Connect solar to Blue Sea system combiner

[Tomfoolery]

When it DOES cycle (which is hardly ever if you installed it right) it does draw 5 amps so that's 600 watts and that is why they have that ridiculous spec on some of the smaller units. The T1090 is the only one specially designed to fit up against the roof of the Sprinter - that saves a TON of space in the van.

I couldn't find the model you mentioned, but the N1090 only draws about 1/10th the power. 4.5A at 12VDC (56W at 12.5V) and 2.4A (30W) in night mode. And I can't hear mine run at night, either - I can hear the relay opening and closing, but not the compressor. And it, too, gets very cold, very fast. And I'm very happy with it.

https://norcold.com/product/norcold-de- ... rigerator/

https://norcold.com/product/norcold-de- ... rigerator/

Click "Technical Details" for the power specs.

[Starscream]

The standby draw is 0.015 amps so a super cheap auto start battery with a 60Ah capacity would take just over 6 months to discharge. A cheap deep cycle with 100ah capacity would take over 9 months and so on. If the switch is used for winter storage best practice is still to completely disconnect them as the parasitic draw from your system will almost certainly be 10 times the draw from the ARC.

Right, thanks. I didn't do that math, but it backs up my feeling of unconcern about the fact that my boat is wrapped for the winter and the ACR switch is still on.

[yukonbob]

The standby draw is 0.015 amps so a super cheap auto start battery with a 60Ah capacity would take just over 6 months to discharge. A cheap deep cycle with 100ah capacity would take over 9 months and so on. If the switch is used for winter storage best practice is still to completely disconnect them as the parasitic draw from your system will almost certainly be 10 times the draw from the ARC.

Right, thanks. I didn't do that math, but it backs up my feeling of unconcern about the fact that my boat is wrapped for the winter and the ACR switch is still on.

All and all, your system is hands down above and beyond 95% of the boats out there.

[1st Sail]

I thinking about options, effort, and convenience: 2yrs ago I replaced myy on board batteries with 2 group 34 Optima AGM 55Ah coupled to Perko All, 1,2 switch. So 110 Ah total @ .8 Dod yield 88ah best case + 2,200 watt genset. So batteries are fresh and stored year around on an AGM maintainer.

For extended trips I'm thinking of going the simple route with a portable 1,000 - 1,200 wh lithium power pack. Long term this appears to be more $ than an equivalent 100ah DIY install. The only negative may be the the cost differential. From what I have researched you pay $1/Wh on average under 1,000wh and $1-$1.30 /wh over 1,000wh.

DIY 110Ah Firefly $512, 100Ah LiPO Renology $900.

The portable power supply solves most of my time / installation concerns, plug and play, direct charge from 12Vdc under power, 110vac shore or genset, solar if installed. Pure sine wave Ac for powering and recharging laptops and camera. I have little use for AC as we cook with Origo cooktop stove (galley) and Magma grill (at stern, propane store at stern).

I can add a solar panel at any time. Most come with on board MPPT charge controller. http://suaoki.com/suaoki-ares-g1000-por ... 05166.html

Your thoughts?

[1st Sail]

Solar install (all parts and labor, parts only if you DIY) qualify for the IRS investment tax credit for solar on personal residences and second home of which the Mac qualifies with installed head and galley stove.

[Starscream]

Your thoughts?

I guess it depends on your power needs and what you mean by "extended" trips.

A couple of thought jump to mind, the first is: where are you going to put it? On longer trips space is in such short supply, I personally would prefer a permanently mounted solution that is out of the way. Does it fit in one of the bilge areas, or will it be moved around?

Would it take the place of your existing agm batteries, or be in addition to? Does it have the cranking amps necessary to start a cold motor?

In our experience, 100W of solar is more than we need for extended trips (for us that means a week) but we don't have AC or a fridge. That's for five people! LED lighting is very important. We have pressure water, electric flush toilet, and typical family electronics to power. Ice management is very important for us because of our lack of refrigeration.

It looks like a nice thing to have, but for our Mac usage it isn't necessary. But, of course, everyone is different.

[1st Sail]

I need to do my due diligence and calculate my power needs. We will have a fridge on board 50-60+qt. The 2 AGM's will remain. Start -1, House -2. All house, running, and anchor lights are LED. So the only major draw is the fridge. The portables are lighter and smaller overall in comparison to equivalent AGM's. I need to do the research as it seems the charge times are significantly longer and possibly limit the charge current when compared to equivalent carbon foam or LiPO systems. Then again on a small boat/solar/motor charging amps may be limited and it would not matter. The major factor for me is limited time to assemble the pieces for an additional 100ah. All things considered in respect to DIY which I am normally inclined to do the effort is the same whether you build a 100ah or 300ah system. You still pull all the wire, controllers, switches etc. Just spend more $ to up size. The plug and play intrigues me so I will report back when I do more research. I haven't found a mfg yet that rates their system in Ah, only total watts. You can do the math to convert to theoretical Ah but I don't see any real world draw down tests to confirm the batteries performance under load over a specific time period. And that makes me skeptical. There appears to be good instrumentation on the control panels to report current and voltage under load. Obviously I need to search the web for real world use tests.