Sgtsandman's 2019 STX FX4

[sgtsandman]

This is what I did today. I mounted the shutoff switches, the DC-DC MPPT charger with a IP 67 rated fan below it for cooling, circuit breakers, anderson plugs, and the fuse bock.

EDIT: Sorry, I forgot the picture.

 

[sgtsandman]

Today is still in progress, but I came in to eat.

Where I am at right now. I ran positive wires to the circuit breakers from the andersen plugs and to the DC-DC MPPT and a negative wire for the fuse block to the andersen connector. As a reminder to those not familiar with this stuff, part of the reason there is so much positive wire and so many anderson plugs is that the panels have to removable for storage and easy disconnection and reconnection is a great thing to have, and the switches need the extra wire to kill power if I need to work on something. The components put out quite a bit of amperage.

The circuit breakers are there so things can be easily reset and I don't have to go hunting for replacement fuses if one does pop.

Both pieces are held down by 1 1/4" X 1 1/4" X 1/8" steel angle. Right now, they are scewed into the deck but I have 1/4" X 20 bolts and T nuts to better hold them in place once I remove the deck to insert the T-nuts from underneath.

 

[sgtsandman]

The inverter lives! The voltage sensor, ignition signal wire, and battery temperature sensor have all been setup and connected, and the batteries have been connected. Tomorrow, I'll make the fuse block live and maybe setup the solar panels. I need another andersen connector pair to hook up the truck to the charger. It's getting real tight back in that corner with all the wires, but the plan is becoming a reality.

 

[sgtsandman]

Solar was made live just in time for @lil_Blue_Ford and I to head over to the group meeting point for watching Union Pacific's Big Boy to roll through.

The anderson connecter came in for the truck power while we were away doing that. So, I'll get that all done and try to neaten things up a bit before I test fit the drawer slide for the refrigerator. I know a portion of the side cover for the switches needs removed. I'll probably have to clearance a little bit for the front panel as well.

Then I'll need to make something quick to hold the system monitor. We leave for camp today. So, I can dilly dally too much.

 

[sgtsandman]

The system appears to be functioning as intended. The light for solar comes on, the battery charge status light comes on, and the charge light somes on when the truck is running. I think I have the system monitor is setup correctly, and it is running.

I'll take some pictures while we are camping.

 

[sgtsandman]

Even though we are parked in the shade, so far, so good. I did bring along an AGM compatible battery charger with and extension cord, just in case. But, if the battery usage continues as it is, the system is perfectly matched for our needs. Cell service is quite weak. So pictures may have to wait until we either have wifi or we are home.

 

[Uncle Gump]

How is the A/C working in the RTT?

 

[sgtsandman]

How is the A/C working in the RTT?

A/C? A/C is for sissys! We don't need no stinking A/C!

We do have a Bauer Harbor Freight fan if it does get too bad with some 8 amp hour batteries. @Snoranger sold us on that concept last year in Colorado.

 

[sgtsandman]

Day two on the house battery system. I'm calling it a success. Once we get back home, I'll work on switching the bed lights and the RTT over to the house battery system. It's all on weather pack plugs. So, doing the switch over to the house system's fuse block shouldn't be a big deal.

Some amber lights for the awning and some work lights in both white and amber would be nice for around the vehicle for area lighting.

 

[Robert Mangrum]

A/C? A/C is for sissys! We don't need no stinking A/C!

We do have a Bauer Harbor Freight fan if it does get too bad with some 8 amp hour batteries. @Snoranger sold us on that concept last year in Colorado.

I always carry my M12 Milwaukee work fan. It saved me this past weekend. 78° with 90% humidity at night was muggy. 6amp battery lasted both nights on low.

 

[Uncle Gump]

I always carry my M12 Milwaukee work fan. It saved me this past weekend. 78° with 90% humidity at night was muggy. 6amp battery lasted both nights on low.

Same set up i use...

 

[Robert Mangrum]

Same set up i use...

works great at work or play.

 

[sgtsandman]

So far, the new system has been a great success. So much so, I want to switch the wiring for the Softopper lights and the power port for the RTT over to the house system to remove the drain from the start battery. With all the lights that come on everytime you open a door, the start battery was getting pretty low.

I'll have to get into forscan and see if I can change some or all of that. I never liked courtesy lights anyway and if I can get the truck to not light the marker lights and tail lights every time a door opens, even better.

I do think I want to add a compact battery charger to the system so we can charge off of shore power if and when it is available. Not that power has been a problem, I just like having options.

 

[racsan]

courtesy lights annoy me too, think on my ‘09 escape I pulled the interior light fuse & that “fixed” it. Always hated how the interior light stayed on & then faded out eventually, or it would come on when keys were pulled out. only good thing about (at least some of) the newer stuff is that the interior light will go off eventually if you have a door or back hatch open. Had a ‘87 astro van years ago with a dash switch that you could shut off the interior lights if you wanted to.

 

[sgtsandman]

Here is a picture of the monitor after being installed. I believe this is from the first day at camp. We are parked in the shade. So, the system is being drained. Notice the minus next to the 0.18A on the middle, bottom, and the two down arrows in the battery symbol next to the 199 Ah. The amp draw is from the cooling fan for the DC-DC MPPT charger. Otherwise, there would be next to nothing discharging the system. Also, apparently, the monitor can not display more than 99.59 hours of charge time.

This is the back up AGM capable charge I was talking about. We ended up needing it to keep the start battery from getting drained from opening and closing the doors turning on so many lights. The 2 amp trickle charge was perfectly fine on maintaining the battery voltage after I disconnected the house battery system from the start battery via the switch in the back.

Pictures from the campground after setting up camp.

I'm thinking about adding two more panels for extra capacity during low light days. Also, I want to make sure they are connected in a way that allows one panel to continue to charge even if the others are not providing enough power to charge. A quirk of solar charging is that even if only a portion of a panel is in the shade, it can shut the whole panel down. If the panel is down and the system isn't setup right, it can keep the other panels from providing power as well. I believe parallel wiring prevents that, where as series wiring is the one that has the problem. I believe my panels are in parallel right now.

I also need to get what I need to make the solar panel wiring look better. It's kind of a mess at the moment because I just needed to get the system running with what I had on hand.