Very well thought out and executed. I don't know why more companies don't offer more sufficient solar setups. In this day and age, there is no reason why at least a 1000 - 1500 watt system shouldn't be a standard option. Thanks for sharing this.
I completely agree! Most manufacturers are really slow to offer solar/batteries. I'm not sure why. It adds more cost for sure, and they'd mark it up too high, so I probably would have done it myself anyway. But there's people out there willing to pay for someone else to do it. Now that mine is fully functional I just love going camping in it!
Out of this world mods. (Chefs kiss) Deserves it’s own permanent sticky post on LOA if it isn’t already. When the energy relationship between the CT and the trailer is realized, you’re going to have a very real world case study on renewable and sustainable camping/traveling. If manufactures aren’t already taking note, they should after your proof of concept. As you know, we have the same truck and trailer with a CT reserved and the foundation you’re providing for other enthusiasts is invaluable. Thank you again and let us know if you ever open up a Patreon. Good luck and safe travels!
Thank you for the glowing review! That's a good idea to post about it on the LOA forum so I just did that and here's the post community.lanceowners.org/topic/making-our-trailer-run-completely-off-the-sun I agree with everything you said. I'm excited to be able to test the new functionality of being able to charge the tow vehicle from the trailer or vis versa. Right now we're just about at the middle point between the summer and winter solstice and today my trailer's solar produced 12 kWh. I'm charging my Model S every day from the trailer and testing how many days it takes to fully charge it, but so far in one day it can add 11% with keeping the RV battery state of charge close to the same (meaning only solar output from the day). I actually have created a Patreon account, but I haven't yet done much with it. www.patreon.com/anthonydunster
Nice work Anthony! I'm starting a project on my own trailer for a video this summer. Though I won't go as far as you did, it's helpful to see what it looks like! Great build!
@@ElectricTechAdventures 22' Keystone Passport. That's as big as I dare tow with my '78 bronco. My wife thought 1kW of panels on ours would be overkill. Wait 'til I show her your project! Plus I'm only doing 400Ah of 12v batteries. I'd like to have the option to get 220v off them for a welder or mill at the house in a pinch but the smaller inverter/chargers fit a lot better as you know. I'm sure there will be days I'll wish I had your setup!
My setup isn't for everyone, but I certainly love it! If I was to downsize my system I'd remove an inverter, and some batteries, perhaps half the batteries. I would keep all the solar panels though. It's overkill during the optimal solar season, but on suboptimal solar days it's nice to have a lot of solar panels.
Very impressive. Way, way over my head but I wouldn’t be surprised if you get many wanting you to make something similar for them. You may have found a second occupation!
Anthony: "fresh water acquisition is probably the number one thing I rely on" Also Anthony: and her you can see the condensation tube from the mini split carelessly dropping that "fresh" water on the ground..... I'm not sure how much water we'd be talking about here, but just a thought...
It depends on the climate that the HVAC system is being operated in. If we were in a really humid environment then there might be a useful amount of water to be collected and I have considered doing so. I have not yet experienced a summer season so I don't know how much water is condensed but I do intend to measure it. I don't anticipate it being very much considering we live in a dry desert climate. Regardless of the quantity we could certainly put a bucket down there and collect the water and then pour it through our Berkey to drink it. If we decided to do that I would pull the hose up into the inside of the RV and collect it there to keep it cleaner.
Hi Anthony, As we discussed over email I've actually used my RV battery+solar setup to power my home for about 40 hours during the winter storm we had last year in Texas. If you want to be able to run your hot water heater and clothes dryer: They offer heat pump models of both. My heat pump water heater pulls only 600 watts when it's running and my dryer only pulls 1,200 watts. So during our storm outage we were able to do laundry, dry clothes, take showers, etc. The heat pump models are a bit more expensive but they are worth it because 1) You get that money back in electricity savings and 2) You can continue to operate them on battery backup in an emergency. At 13:15 those battery compartments on either side of the trailer: Would the inverters fit in there? I noticed they are vented to the outside. One of the issues I have with my Victron inverters is that they produce a LOT of heat. I would love to be able to move them to a compartment that is vented to the outside like that so they don't heat up the inside of the trailer. At 16:00 I would consider adding some additional support for those brackets holding the mini-split inside unit. Given the distance from the wall that's a lot of weight that's essentially hanging on the end of a lever. It would be fine for a stationary install but when you're going down the road the inside of the trailer bounces considerably and basically goes from 0G to 2-3G of downward force over and over and over again if you're on any kind of uneven road. (I know from experience: I tried to sleep in the trailer once when someone else was driving. It was a constant loop of being tossed in the air and then pulled down into the bed so hard I couldn't even sit up.). I've also done similar mounts for some of my upgrades like the convection microwave and my residential fridge and they eventually pulled out of the wall from the stress of bouncing down the road. The main issue with the Z brackets is most of the stress is a "pull" stress. What's primarily holding all of the weight are the top screws "pulling" against your aluminum frame. So all of the weight is basically between the threads of the screws and the small amount of aluminum those threads are biting into. Over time that will add up to a lot of metal fatigue and I could see those taps into your aluminum frame eventually giving out. I would put an L bracket or a triangular bracket underneath the unit as well so that most of the weigh of the unit is "pushing" into the wall rather than pulling away from the wall. When you have a mount that "pushes" instead of pulls the weight isn't on the threads of your screws, it's spread out over the entire contact surface of the bracket and the framing of the wall behind it. What model fridge did you go with? Why didn't you go with the Furrion model that vents out the front and doesn't need any rear ventilation? (That's the model I have now) At 43:40 I would consider turning those Camco slide out supports around 180 degrees: I could see someone "forgetting" they are down before they extend the slide-out and if you turn them 180 degrees they would just fold out without doing much damage. As they are now they would cause significant damage if the slide-out was accidentally extended with them down. With almost 20 years of RV ownership under my belt I can assure you that no matter how careful you think you are... you or someone else will forget at some point. :D At 44:10 you mentioned upgrading the axles... but did you strengthen the frame? The GVWR is not usually limited by axles but rather by the frame itself (Especially the front of the frame where the weight distribution hitch adds a lot of stress and can "fold" the frame if the tongue wight is too high). Many of the RVs I've looked at have GVWR ratings that are well below the axle ratings and that's because they use light weight frames to save weight.
I intend to switch to heat pump laundry and water heating once the appliances I already have stop working. The battery compartments are not large enough for the inverters, and even if they did fit it would negate all the advantages of having them near the busbar with short wire runs. The cooling hasn't been an issue at this point. Once the heat of the summer has arrived I'll be able to conclusively determine whether additional cooling fans need to be added, or perhaps run the mini split to keep them cooler. The majority of the negative comments I've received have revolved around these devices overheating under my couch and I've yet to see any excessive heat whatsoever. Perhaps other people's experience is always with these devices being installed in closed storage compartments which have far less air to transfer heat to. I have holes pre-drilled in the Z brackets to be able to screw them into the wooden riser in 4 locations. I haven't added those screws yet, I'll look into it more. I got the Vitrifrigo DP2600IXD4-F-2 as listed in in this spreadsheet docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L2IxNuZ8ZQl3-Fey8dBsKHQH7RidaSkTDCVPGTeikKc/edit?usp=sharing because it matched the dimensions of the cavity in my trailer and it matched the 12 or 24 volt DC requirement. I searched for a long time for a DC fridge that matched the dimensions and this was the only one I found. Regarding the Camco slide supports they actually swing either direction so if they're ever forgotten it won't cause any issue. I've tested the setup by putting the slide out with the legs still down and they just stick out into the room, but they don't break anything. The frame has been strengthened around where the axles attach to it, and I bought a truck that doesn't need to use a weight distribution hitch according to the qualifications I've researched plus I've had zero indication ever needing it in all the thousands of miles of towing. I contacted Lance asking about them upgrading my axles to the 7,000 lb axles that my model of trailer started shipping with the following year after mine was manufactured and they said they'd ask their engineers and get back with me. They later emailed me back saying yes they would upgrade my axles. I'm cautious about weight in the trailer so I leave the passthrough storage empty, except for light items. I put all heavy cargo in the truck bed.
@@ElectricTechAdventures "The majority of the negative comments I've received have revolved around these devices overheating" I haven't seen these comments but I'd like to assume they aren't trying to be negative but maybe they are just sharing their own experience? Sometimes that nuance is hard to convey (and read) over text based communication. Either way in this case my concern wouldn't be the inverters themselves overheating since they look to be very well ventilated to the interior of the camper based on what I saw in your video. For me, living in Texas, anytime I'm designing a battery/inverter system one of my concerns with having the inverters inside is that running the A/C is already the largest consumer of my already precious battery power: So putting anything inside that will produce heat that I have to then burn battery power to expel that heat is always something I like to avoid whenever possible. The Victron spec sheet lists max efficiency at like 94% for these inverters but that's the absolute max: Typical operating conditions are usually less than 90% which, while still good, it still means that if you're running 2,000 watts worth of loads you're dumping about 200 watts of heat into your camper which means you have to run your mini split longer to remove that heat which means you pull more load through your inverter which dumps more heat inside... :) It would just be ideal to be able to vent that heat directly outside instead so when I saw those vented compartments my first though was "I wonder if I could fit the inverters in there". Not because I want the inverters to run cooler (They would probably run hotter outside in fact), but because I don't want that added heat inside the camper (That and the fans can get kind of loud when they do get hot and I don't want that noise inside either). For folks who live in primarily cold climates that don't have hot summers that concern is probably inverse. :D I also wouldn't worry about them overheating because Victron inverters don't really "overheat" all that often, at least not in the sense most people expect. Instead they gradually and gracefully degrade in performance. For example the 24v 3000VA MultiPlus is rated at: Cont. output power at 25ºC / 77°F: 2400 watts Cont. output power at 40ºC / 104°F: 2200 watts Cont. output power at 65ºC / 150°F: 1700 watts So you don't really start to see a significant loss in power until you get well above 100 F which I doubt you'll ever see in your trailer with the mini split right above the inverters. That power table works for both inverting and charging. So as the inverters heat up they just decrease their max output to compensate. I can watch my inverters charge at their full 140 amps when I first plug in at a campsite (Which creates a lot of heat) and as they warm up the charge rate will gradually drop to under 120 amps (Even though my Orion Jr2 BMS is still commanding 300+ amps) It's really great you were able to upgrade the axles like that. I'm currently looking to go back to a travel trailer myself and sell the motorhome and the cargo carrying capacity is definitely one of the biggest sticking points I've found in most of the trailers I'm looking at. I want to do an even bigger battery on my next RV (At least 15kWh) and finding something that can carry that weight, plus inverters, plus solar, plus a full tank of water... it's not easy.
@@JeremyAkersInAustin Most of the negative comments were from Facebook posts that I posted in Facebook groups like Victron stuff and whatnot. I imagine the vast majority of them installed their Victron gear in closed off storage compartments (since I see them post their pictures on a regular basis and that's where the installation is located). Sometimes they install cooling fans and whatnot, but that's the experience they have when they comment that I'll have inverter overheating issues. I agree about there being no problem with the inverters overheating even though they're packed in a small space under the couch. The inverters are venting into the open RV interior so there's a large volume of air to transfer heat to and there's zero overheating. I've been charging my Tesla from the RV solar output since December and as the solar production has increased heading towards the summer I've been able to put more and more into the Tesla battery daily. During the cooler weather of the winter and going into the spring the inverters and batteries have naturally stayed cool so 100% of the inverted energy has gone into the Tesla. On Saturday (May 14th) the batteries got up to 91 degrees f and I don't want them to go over 100 degrees to protect the longevity of the battery bank. See this video ruclips.net/video/7LLd_LTFWaM/видео.html They got this warm because it was in the 80's outside the trailer and fully sunny so the solar charging of the battery bank at about 2 kW was warming the battery bank plus the sun heating the interior of the trailer. I experimented with turning on the mini split to 75 degrees f and after an initial spike of power consumption from it the maintenance consumption was about 300 Watts and the battery bank temperature dropped to 84 degrees. I will likely set the mini split to 80 degrees in the future as that's the highest it'll go in cooling mode. In short yes it's less efficient to have heat introduced into the cabin from the inverters and batteries/charge controllers just to have to expel that heat with the mini split, but I appreciate having the option of active cooling to protect those same components and the efficient mini split doesn't consume all that much energy for cooling. I'm going to continue to experiment with this all summer and I'll likely make a RUclips video about it at some point, but I haven't quite decided how to frame it. I'll certainly be testing the mini split power consumption when the ambient temperature gets to 100 degrees f and I'll set the inside to something extreme like 65 degrees and I'll record a video of that. Regarding travel trailer cargo carrying capacity, most trailers are built to a minimum standard that just barely can accomplish their standard use case, and thus they try to sell to people to pull with smaller (less capable) trucks that are likely cheaper. If I had the money I'd likely do what I saw a guy did in some RUclips video where he took a high capacity gooseneck flat bed trailer and welded a travel trailer to it (after removing the travel trailer axles). Then used the extra space on the back for his jeep and had tens of thousands of pounds of cargo carrying capacity. He had huge water tanks, solar/batteries etc... It has to be pulled by a heavy duty truck no doubt, but it sure opens a whole lot of options!
Holy, holy - this is insane! I found your video from the Boondocking and Lance FB groups (we have a 1685). I upgraded my systems in a way that makes me less dependent on "shore" resources, but my electrical is nothing compared to what you have (590W of solar, and 2500W inverter / charger, shunts, etc). Also dependent on water like you, but one thing I did that you might want to consider to extend trips is having one of those sewer totes that I actually carry hooked to the bumper of the trailer (my ladder is too close to the edge of the trailer, but you could use the ladder on the 2185). When my gray water is about 2/3 full (these tanks have a 36 ga capacity), I put the tote on the bed of the truck and use a macerating pump to load it. I then take it to a dumping station, instead of having to take the whole trailer. Same thing with water, I just keep a bunch of 5 gallon tanks on the bed of the truck and use it to replenish the fresh water tanks (I'm sure you already do that, but mentioning in case you don't since you didn't mention it). This allows us to camp in the middle of nowhere for virtually forever :), Also converted my Honda generator to propane, so I can use the propane from the trailer just in case I need some additional charge (but haven't needed this much due to solar), but that's obviously not relevant for you. Well done, sir!
Thanks for the tip! We do keep additional water in the bed of the truck, but so far we've moved often enough we haven't needed to use it. I would likely get a sewer tote if we were trying to stay in one location for longer. The longest we've gone between dump stations so far is 5 days with my family and I could potentially see us wanting to stay in a really cool place longer in the future. Thanks!
At one point Missouri Wind and Solar was using wind to charge batteries and using DC replacement water heater probes to heat water as a "dump" when the wind generated electricity was in excess. I wonder if they progressed much in that as heating your water in the trailer would be a great use for your solar once the batteries were at 100%.
In a manual way I do sometimes turn on the water heater just because the batteries are filling up and I always want the solar panels to be able to produce to their maximum potential. My grand plan is to send excess electricity into the truck pulling the trailer, but alas I don't have an electric truck yet. Just today though I got to finally sit in a Cybertruck after all these years! Our local showroom is finally letting people inside. We all loved it, but alas without the 6 seat option it's not an option for us. The towing range is the next biggest bummer, then the price of course. We're just forced to continue being patient while we wait to see what Tesla does next.
Did you hold down the channel with tape? I see how you added attachment to the front rack and the rear ladder. Also is your mini split 120vac-and if it is-is it 12k btu? I did pretty much similar mods on my 5th wheel. I prefer victron phone app rather than the color screen.
The strut channel is glued to the roof with Very High Bond (VHB) tape down the 18 foot length of both sides, then the fronts are held down with four cables (two on each side) and the rear has unistrut going under the ladder for additional security. I went into more depth of how it was mounted in this video ruclips.net/video/DPY6RY9Ck28/видео.html Regarding your mini split questions, mine uses 240 volts, and I have two inverters to support that and being 240 volts it's the highest efficiency mini split I could find. It's 12k BTU heat if I remember right. I went into more details of that install in this video ruclips.net/video/Jtk6hgbz_d4/видео.html I use the phone app far more than I do the screen, mostly because I'm interacting with the phone app daily to turn the inverters on and off as I monitor the solar production and as it ramps up I turn on the inverters and my Tesla is plugged in and starts charging from the trailer throughout every sunny day. However when we're living in the trailer I use the screen far more often because it's just super convenient to look at it and instantly see the data. Also it's more convenient to record the screen with my camera than it is my cell phone while making our camping adventure videos. In short I like having both.
Hi Anthony. I have a 2019 Lance 2375 with 600 watts of solar and 300 ah of lithium batteries, but that's not why i am commenting. I have frame cracks behind the rear axle and want to know if you have more information about the reinforcement you had done. The trailer has 3500 lb axles and I'm upgrading to 4400. Thanks
That's a bummer that your frame is cracking. The reinforcement of the frame was specific to ensuring the frame hangars had a solid attachment point and to distribute the weight across a wider area of the frame than the default torsion axles attachment points. They used 6 foot long L channel metal which was thick and a strong metal alloy, but I don't remember the specifics. The L channel was at least double the thickness of the Lance frame though. They had to cut some parts out of it where there were obstructions on the Lance frame then they welded the frame hangars onto it before welding the L channel to the frame of the trailer. Then they painted the L channel black to match the frame and for rust prevention. It's been a couple years and everything is solid.
Anthony…Thank you for explaining the thought behind a very nice install. I live in Florida and to justify our upcoming install we plan to cover our 28’ long trailer with roughly about the same wattage and over the max air fans. We have a mini split as well. Are the solar panels performing to your expectations? You have a new subscriber and will forward your solar install series.
Yes the solar panels are performing well. In mid March they've peaked as high as 2,400 Watts out of a 2,650 Watt array. I'll be checking the peak wattage in June during the summer solstice to see how well they perform on a perfectly sunny day when the sun is the most overhead and that'll be in a performance video I'll make.
Yes I've tested that ability by putting a bucket under the condensate drain while we're camped and using the AC heavily. I have my results in an upcoming video while we're camped. Since we're typically in the dry desert there's not a whole lot of humidity to harvest. I've had roughly 3-9 cups of water overnight in a couple different places. One of these days I'll likely take the trailer to a more humid climate then I'll test it again.
Thanks for making and sharing this video. It is excellent and has given me much to consider. I do have a question regarding your solar setup. Rather than having that setup which appears to be compilicated, did yoi consider a solar generator instead like a bluetti or eco flow? Did you go with your option as it was less exoensive or provided more flexibility or scalability. Would love to understand the thinking behind it. Thank you.
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. A manufactured solution like a Bluetti or EcoFlow isn't a great comparison to my system as they're for different purposes in my opinion. If you just compare the Watts and wH of each system then the Bluetti or EcoFlow are more expensive per Watt of solar panels or per kWh of battery storage. I went with my solution because I can customize the components to my needs, and it's cheaper. Mine is built into my trailer and thus is always available to the trailer, but with the disadvantage that it cannot be taken out of the trailer (at least not easily) and used elsewhere like the Bluetti or EcoFlow can. I leave my system on continuously when we're camping and the solar panels are charging the batteries or powering the AC electrical demands while driving down the road. A portable ground deployed solution cannot do this. The EcoFlow Delta Pro comes with a 160 Watt solar panel and can scale up to 1,600 Watts of solar panels. I have 2,650 Watts of solar panels on my trailer. The battery capacity of the EcoFlow is 3.6 kWh but can scale up to 25 kWh. Mine is 9.6 kWh so to be equivalent you'd need 2.66 EcoFlows which quickly costs more than I spent on my batteries and is not an accurate comparison since the EcoFlow is more than just batteries. My solar panels are glass and metal and designed to remain in the sun for many decades. The suitcase solar panels for solar generators are typically flexible and lightweight and if they are left in the sun continuously they'll only last a couple years. When I'm not camping my system is still deployed gathering electrons which I pass into my electric car so my system is used year round every day. For some people a solar generator is perhaps a better option if they don't need a whole lot of electricity and or they spend a lot of time in campgrounds and only occasionally go boondocking. Or perhaps they want to use the power station not only in their RV, but in other vehicles and they want to be able to throw it into their trunk or something.
Dude, I’m a huge fan of this setup. Ideally I’d love to do the same kind of configuration with the airstream that me and my wife just purchased for full time living. We just threw a ton into renovations though so this kind of upgrade will take a couple months. All of this to also be living on the road with a cybertruck and the airstream. Did you do all the wiring yourself or did you get help or what resources did you use? I’ve got 3 100w panels on there way in and I’m thinking I’m going to attempt to do the wiring myself with the panels, a battery swap, charge controller, and inverter.
I did 100% of the installation work myself except for changing out the axles which I hired out. I did purchase some components from Continuous Resources here www.continuousresources.com?aff=78 and Matt there helped me on the phone and email with the core design making sure I had all the correct gauge of wires, fuse sizes etc... He was a huge help. I did deviate from his plans for some things like the EV charging circuit and the 12 volt busbar but those are minor modifications. He also helped me over Wifi double checking my configuration of the Victron equipment and gave me some tips there. I started communications with Matt in Dec 2020 and he helped me here and there all through the project which I completed Dec 31st 2021 which was my goal. (Barely made my goal by the skin of my teeth!) It took many hundreds of hours of learning and research to tackle this entire project. Every part of the upgrades I had to research what was the right technology to go with, what device would fit, where could I get those devices for the cheapest price etc... I watched a ton of RUclips videos about all of it too. DIYing a build like this without any prior experience is certainly not for everyone...
What is the Voc (Voltage open circuit) and what is the Isc (Current short circuit) of one of your 530watt panels? I purchased some used panels at 65 Voc only to find out lots of residential solar tops out at 50VDC and anything over that is refered to as "commercial" and so different and more expensive inverters and such.
The JA Solar JAM72S30-530/MR panels I installed have a Voc of 49.30 V. The Isc is 13.72 A. I have 4 of them (2S2P) feeding into a Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT Tr VE. Can 150V 70 amp 12/24/36/48-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth) amzn.to/3IkBNOs and the 5th solar panel is feeding into a Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100V 30 amp 12/24-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth) amzn.to/3GMycZ6
@@ElectricTechAdventures Thank you. I am really looking forward to doing my motorhome as you have done your Lance. Especially removing the original A/C. I have the same reversible fans as you except in the bathroom as mine (like yours) is not reversible. There is another guy in Utah that did his trailer similar to yours. I am not getting notifications from him either. Once I find him again I will send his link as you two are alike and doing similar projects on YT (RUclips).
@@ElectricTechAdventures Thanks for the links! I am also experimenting with grid tied micro inverters (HoyMiles HMS-2000-4t) that I "trick" to turn on using a small 12 volt pure sine wave inverter (under $50.00) making the HoyMiles think it is connected to The/a grid. It works well on my living room floor. The Enphase 7 IQ did not as it is programed to look for the Enphase Gateway before turning on. I don't know anyone with an Enphase system so I was unable to program the Enphase to turn on even when connected to my fake grid.
Yes I'd love for you to share this other channel with me. If you're subscribed to him (as it sounds like you are) you should be able to go into your list of subscriptions and peruse the list to remind yourself of which channel it is.
@@benkanobe7500 I haven't tested this, but I believe I can trick my SolarEdge grid tied inverter to turn on if I were to plus my trailer's electrical system into the house. Excess electricity would even come into my RV batteries backwards through the Victron multiplus inverters. Here's a white paper on the subject. www.victronenergy.com/live/ac_coupling:start
The factory A/C rooftop unit is a Coleman Mach 15 which is 15k BTU which consumed 1,332 Watts continuously (no variability, it's either on or off) and it was LOUD. According to the manual it's expected to pull 1,650 Watts but 1250-1331 is what I measured. My mini split is 9k BTU cooling and 12k heating. In experimenting with it this summer the mini split was plenty sufficient. I used it everyday keeping the temperature at 75 degrees F during the heat of the summer to keep the batteries cool and it averaged 400-500 Watts when the external temperature was in the 90's F. It's power consumption can exceed 1,000 Watts when it's initially cooling down the trailer. It is significantly quieter than the rooftop unit and FAR more efficient. My mini split is 33.1 SEER and the Coleman Mac 15 doesn't even publish a SEER rating so you know it's not good. The rooftop unit was 85 lb and the mini split is 110 lb (including both the inside and outside units). (The newer Coleman Mach 15 A/C plus heat pump (5,600 BTU) unit is 95 lb for comparison.) The weight of the mini split is primarily on the tongue of the trailer, so as long as the truck can handle the tongue weight it's not a huge detriment. It's lower weight than the rooftop AC, and obviously frees up rooftop space for solar panels which is important to me. In case you didn't see it I made a video specifically about mounting the mini split here ruclips.net/video/Jtk6hgbz_d4/видео.html
Very nice setup! I buddy plug is nice for many situations, however I don't think charge tesla is one of them... As they are so power hungary, the solar you have on roof is not significant enough.
Thanks, I agree it's been fantastic to go on trips in. I use the trailer to charge my Tesla Model S on a daily basis when we're not camping. It is certainly enough energy to add a useful amount of electricity to our Tesla. In fact it's able to maintain all our driving needs most of the time during the summer. In 2022 the trailer's solar panels produced 3,195 kWh of which the vast majority of that went into the Tesla. I'm planning to make a video with more details about that here on my RUclips channel once I make the time for it. My expectations for the Cybertruck are appropriate. I'm not expecting to drive around towing a 7k lbs trailer with just 2.6 kW of solar. If I'm able to tow into a remote area and at least maintain the charge I have in the truck that's a win. If I'm able to add a small amount of useful energy to the truck then that's also a win in my opinion. Given enough time it could fully fill the Cybertruck battery. In my experimentation for the last year I can charge my Model S battery fully in 5 fully sunny days in the 6 months of highest production (Apr-Sep).
your aluminum strut rack is or isn't bolted to the frame in addition to your cables and ladder clamp? I love the rack system but just wondering about the attachment to the roof and if you've had issues with either lift or downdraft from the panels.
The aluminum unistrut is not bolted or screwed directly to the roof trusses. The VHB tape, cables, unistrut bolted to side rails and under ladder unistrut have been more than enough. I've checked everything periodically and it's all as solid as when I installed it. There's zero movement of the panels while driving down the road (we don't typically exceed 70 mph) and in some camping locations it's been quite windy and still no movement. This Saturday morning my video about how I did the installation will be published here on my RUclips channel.
Thanks for the compliment! I'm considering adding tank heat pads, but as it stands right now the propane furnace is needed if it gets colder than around 20 degrees f outside. I've experimented several times this winter and I've found that around 20 degrees and the pipes inside start to freeze, even if the mini split is set to around 65 degrees inside. In that cold of weather I've only spent one night so the fresh water tank doesn't freeze due to the large amount of thermal mass. I think in order to completely get away from propane I'd have to add heat tape to all the water lines as well as heat pads to the tanks. Right now my young kids don't love camping below freezing anyway so for now we may just have to use propane if we happen to go camping when it's below 20 degrees f.
I actually rented a 2185 after watching one of your earlier videos and have been anxiously awaiting this one. All I can say is wow! This is my dream setup. I might have missed it but what are you using for hot water? The factory unit or an 12 volt tankless? I saw someone before mentioned it but I am kinda seriously interested in a contract build if you are game. Really impressive.
We're just using the same water heater that came with our trailer from the manufacturer. It can use either propane or electricity so we're just using the electric heating element. I'm not sure how a contract build would work, but it would certainly be a lot easier to do a second time with a 2185 with roof rails. The biggest potential issue is parts availability and price changes.
All materials and tools I used in the trailer electrical system retrofit are listed in this spreadsheet from the video description: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L2IxNuZ8ZQl3-Fey8dBsKHQH7RidaSkTDCVPGTeikKc/edit?usp=sharing and the fridge is on line 93.
Awesome video, we have the same trailer and we’ve been thinking about doing some similar mods! I only have a 440 watt panel which I mounted to the roof rack but the actual production has been lackluster. I’m using the same inverter but only 1 so single phase and mounted under the fridge. I ended up running a dual voltage system, I was worried about the dc-dc from 24v to 12v being a single point of failure and stuck with the slide out. Also how are you managing your tongue weight? Just loaded up for a trip with full propane I’m pushing 1200lbs.
If you're interested in more details about the parts I used for my modifications check out the google sheet linked in the description of the video. I removed all three propane tanks to reduce tongue weight and if in the off chance I have to use propane for some reason I can get the propane tank out of the bed of my truck and hook it up. I also only put light things in the passthrough storage, and honestly it's mostly empty most of the time. My tongue weight is usually around 1,100 lbs. I load as many heavy things in the back bunk beds as I can and the bikes on the bike rack help to reduce the tongue weight as well. I keep a tool kit in the RV and worst case scenario if my 24 to 12 volt converter failed I could always unbolt one of the 12 volt batteries and wire it up in the old battery bay to operate the 12 volt circuits temporarily until I get back home to replace the converter. I think I've heard that there's a manual crank for the slideout as well, but I'm unsure of how that works. I've found the cranking mechanism in the front wall of the passthrough storage area on the passenger side but I've never looked into actually using it.
How did you do this whole video without acknowledging the inevitable zombie apocalypse? Also. You need to come visit, because now I'm jealous you went to Phoenix after I left.
I generally try to keep my channel about the technology and not so much explain various reasons for wanting to have and use the technology. But yes, my goal was to make my trailer as self sufficient as possible and I've mostly achieved that. It's biggest weakness is freezing water lines/tanks and low solar yield during the winter. It's still a far better shelter in the winter than nothing, but it does potentially require some propane depending on the weather. If we decide to go camping in the winter for now I've decided to just leave the antifreeze in the water lines and keep water jugs in the cabin. I've considered heat pads on the tanks, but the lines would still freeze. I haven't decided if our use case justifies the effort to add electric heating to the water tanks. We might very well come visit you, but not likely in the RV considering the distance and the cost of gasoline right now. We're going on more local trips in the RV for now and using our Tesla for long distance trips. Once we have our Cybertruck though we'll be free of the cost of gasoline!
Which is why I checked with Lance first to verify my frame is the same as the next year 2185's which had a higher payload and that my trailer can be upgraded to 3500 lb axles before I had it done, and the people who did the axle upgrade added frame reinforcements.
@@ElectricTechAdventures smart move. Might have been good to show those reinforcements in the vid so viewers don't they they can just offset the weight of the mods by adding heavier-duty axles and being good-to-go with no other considerations. There's plenty of 5th Wheels that only have 1700-2200 carry capacity (yeah, shocking for sure) and they'd be out quite a bit of capacity with just the solar changes and a mini-split.
More trailers should come like this from the factory. More solar, more batteries, more DC powered items, composting or dry flush toilets, no black tanks, more freshwater storage and more greywater storage
@@ElectricTechAdventures I’d personally get rid of the microwave and have more storage and get rid of the TVs and sound systems. By the time you get a tv or sound system it’s already old. I’d rather have Starlink an iPad, Bluetooth speaker and a projector. Hopefully in a few years as more younger people get into the RV work the old designs will go out of style.
@@woolengrappler Our trailer came with both a microwave and a propane oven. I removed both and where the propane oven was I put in a convection microwave. It can heat food with either microwave technology, or old fashioned electric heat, or both at the same time. We've used it many times and I'm happy with it. The space where the microwave was previously is now extra storage which we mostly use for food and it works great. We use the TV and sound system and there's no advantage to removing it since it's already there. We also have Starlink which we often use to stream online content through a laptop to the TV via an HDMI cable. There aren't any large flat areas to project onto, where would you use a projector in the trailer? I agree that most RV designs appear to have an older audience in mind.
You need to learn to weld. Wood and tape to reduce bounce is not optimal. All the u-bolts and channel on top of channel looks like an erector set. Plus no one will steal something welded together due to the amount of work involved. Unbolting a few nuts is not much effort.
I have wanted to learn to weld for years and even did some welding in college but up to this point I have not had enough of a reason to justify the expense of purchasing a welder. In this case my solution has been working just fine. Considering how quickly and free this piece of wood is doing the job it is a better solution than welding for now.
Very well thought out and executed. I don't know why more companies don't offer more sufficient solar setups. In this day and age, there is no reason why at least a 1000 - 1500 watt system shouldn't be a standard option.
Thanks for sharing this.
I completely agree! Most manufacturers are really slow to offer solar/batteries. I'm not sure why. It adds more cost for sure, and they'd mark it up too high, so I probably would have done it myself anyway. But there's people out there willing to pay for someone else to do it. Now that mine is fully functional I just love going camping in it!
Out of this world mods. (Chefs kiss) Deserves it’s own permanent sticky post on LOA if it isn’t already. When the energy relationship between the CT and the trailer is realized, you’re going to have a very real world case study on renewable and sustainable camping/traveling. If manufactures aren’t already taking note, they should after your proof of concept. As you know, we have the same truck and trailer with a CT reserved and the foundation you’re providing for other enthusiasts is invaluable. Thank you again and let us know if you ever open up a Patreon. Good luck and safe travels!
Thank you for the glowing review! That's a good idea to post about it on the LOA forum so I just did that and here's the post community.lanceowners.org/topic/making-our-trailer-run-completely-off-the-sun
I agree with everything you said. I'm excited to be able to test the new functionality of being able to charge the tow vehicle from the trailer or vis versa. Right now we're just about at the middle point between the summer and winter solstice and today my trailer's solar produced 12 kWh. I'm charging my Model S every day from the trailer and testing how many days it takes to fully charge it, but so far in one day it can add 11% with keeping the RV battery state of charge close to the same (meaning only solar output from the day).
I actually have created a Patreon account, but I haven't yet done much with it. www.patreon.com/anthonydunster
Followed the LOA post and wow! So many things we’ve been contemplating (i.e. mini split) and more. Smashed the subscribe button!
Thanks for smashing that subscribe button!
@@ElectricTechAdventures lol - sorry about the cheesy turn of phrase. We old people like to think we're hip
OMG. This is an absolutely awesome trailer mod. I want to do this. You are my hero.
Haha, thanks!
Nicely done and well thought out! You'll have some good adventures with that trailer!
Thanks!
Nice work Anthony! I'm starting a project on my own trailer for a video this summer. Though I won't go as far as you did, it's helpful to see what it looks like! Great build!
Thanks! Do you also have a Lance 2185? Thanks for the feedback, and I hope you're able to make your trailer function how it works best for you!
@@ElectricTechAdventures 22' Keystone Passport. That's as big as I dare tow with my '78 bronco. My wife thought 1kW of panels on ours would be overkill. Wait 'til I show her your project! Plus I'm only doing 400Ah of 12v batteries. I'd like to have the option to get 220v off them for a welder or mill at the house in a pinch but the smaller inverter/chargers fit a lot better as you know. I'm sure there will be days I'll wish I had your setup!
My setup isn't for everyone, but I certainly love it! If I was to downsize my system I'd remove an inverter, and some batteries, perhaps half the batteries. I would keep all the solar panels though. It's overkill during the optimal solar season, but on suboptimal solar days it's nice to have a lot of solar panels.
A man with a plan I'm subscribing just to see your future projects.
First time seeing your video but I like where you're heading 👍
Awesome thanks!
Very impressive. Way, way over my head but I wouldn’t be surprised if you get many wanting you to make something similar for them. You may have found a second occupation!
Thanks! It's crossed my mind, but I don't know what I want to do yet.
congrats on this amazing mod, and thanks for sharing!
Happy Trails!
Thanks!
Anthony: "fresh water acquisition is probably the number one thing I rely on"
Also Anthony: and her you can see the condensation tube from the mini split carelessly dropping that "fresh" water on the ground.....
I'm not sure how much water we'd be talking about here, but just a thought...
It depends on the climate that the HVAC system is being operated in. If we were in a really humid environment then there might be a useful amount of water to be collected and I have considered doing so. I have not yet experienced a summer season so I don't know how much water is condensed but I do intend to measure it. I don't anticipate it being very much considering we live in a dry desert climate. Regardless of the quantity we could certainly put a bucket down there and collect the water and then pour it through our Berkey to drink it. If we decided to do that I would pull the hose up into the inside of the RV and collect it there to keep it cleaner.
Hi Anthony,
As we discussed over email I've actually used my RV battery+solar setup to power my home for about 40 hours during the winter storm we had last year in Texas.
If you want to be able to run your hot water heater and clothes dryer: They offer heat pump models of both. My heat pump water heater pulls only 600 watts when it's running and my dryer only pulls 1,200 watts. So during our storm outage we were able to do laundry, dry clothes, take showers, etc.
The heat pump models are a bit more expensive but they are worth it because 1) You get that money back in electricity savings and 2) You can continue to operate them on battery backup in an emergency.
At 13:15 those battery compartments on either side of the trailer: Would the inverters fit in there? I noticed they are vented to the outside. One of the issues I have with my Victron inverters is that they produce a LOT of heat. I would love to be able to move them to a compartment that is vented to the outside like that so they don't heat up the inside of the trailer.
At 16:00 I would consider adding some additional support for those brackets holding the mini-split inside unit. Given the distance from the wall that's a lot of weight that's essentially hanging on the end of a lever. It would be fine for a stationary install but when you're going down the road the inside of the trailer bounces considerably and basically goes from 0G to 2-3G of downward force over and over and over again if you're on any kind of uneven road. (I know from experience: I tried to sleep in the trailer once when someone else was driving. It was a constant loop of being tossed in the air and then pulled down into the bed so hard I couldn't even sit up.). I've also done similar mounts for some of my upgrades like the convection microwave and my residential fridge and they eventually pulled out of the wall from the stress of bouncing down the road.
The main issue with the Z brackets is most of the stress is a "pull" stress. What's primarily holding all of the weight are the top screws "pulling" against your aluminum frame. So all of the weight is basically between the threads of the screws and the small amount of aluminum those threads are biting into. Over time that will add up to a lot of metal fatigue and I could see those taps into your aluminum frame eventually giving out. I would put an L bracket or a triangular bracket underneath the unit as well so that most of the weigh of the unit is "pushing" into the wall rather than pulling away from the wall. When you have a mount that "pushes" instead of pulls the weight isn't on the threads of your screws, it's spread out over the entire contact surface of the bracket and the framing of the wall behind it.
What model fridge did you go with? Why didn't you go with the Furrion model that vents out the front and doesn't need any rear ventilation? (That's the model I have now)
At 43:40 I would consider turning those Camco slide out supports around 180 degrees: I could see someone "forgetting" they are down before they extend the slide-out and if you turn them 180 degrees they would just fold out without doing much damage. As they are now they would cause significant damage if the slide-out was accidentally extended with them down. With almost 20 years of RV ownership under my belt I can assure you that no matter how careful you think you are... you or someone else will forget at some point. :D
At 44:10 you mentioned upgrading the axles... but did you strengthen the frame? The GVWR is not usually limited by axles but rather by the frame itself (Especially the front of the frame where the weight distribution hitch adds a lot of stress and can "fold" the frame if the tongue wight is too high). Many of the RVs I've looked at have GVWR ratings that are well below the axle ratings and that's because they use light weight frames to save weight.
I intend to switch to heat pump laundry and water heating once the appliances I already have stop working.
The battery compartments are not large enough for the inverters, and even if they did fit it would negate all the advantages of having them near the busbar with short wire runs. The cooling hasn't been an issue at this point. Once the heat of the summer has arrived I'll be able to conclusively determine whether additional cooling fans need to be added, or perhaps run the mini split to keep them cooler. The majority of the negative comments I've received have revolved around these devices overheating under my couch and I've yet to see any excessive heat whatsoever. Perhaps other people's experience is always with these devices being installed in closed storage compartments which have far less air to transfer heat to.
I have holes pre-drilled in the Z brackets to be able to screw them into the wooden riser in 4 locations. I haven't added those screws yet, I'll look into it more.
I got the Vitrifrigo DP2600IXD4-F-2 as listed in in this spreadsheet docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L2IxNuZ8ZQl3-Fey8dBsKHQH7RidaSkTDCVPGTeikKc/edit?usp=sharing because it matched the dimensions of the cavity in my trailer and it matched the 12 or 24 volt DC requirement. I searched for a long time for a DC fridge that matched the dimensions and this was the only one I found.
Regarding the Camco slide supports they actually swing either direction so if they're ever forgotten it won't cause any issue. I've tested the setup by putting the slide out with the legs still down and they just stick out into the room, but they don't break anything.
The frame has been strengthened around where the axles attach to it, and I bought a truck that doesn't need to use a weight distribution hitch according to the qualifications I've researched plus I've had zero indication ever needing it in all the thousands of miles of towing. I contacted Lance asking about them upgrading my axles to the 7,000 lb axles that my model of trailer started shipping with the following year after mine was manufactured and they said they'd ask their engineers and get back with me. They later emailed me back saying yes they would upgrade my axles. I'm cautious about weight in the trailer so I leave the passthrough storage empty, except for light items. I put all heavy cargo in the truck bed.
@@ElectricTechAdventures
"The majority of the negative comments I've received have revolved around these devices overheating"
I haven't seen these comments but I'd like to assume they aren't trying to be negative but maybe they are just sharing their own experience? Sometimes that nuance is hard to convey (and read) over text based communication.
Either way in this case my concern wouldn't be the inverters themselves overheating since they look to be very well ventilated to the interior of the camper based on what I saw in your video. For me, living in Texas, anytime I'm designing a battery/inverter system one of my concerns with having the inverters inside is that running the A/C is already the largest consumer of my already precious battery power: So putting anything inside that will produce heat that I have to then burn battery power to expel that heat is always something I like to avoid whenever possible.
The Victron spec sheet lists max efficiency at like 94% for these inverters but that's the absolute max: Typical operating conditions are usually less than 90% which, while still good, it still means that if you're running 2,000 watts worth of loads you're dumping about 200 watts of heat into your camper which means you have to run your mini split longer to remove that heat which means you pull more load through your inverter which dumps more heat inside... :) It would just be ideal to be able to vent that heat directly outside instead so when I saw those vented compartments my first though was "I wonder if I could fit the inverters in there". Not because I want the inverters to run cooler (They would probably run hotter outside in fact), but because I don't want that added heat inside the camper (That and the fans can get kind of loud when they do get hot and I don't want that noise inside either). For folks who live in primarily cold climates that don't have hot summers that concern is probably inverse. :D
I also wouldn't worry about them overheating because Victron inverters don't really "overheat" all that often, at least not in the sense most people expect. Instead they gradually and gracefully degrade in performance. For example the 24v 3000VA MultiPlus is rated at:
Cont. output power at 25ºC / 77°F: 2400 watts
Cont. output power at 40ºC / 104°F: 2200 watts
Cont. output power at 65ºC / 150°F: 1700 watts
So you don't really start to see a significant loss in power until you get well above 100 F which I doubt you'll ever see in your trailer with the mini split right above the inverters.
That power table works for both inverting and charging. So as the inverters heat up they just decrease their max output to compensate. I can watch my inverters charge at their full 140 amps when I first plug in at a campsite (Which creates a lot of heat) and as they warm up the charge rate will gradually drop to under 120 amps (Even though my Orion Jr2 BMS is still commanding 300+ amps)
It's really great you were able to upgrade the axles like that. I'm currently looking to go back to a travel trailer myself and sell the motorhome and the cargo carrying capacity is definitely one of the biggest sticking points I've found in most of the trailers I'm looking at. I want to do an even bigger battery on my next RV (At least 15kWh) and finding something that can carry that weight, plus inverters, plus solar, plus a full tank of water... it's not easy.
@@JeremyAkersInAustin Most of the negative comments were from Facebook posts that I posted in Facebook groups like Victron stuff and whatnot. I imagine the vast majority of them installed their Victron gear in closed off storage compartments (since I see them post their pictures on a regular basis and that's where the installation is located). Sometimes they install cooling fans and whatnot, but that's the experience they have when they comment that I'll have inverter overheating issues.
I agree about there being no problem with the inverters overheating even though they're packed in a small space under the couch. The inverters are venting into the open RV interior so there's a large volume of air to transfer heat to and there's zero overheating. I've been charging my Tesla from the RV solar output since December and as the solar production has increased heading towards the summer I've been able to put more and more into the Tesla battery daily. During the cooler weather of the winter and going into the spring the inverters and batteries have naturally stayed cool so 100% of the inverted energy has gone into the Tesla. On Saturday (May 14th) the batteries got up to 91 degrees f and I don't want them to go over 100 degrees to protect the longevity of the battery bank. See this video ruclips.net/video/7LLd_LTFWaM/видео.html They got this warm because it was in the 80's outside the trailer and fully sunny so the solar charging of the battery bank at about 2 kW was warming the battery bank plus the sun heating the interior of the trailer. I experimented with turning on the mini split to 75 degrees f and after an initial spike of power consumption from it the maintenance consumption was about 300 Watts and the battery bank temperature dropped to 84 degrees. I will likely set the mini split to 80 degrees in the future as that's the highest it'll go in cooling mode. In short yes it's less efficient to have heat introduced into the cabin from the inverters and batteries/charge controllers just to have to expel that heat with the mini split, but I appreciate having the option of active cooling to protect those same components and the efficient mini split doesn't consume all that much energy for cooling. I'm going to continue to experiment with this all summer and I'll likely make a RUclips video about it at some point, but I haven't quite decided how to frame it. I'll certainly be testing the mini split power consumption when the ambient temperature gets to 100 degrees f and I'll set the inside to something extreme like 65 degrees and I'll record a video of that.
Regarding travel trailer cargo carrying capacity, most trailers are built to a minimum standard that just barely can accomplish their standard use case, and thus they try to sell to people to pull with smaller (less capable) trucks that are likely cheaper. If I had the money I'd likely do what I saw a guy did in some RUclips video where he took a high capacity gooseneck flat bed trailer and welded a travel trailer to it (after removing the travel trailer axles). Then used the extra space on the back for his jeep and had tens of thousands of pounds of cargo carrying capacity. He had huge water tanks, solar/batteries etc... It has to be pulled by a heavy duty truck no doubt, but it sure opens a whole lot of options!
Holy, holy - this is insane! I found your video from the Boondocking and Lance FB groups (we have a 1685). I upgraded my systems in a way that makes me less dependent on "shore" resources, but my electrical is nothing compared to what you have (590W of solar, and 2500W inverter / charger, shunts, etc). Also dependent on water like you, but one thing I did that you might want to consider to extend trips is having one of those sewer totes that I actually carry hooked to the bumper of the trailer (my ladder is too close to the edge of the trailer, but you could use the ladder on the 2185). When my gray water is about 2/3 full (these tanks have a 36 ga capacity), I put the tote on the bed of the truck and use a macerating pump to load it. I then take it to a dumping station, instead of having to take the whole trailer. Same thing with water, I just keep a bunch of 5 gallon tanks on the bed of the truck and use it to replenish the fresh water tanks (I'm sure you already do that, but mentioning in case you don't since you didn't mention it). This allows us to camp in the middle of nowhere for virtually forever :), Also converted my Honda generator to propane, so I can use the propane from the trailer just in case I need some additional charge (but haven't needed this much due to solar), but that's obviously not relevant for you. Well done, sir!
Thanks for the tip! We do keep additional water in the bed of the truck, but so far we've moved often enough we haven't needed to use it. I would likely get a sewer tote if we were trying to stay in one location for longer. The longest we've gone between dump stations so far is 5 days with my family and I could potentially see us wanting to stay in a really cool place longer in the future. Thanks!
At one point Missouri Wind and Solar was using wind to charge batteries and using DC replacement water heater probes to heat water as a "dump" when the wind generated electricity was in excess. I wonder if they progressed much in that as heating your water in the trailer would be a great use for your solar once the batteries were at 100%.
In a manual way I do sometimes turn on the water heater just because the batteries are filling up and I always want the solar panels to be able to produce to their maximum potential. My grand plan is to send excess electricity into the truck pulling the trailer, but alas I don't have an electric truck yet. Just today though I got to finally sit in a Cybertruck after all these years! Our local showroom is finally letting people inside. We all loved it, but alas without the 6 seat option it's not an option for us. The towing range is the next biggest bummer, then the price of course. We're just forced to continue being patient while we wait to see what Tesla does next.
Did you hold down the channel with tape? I see how you added attachment to the front rack and the rear ladder. Also is your mini split 120vac-and if it is-is it 12k btu? I did pretty much similar mods on my 5th wheel. I prefer victron phone app rather than the color screen.
The strut channel is glued to the roof with Very High Bond (VHB) tape down the 18 foot length of both sides, then the fronts are held down with four cables (two on each side) and the rear has unistrut going under the ladder for additional security. I went into more depth of how it was mounted in this video ruclips.net/video/DPY6RY9Ck28/видео.html
Regarding your mini split questions, mine uses 240 volts, and I have two inverters to support that and being 240 volts it's the highest efficiency mini split I could find. It's 12k BTU heat if I remember right. I went into more details of that install in this video ruclips.net/video/Jtk6hgbz_d4/видео.html
I use the phone app far more than I do the screen, mostly because I'm interacting with the phone app daily to turn the inverters on and off as I monitor the solar production and as it ramps up I turn on the inverters and my Tesla is plugged in and starts charging from the trailer throughout every sunny day. However when we're living in the trailer I use the screen far more often because it's just super convenient to look at it and instantly see the data. Also it's more convenient to record the screen with my camera than it is my cell phone while making our camping adventure videos. In short I like having both.
Just bought our 2185 lance. Ty
Awesome congratulations!
Nice set up! 👍🏾👍🏾
Thanks!
awesome video man
Thanks!
Hi Anthony. I have a 2019 Lance 2375 with 600 watts of solar and 300 ah of lithium batteries, but that's not why i am commenting. I have frame cracks behind the rear axle and want to know if you have more information about the reinforcement you had done. The trailer has 3500 lb axles and I'm upgrading to 4400. Thanks
That's a bummer that your frame is cracking. The reinforcement of the frame was specific to ensuring the frame hangars had a solid attachment point and to distribute the weight across a wider area of the frame than the default torsion axles attachment points. They used 6 foot long L channel metal which was thick and a strong metal alloy, but I don't remember the specifics. The L channel was at least double the thickness of the Lance frame though. They had to cut some parts out of it where there were obstructions on the Lance frame then they welded the frame hangars onto it before welding the L channel to the frame of the trailer. Then they painted the L channel black to match the frame and for rust prevention. It's been a couple years and everything is solid.
@@ElectricTechAdventures thanks Anthony
Anthony…Thank you for explaining the thought behind a very nice install. I live in Florida and to justify our upcoming install we plan to cover our 28’ long trailer with roughly about the same wattage and over the max air fans. We have a mini split as well. Are the solar panels performing to your expectations? You have a new subscriber and will forward your solar install series.
Yes the solar panels are performing well. In mid March they've peaked as high as 2,400 Watts out of a 2,650 Watt array. I'll be checking the peak wattage in June during the summer solstice to see how well they perform on a perfectly sunny day when the sun is the most overhead and that'll be in a performance video I'll make.
Have you thought about to get water from a/c and dehumidifier?
Yes I've tested that ability by putting a bucket under the condensate drain while we're camped and using the AC heavily. I have my results in an upcoming video while we're camped. Since we're typically in the dry desert there's not a whole lot of humidity to harvest. I've had roughly 3-9 cups of water overnight in a couple different places. One of these days I'll likely take the trailer to a more humid climate then I'll test it again.
@@ElectricTechAdventures Looking forward to watch your upcoming video.
Thanks for making and sharing this video. It is excellent and has given me much to consider. I do have a question regarding your solar setup. Rather than having that setup which appears to be compilicated, did yoi consider a solar generator instead like a bluetti or eco flow? Did you go with your option as it was less exoensive or provided more flexibility or scalability. Would love to understand the thinking behind it. Thank you.
Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. A manufactured solution like a Bluetti or EcoFlow isn't a great comparison to my system as they're for different purposes in my opinion. If you just compare the Watts and wH of each system then the Bluetti or EcoFlow are more expensive per Watt of solar panels or per kWh of battery storage. I went with my solution because I can customize the components to my needs, and it's cheaper. Mine is built into my trailer and thus is always available to the trailer, but with the disadvantage that it cannot be taken out of the trailer (at least not easily) and used elsewhere like the Bluetti or EcoFlow can. I leave my system on continuously when we're camping and the solar panels are charging the batteries or powering the AC electrical demands while driving down the road. A portable ground deployed solution cannot do this. The EcoFlow Delta Pro comes with a 160 Watt solar panel and can scale up to 1,600 Watts of solar panels. I have 2,650 Watts of solar panels on my trailer. The battery capacity of the EcoFlow is 3.6 kWh but can scale up to 25 kWh. Mine is 9.6 kWh so to be equivalent you'd need 2.66 EcoFlows which quickly costs more than I spent on my batteries and is not an accurate comparison since the EcoFlow is more than just batteries. My solar panels are glass and metal and designed to remain in the sun for many decades. The suitcase solar panels for solar generators are typically flexible and lightweight and if they are left in the sun continuously they'll only last a couple years. When I'm not camping my system is still deployed gathering electrons which I pass into my electric car so my system is used year round every day. For some people a solar generator is perhaps a better option if they don't need a whole lot of electricity and or they spend a lot of time in campgrounds and only occasionally go boondocking. Or perhaps they want to use the power station not only in their RV, but in other vehicles and they want to be able to throw it into their trunk or something.
@@ElectricTechAdventures Thank you for your comprehensive reply. It makes sense to me now.
Dude, I’m a huge fan of this setup. Ideally I’d love to do the same kind of configuration with the airstream that me and my wife just purchased for full time living. We just threw a ton into renovations though so this kind of upgrade will take a couple months. All of this to also be living on the road with a cybertruck and the airstream. Did you do all the wiring yourself or did you get help or what resources did you use? I’ve got 3 100w panels on there way in and I’m thinking I’m going to attempt to do the wiring myself with the panels, a battery swap, charge controller, and inverter.
I did 100% of the installation work myself except for changing out the axles which I hired out. I did purchase some components from Continuous Resources here www.continuousresources.com?aff=78 and Matt there helped me on the phone and email with the core design making sure I had all the correct gauge of wires, fuse sizes etc... He was a huge help. I did deviate from his plans for some things like the EV charging circuit and the 12 volt busbar but those are minor modifications. He also helped me over Wifi double checking my configuration of the Victron equipment and gave me some tips there. I started communications with Matt in Dec 2020 and he helped me here and there all through the project which I completed Dec 31st 2021 which was my goal. (Barely made my goal by the skin of my teeth!) It took many hundreds of hours of learning and research to tackle this entire project. Every part of the upgrades I had to research what was the right technology to go with, what device would fit, where could I get those devices for the cheapest price etc... I watched a ton of RUclips videos about all of it too. DIYing a build like this without any prior experience is certainly not for everyone...
What is the Voc (Voltage open circuit) and what is the Isc (Current short circuit) of one of your 530watt panels? I purchased some used panels at 65 Voc only to find out lots of residential solar tops out at 50VDC and anything over that is refered to as "commercial" and so different and more expensive inverters and such.
The JA Solar JAM72S30-530/MR panels I installed have a Voc of 49.30 V. The Isc is 13.72 A. I have 4 of them (2S2P) feeding into a Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT Tr VE. Can 150V 70 amp 12/24/36/48-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth) amzn.to/3IkBNOs and the 5th solar panel is feeding into a Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100V 30 amp 12/24-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth) amzn.to/3GMycZ6
@@ElectricTechAdventures Thank you. I am really looking forward to doing my motorhome as you have done your Lance. Especially removing the original A/C. I have the same reversible fans as you except in the bathroom as mine (like yours) is not reversible. There is another guy in Utah that did his trailer similar to yours. I am not getting notifications from him either. Once I find him again I will send his link as you two are alike and doing similar projects on YT (RUclips).
@@ElectricTechAdventures Thanks for the links! I am also experimenting with grid tied micro inverters (HoyMiles HMS-2000-4t) that I "trick" to turn on using a small 12 volt pure sine wave inverter (under $50.00) making the HoyMiles think it is connected to The/a grid. It works well on my living room floor. The Enphase 7 IQ did not as it is programed to look for the Enphase Gateway before turning on. I don't know anyone with an Enphase system so I was unable to program the Enphase to turn on even when connected to my fake grid.
Yes I'd love for you to share this other channel with me. If you're subscribed to him (as it sounds like you are) you should be able to go into your list of subscriptions and peruse the list to remind yourself of which channel it is.
@@benkanobe7500 I haven't tested this, but I believe I can trick my SolarEdge grid tied inverter to turn on if I were to plus my trailer's electrical system into the house. Excess electricity would even come into my RV batteries backwards through the Victron multiplus inverters. Here's a white paper on the subject. www.victronenergy.com/live/ac_coupling:start
How does the mini split AC compare to the factory ac in terms of cooling BTU and power consumption?
The factory A/C rooftop unit is a Coleman Mach 15 which is 15k BTU which consumed 1,332 Watts continuously (no variability, it's either on or off) and it was LOUD. According to the manual it's expected to pull 1,650 Watts but 1250-1331 is what I measured. My mini split is 9k BTU cooling and 12k heating. In experimenting with it this summer the mini split was plenty sufficient. I used it everyday keeping the temperature at 75 degrees F during the heat of the summer to keep the batteries cool and it averaged 400-500 Watts when the external temperature was in the 90's F. It's power consumption can exceed 1,000 Watts when it's initially cooling down the trailer. It is significantly quieter than the rooftop unit and FAR more efficient. My mini split is 33.1 SEER and the Coleman Mac 15 doesn't even publish a SEER rating so you know it's not good. The rooftop unit was 85 lb and the mini split is 110 lb (including both the inside and outside units). (The newer Coleman Mach 15 A/C plus heat pump (5,600 BTU) unit is 95 lb for comparison.) The weight of the mini split is primarily on the tongue of the trailer, so as long as the truck can handle the tongue weight it's not a huge detriment. It's lower weight than the rooftop AC, and obviously frees up rooftop space for solar panels which is important to me. In case you didn't see it I made a video specifically about mounting the mini split here ruclips.net/video/Jtk6hgbz_d4/видео.html
Very nice setup! I buddy plug is nice for many situations, however I don't think charge tesla is one of them... As they are so power hungary, the solar you have on roof is not significant enough.
Thanks, I agree it's been fantastic to go on trips in. I use the trailer to charge my Tesla Model S on a daily basis when we're not camping. It is certainly enough energy to add a useful amount of electricity to our Tesla. In fact it's able to maintain all our driving needs most of the time during the summer. In 2022 the trailer's solar panels produced 3,195 kWh of which the vast majority of that went into the Tesla. I'm planning to make a video with more details about that here on my RUclips channel once I make the time for it. My expectations for the Cybertruck are appropriate. I'm not expecting to drive around towing a 7k lbs trailer with just 2.6 kW of solar. If I'm able to tow into a remote area and at least maintain the charge I have in the truck that's a win. If I'm able to add a small amount of useful energy to the truck then that's also a win in my opinion. Given enough time it could fully fill the Cybertruck battery. In my experimentation for the last year I can charge my Model S battery fully in 5 fully sunny days in the 6 months of highest production (Apr-Sep).
@@ElectricTechAdventures Glad to hear that worked for you.
your aluminum strut rack is or isn't bolted to the frame in addition to your cables and ladder clamp? I love the rack system but just wondering about the attachment to the roof and if you've had issues with either lift or downdraft from the panels.
The aluminum unistrut is not bolted or screwed directly to the roof trusses. The VHB tape, cables, unistrut bolted to side rails and under ladder unistrut have been more than enough. I've checked everything periodically and it's all as solid as when I installed it. There's zero movement of the panels while driving down the road (we don't typically exceed 70 mph) and in some camping locations it's been quite windy and still no movement. This Saturday morning my video about how I did the installation will be published here on my RUclips channel.
Great video, you're a lunatic! :-). (That was a compliment) Nice work on your build. How do you handle keeping the tanks heated in the winter time?
Thanks for the compliment! I'm considering adding tank heat pads, but as it stands right now the propane furnace is needed if it gets colder than around 20 degrees f outside. I've experimented several times this winter and I've found that around 20 degrees and the pipes inside start to freeze, even if the mini split is set to around 65 degrees inside. In that cold of weather I've only spent one night so the fresh water tank doesn't freeze due to the large amount of thermal mass. I think in order to completely get away from propane I'd have to add heat tape to all the water lines as well as heat pads to the tanks. Right now my young kids don't love camping below freezing anyway so for now we may just have to use propane if we happen to go camping when it's below 20 degrees f.
@@ElectricTechAdventures thanks for the reply!
I actually rented a 2185 after watching one of your earlier videos and have been anxiously awaiting this one. All I can say is wow! This is my dream setup. I might have missed it but what are you using for hot water? The factory unit or an 12 volt tankless? I saw someone before mentioned it but I am kinda seriously interested in a contract build if you are game. Really impressive.
We're just using the same water heater that came with our trailer from the manufacturer. It can use either propane or electricity so we're just using the electric heating element. I'm not sure how a contract build would work, but it would certainly be a lot easier to do a second time with a 2185 with roof rails. The biggest potential issue is parts availability and price changes.
Your DC/AC refrigerator, what make and model is it?
All materials and tools I used in the trailer electrical system retrofit are listed in this spreadsheet from the video description: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L2IxNuZ8ZQl3-Fey8dBsKHQH7RidaSkTDCVPGTeikKc/edit?usp=sharing and the fridge is on line 93.
is there a monthly service fee for starlink internet?
Yes. It was $99 since the beginning until a couple days ago it was increased to $110 per month. You can see more details at Starlink.com
Awesome video, we have the same trailer and we’ve been thinking about doing some similar mods! I only have a 440 watt panel which I mounted to the roof rack but the actual production has been lackluster. I’m using the same inverter but only 1 so single phase and mounted under the fridge. I ended up running a dual voltage system, I was worried about the dc-dc from 24v to 12v being a single point of failure and stuck with the slide out. Also how are you managing your tongue weight? Just loaded up for a trip with full propane I’m pushing 1200lbs.
If you're interested in more details about the parts I used for my modifications check out the google sheet linked in the description of the video. I removed all three propane tanks to reduce tongue weight and if in the off chance I have to use propane for some reason I can get the propane tank out of the bed of my truck and hook it up. I also only put light things in the passthrough storage, and honestly it's mostly empty most of the time. My tongue weight is usually around 1,100 lbs. I load as many heavy things in the back bunk beds as I can and the bikes on the bike rack help to reduce the tongue weight as well. I keep a tool kit in the RV and worst case scenario if my 24 to 12 volt converter failed I could always unbolt one of the 12 volt batteries and wire it up in the old battery bay to operate the 12 volt circuits temporarily until I get back home to replace the converter. I think I've heard that there's a manual crank for the slideout as well, but I'm unsure of how that works. I've found the cranking mechanism in the front wall of the passthrough storage area on the passenger side but I've never looked into actually using it.
Very well thought out Anthony! Now, would you be willing to make one for me?
Sure, for a price... ;)
WOW!!
How did you do this whole video without acknowledging the inevitable zombie apocalypse?
Also. You need to come visit, because now I'm jealous you went to Phoenix after I left.
I generally try to keep my channel about the technology and not so much explain various reasons for wanting to have and use the technology. But yes, my goal was to make my trailer as self sufficient as possible and I've mostly achieved that. It's biggest weakness is freezing water lines/tanks and low solar yield during the winter. It's still a far better shelter in the winter than nothing, but it does potentially require some propane depending on the weather. If we decide to go camping in the winter for now I've decided to just leave the antifreeze in the water lines and keep water jugs in the cabin. I've considered heat pads on the tanks, but the lines would still freeze. I haven't decided if our use case justifies the effort to add electric heating to the water tanks. We might very well come visit you, but not likely in the RV considering the distance and the cost of gasoline right now. We're going on more local trips in the RV for now and using our Tesla for long distance trips. Once we have our Cybertruck though we'll be free of the cost of gasoline!
Swapping axles doesn't re-engineer your frame and magically give you axle-listed extra load rating.
Which is why I checked with Lance first to verify my frame is the same as the next year 2185's which had a higher payload and that my trailer can be upgraded to 3500 lb axles before I had it done, and the people who did the axle upgrade added frame reinforcements.
@@ElectricTechAdventures smart move. Might have been good to show those reinforcements in the vid so viewers don't they they can just offset the weight of the mods by adding heavier-duty axles and being good-to-go with no other considerations. There's plenty of 5th Wheels that only have 1700-2200 carry capacity (yeah, shocking for sure) and they'd be out quite a bit of capacity with just the solar changes and a mini-split.
More trailers should come like this from the factory. More solar, more batteries, more DC powered items, composting or dry flush toilets, no black tanks, more freshwater storage and more greywater storage
I completely agree on all accounts!
@@ElectricTechAdventures I’d personally get rid of the microwave and have more storage and get rid of the TVs and sound systems. By the time you get a tv or sound system it’s already old. I’d rather have Starlink an iPad, Bluetooth speaker and a projector.
Hopefully in a few years as more younger people get into the RV work the old designs will go out of style.
@@woolengrappler Our trailer came with both a microwave and a propane oven. I removed both and where the propane oven was I put in a convection microwave. It can heat food with either microwave technology, or old fashioned electric heat, or both at the same time. We've used it many times and I'm happy with it. The space where the microwave was previously is now extra storage which we mostly use for food and it works great. We use the TV and sound system and there's no advantage to removing it since it's already there. We also have Starlink which we often use to stream online content through a laptop to the TV via an HDMI cable. There aren't any large flat areas to project onto, where would you use a projector in the trailer? I agree that most RV designs appear to have an older audience in mind.
You need to learn to weld. Wood and tape to reduce bounce is not optimal. All the u-bolts and channel on top of channel looks like an erector set. Plus no one will steal something welded together due to the amount of work involved. Unbolting a few nuts is not much effort.
I have wanted to learn to weld for years and even did some welding in college but up to this point I have not had enough of a reason to justify the expense of purchasing a welder. In this case my solution has been working just fine. Considering how quickly and free this piece of wood is doing the job it is a better solution than welding for now.
I’d like to discuss doing this with my Lance… can you contact me?
That's great! I've loved my modifications. You can email me at electrictechadventures@gmail.com with your questions.