevate the rear of the panel to clear the bathroom fantastic fan. It also gives the panel a front facing tilt. I hooked the panel to a 20 amp inline MC4 fuse and connected it to the ZAMP SAE prewired port that goes to a ZAMP 10 amp PWM controller along with a 20 watt panel on top of the air conditioner.

I now have 805 watts on the trailer roof with 180 more watts on the truck camper shell.