I'm in the process of a pretty complete refit of my 1978 Class A motorhome. The charger has been replaced with a newer than 1978 charger/converter so at least I'm not boiling my batteries anymore, but it's only able to charge FLA batteries. Since I'm redoing most of the systems anyway, figured I'd start investigating solar, inverter/chargers, Li-Ion Batteries, etc. I need batteries anyway, so it makes sense to me to buy Li-Ion...but how much storage do I need? How do I charge them? I want to eventually be able to add solar...so I want to make sure I future proof for that...etc
I very quickly entered into an area where I don't know what I don't know and need to climb my way up the learning curve. Anyone have experience with this? I know @toximus just bought a new trailer and made sure he could boondock with it...How involved in the specification process were you?
Anyone know of some good resources to boost my learning? Google searches are giving some results, but sifting through the endless blogs from DIY'ers who might know what they're doing is getting old. I've found enough info to know I'll need to sum my expected loads for a 24 hour period, but no one really gets into how to estimate the duty cycle of their DC powered fridge...does it run for 5 hours in a 24 hour period or 20? That will affect my load, obviously. Its all an estimate anyway, so are there rules of thumb to follow? How do I design a system that is easy to add capacity to, as I go along and get a better idea of usage?
So, like most things at the beginning of the learning path, I currently have more questions than I do answers...Any help will be appreciated.
I very quickly entered into an area where I don't know what I don't know and need to climb my way up the learning curve. Anyone have experience with this? I know @toximus just bought a new trailer and made sure he could boondock with it...How involved in the specification process were you?
Anyone know of some good resources to boost my learning? Google searches are giving some results, but sifting through the endless blogs from DIY'ers who might know what they're doing is getting old. I've found enough info to know I'll need to sum my expected loads for a 24 hour period, but no one really gets into how to estimate the duty cycle of their DC powered fridge...does it run for 5 hours in a 24 hour period or 20? That will affect my load, obviously. Its all an estimate anyway, so are there rules of thumb to follow? How do I design a system that is easy to add capacity to, as I go along and get a better idea of usage?
So, like most things at the beginning of the learning path, I currently have more questions than I do answers...Any help will be appreciated.