I had settled down to some long term mooch docking at a friend’s place. In return, I was doing a bunch of chores around the place, and one major project – putting a gate up in the back so that we could share a parking pad between my RV and their cargo trailer. I also had some electrical work planned in preparation for solar upgrades. Plus, I had a few minor tweaks to the RV interior planned to fix a few annoyances. It all ended up being hit and miss. If you’re looking for travel adventures and pictures, you’ll probably want to skip to the next post, this one is all about installs and fixes!
I had decided after a winter of having a crappy house battery and only 100W of solar that I needed 200Ah of Lithium Iron Phosphate (LIF) batteries, plus a 2000W inverter to run the microwave occasionally. I was looking to add 300W more solar, enough to charge up about 50% of my capacity on a decent winter sun day. While you can never have enough solar, I decided I could live within those constraints. I could install everything but the solar panels myself. I have no problem with the wiring, but I was not going to drill holes in my roof and fish the wires to the controller myself.
So I start with the orders: 2 Ampere Time 12V 100Ah LIF batteries, a 2000W Renogy Pure Sin inverter and a 200 Amp cutoff switch. All of these will get wired in at once, leaving the solar to be hooked up to the existing 30A controller which is just enough for 400W of panels. I’m not going into all the details of why I’ve picked this – no lesson in solar sizing or installation here. I’m just giving you my experience with my choices – your choices will be different based on your needs and wants.
The waiting began, along with my continuing wait for my motorcycle. Tracking was available for all parts. The switch shipped first, seeming to indicate it might arrive soonest. But the batteries and inverter shipped shortly after and arrived sooner than the promised date. The switch kept showing as shipped; yet digging into it further at Fedex’s website, I see that it has not even been received by them. So I wait the promised three weeks for arrival then file a complaint with with Amazon, whom I ordered this through.
In the meanwhile, I was waiting to start the install, occupying myself building a pair of swing gates in the backyard for a parking spot so I could park there in the summer. Gate building was not without its own frustrations, including injuring my right arm torqueing a screw with a drill. The usual run to the hardware store every day or two for parts, and/or to return parts that didn’t work out was all part of the fun. In the end, I built gates, version 1.0. Anyone in IT knows that version is never complete and needs significant upgrades to properly work in version 2.0. My main issues are an existing post used is not strong enough, and the gates are too narrow to get equipment though at the angle needed to park on the pad. So, next year I’ll remove the weak post, moving that back enough to make a bigger second gate. Plus, a shed that is in the way should be gone, leaving even more room to park.
The old battery, fits tray!
I had come to the conclusion that my switch was not likely to arrive as the status never changed over three weeks and then another week waiting for the vendor to respond to my query. So, off I went to build the system without the switch. That is not ideal, I am forced to connect live wires, even in 12V that is not my preferred method. Taking out the old battery, the first thing I notice is that the LIF battery is just slightly longer than the old lead acid, in fact too long to fit in the tray provided in the battery compartment. So, my first project was to build a retaining brace that both batteries will sit behind in the box. Fortunately, the batteries both fit in the box! Getting all the wires together connected to the batteries was a challenge. It is not the neatest install. but everything went together.
While I was adding the batteries, I added the connections for the inverter at the same time. The leads are not long, so my choice inside the RV where to mount the inverter was limited. But I sacrificed a bit of storage space behind my dinette couch, taking an extension cord and snaking it under the couch around to be close to where the microwave is. That is my main use for this inverter, I will still use the small 130W inverter when I just need to charge small stuff. A small inverter is more efficient for small loads compared to a big one, That is a tip for you if you are trying to save power.
After a microwave test, I was satisfied the inverter would do the trick with the new batteries. But the solar was a complete fail. Places would not return my calls, and those that did quote ridiculous prices and timelines for installs for November, this being July still when I started calling! So for all the good work, my inverter will not get much use. As a rough guide, five minutes of microwave use would be an hour of recharging with my one solar panel, I really need that upgrade. It will happen, but when I’m in the south USA instead.
New brace above the water tank, but it doesn’t help with the hinge just under the table where the foot comes up
There were other fix projects. My dining table is one of those swivel and move in any direction arm things. The attachment point to the RV couch was fine, but the couch frame can’t take the stresses without moving quite a bit. I took the thing apart and added a good 2×4 re-enforcement to the back wall. That helped make things a bit more firm. The unit is also quite fragile at the hinge points. If you tighten the hinge too much you will do damage. The swing arm means the hinges also carry more weight like any fulcrum on the short side would. So now I’m using an extension handle meant for a squeegee as a leg to help prop up the table and take the weight off of it. The hinge is already damaged enough that the table sags unless I tighten the hinge more than I should. A more permanent fix will happen someday.
My shower had towel racks that were scraping the door frame – needed some spacers installed to keep them away from the frame. It was a bad install to start with, but not worth moving when the spacers do the job just fine. My oven burner rack has flown off the stove several times now while traveling rough roads, thanks to a lack of rubber feet and pins on the rack to keep it in place while travelling. The pins are threaded at the rack end, so a bunch of digging later in my late Dad’s parts box and I had screwed in some small bolts that now act as pins, adding some new feet to cushion the rack against the metal of the stove. That is solid and should be a permanent fix.
My one fail in fixes for the summer was the one I thought would be easiest – fix my squeaking screen door! The squeaking had started over the winter. A bit of WD40 fixed the problem for a few days, then did nothing thereafter. I tried various lithium greases, but nothing worked. Even the internet suggested the best fix was to get rid of the friction hinge that was causing the squeak. That was a bit radical for me, so I lived with the very annoying screen door squeak. There is no sneaking out of my RV in the morning, everyone within 100 metres will know I have opened the door.
So with all that, visiting with my friend, and doing chores for them it was a busy summer. There was not much in terms of pictures or blogging. It would seem I need to be out on my own to actually get work on my ‘art’. But you’re probably bored reading about my summer DYI. Next time, there will be more pictures, and some adventures at least. The summer will end soon enough, and the motorcycle will arrive someday!
