A belated review of some trailer mods

[Mike Lewis]

Late last year I installed several modifications to my Escape's 12V system in anticipation of a long trip in 2020. The 2020 trip was curtailed due to the Virus, but the seven weeks I was on the road was long enough for a shakedown of the new components. I did the following:

- Installed two Battleborn 100 AH lithium batteries
- Installed a Victron 100/50 MPPT solar controller
- Installed a Sterling 30A B-2-B charger
- Bought a 100W portable solar panel to complement my rooftop panels.

I meant to post this earlier, but even now the information might be useful to someone. Here is a review of each component.

-Battleborn batteries - These worked well. I bought two so I would have enough amperage to run my microwave oven. The only issue I had was fully charging the batteries with solar panels. This turned out to be due to an incorrect setting on the Victron controller. With help from Jon V. and information on the Battleborn website I was able to correct the setting. Note that the trailer's battery charger will not fully charge the batteries, but I knew that thanks to the forum. I did not plan to be on hookups for long so it wasn't important to me for this trip.

- Victron controller - the only problem I had with the controller was with its setting for the absorption period for the Battleborn batteries (see above). Battleborn suggests 1/2 hour of absorption for each 100 AH of battery power, and the default Victron setting was two hours instead of the suggested one hour for my setup.

- B2B charger - I ran a #6 gauge wire from the back of the trailer through a conduit to the Tacoma's battery, with a connector at the hitch. This worked well. But the 30A charger was too small-- if I were to buy another one I would get a 60A charger. Also, the Sterling B2B charger is hard to configure initially; it uses a series of LEDs and small pushbutton switches that are difficult to see. I would consider a Victron 60A B2B charger if I had it to do over.

- Portable solar panel - I had 355W of rooftop solar power already, and wanted to supplement it with something on the ground that could be aimed. This 100W panel from Powerwerx worked fine, but I saw people at Quartzite with 200W lightweight panels that I liked better. Of course.


I don't think I've posted this info already, but if I have please excuse my forgetfulness.

[escape artist]

Hi: Mike Lewis... Now it seems you have the power to forget. If it wasn't for forgetfulness I wouldn't have anything to forget!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Centex]

Thanks for the post, Mike. Can you direct me to anything you've posted about your rooftop array?

I'm on the learning curve (searching and absorbing) about all things RV solar - posts like this most appreciated!

[Mike Lewis]

I'm not too good at searching for posts, even for my own blather, so I'll just describe what I have on the trailer's roof now. I guess they total 345 watts, not 355. Oops. I have three panels, front to back: 100W, 95W, 150W.

I arrived at this piecemeal: The 95W panel was installed by the factory; it was standard at the time (2014). I had a 100W panel and larger wiring from the roof (important) installed by AM Solar on my maiden voyage, with provisions to install two more panels. On a subsequent trip AM Solar removed the rear 100W panel and installed a 150W panel in that position, and a 100W panel in the forward position. This is condensing a longer story.

You are at the position I was in when I picked up my trailer in April 2014. Do better research than I did and plan out your entire solar array from panels to controller, if you can. Since you are getting a 5.0 (nice!) look at Jim Bennett's posts about his solar panel layout.

[Mike Lewis]

Correction: my rear solar panel is 160W, not 150W, so I have 355W after all. Good.

[Centex]

Thanks again, Mike

Yep, I'm finding lots of great info here from folks like Messrs. Bennett, Vermilye (including Jon's E21 website mod pages), and others like yourself.

As y'all probably know, ETI is expanding their options for 2021 to include some sort of Lithium battery and additional rooftop panels. But, I'm not presuming that any of the 'solar provisions' from ETI are particularly advantageous / optimal for where I need (want?) to end-up in terms of self-sufficiency and overall systems features.

So, I'm steep into the research and learning curve. I have until ~May to finalize my 5.0 configuration. I won't be too surprised if the outcome is ordering my trailer with none of the ETI solar provisions, building my 'solar system' from scratch, optimized for my wants and needs based on the latest tech available at the moment. We'll see .... I'm at the very early stages of all of that right now