800-Watts of Solar, 400ah of Lithium, and a 3000-Watt inverter in Solitude 377MBS

[Flanaganjk]

We bought our 2018 Solitude 377MBS last month and took it out for the first time last weekend. We went to Escalante area in Utah and hiked to Calf Creek Falls.

This is our first trailer (we've rented in the past), and we had a great time. We boondocked and used a Champion 3400/3100 generator to run one 15kBTU air conditioner and keep the batteries charged. I came home excited to upgrade the trailer to use the generator less. I read everything I could find on this forum, watched 20+ hours of youtube videos, and read countless online reviews and blogs. And the project begins:

The solar panels, the inverter, and the solar charge controller arrived yesterday, the batteries will arrive from Yuma, AZ tomorrow, and I've purchased everything else from Amazon for delivery on Friday (May 11, 2018). I plan to begin installing it all this weekend and have it all done before my planned Memorial Day trip.

I WELCOME ANY ADVICE/QUESTIONS/CRITISISM based on the parts list below and my planned installation. Perhaps someone else will find this useful - or perhaps they'll learn from the mistakes I am sure to make . I have an electrical engineering degree so I'm fairly familiar with this stuff, but now I'm a patent attorney and don't usually do much hands-on work. I'll post some before, during, and after photos. Here is my parts list on order from Amazon.

Solar
(i) 8 x 100-watt AllPower ETFE flexible solar panels connected as four parallel strings with two panels in series in each string
(ii) Magnum PT-100 MPPT Solar Charge Controller
(iii) 8-AWG wire throughout with Mc4 connectors (upgrade ready for more panels)
(iv) 10-amp Mc4 in-line fuses on each paralleled string
(v) 120 amp Bussman circuit breaker with a manual disconnect between the PT-100 and the batteries
(vi) 2-AWG wire connecting PT-100 to the batteries.


Batteries
(i) 2 x 200AH high-current LiFePo4 Lithium batteries from LiFeBlue - Up to 400 amps of continuous discharge.
(ii) Blue Sea HD on-off battery switch
(iii) Blue Sea Class T 400-amp Fuse
(iv)Magnum ME-BMK battery monitor kit with DC shunt
(v) 12x18 Tank heater with an automatic thermostat on at 45-degrees and off at 68-degrees
(vi) 10-amp fuse for the tank heater.
(vii) Insulated storage bin as a battery box

Inverter/Charger
(i) Magnum MSH3012 Hybrid inverter charger
(ii) 4/0-AWG wire (<5') from batteries to inverter
(iii) 80' of 6/2 NM-B wire to connect one leg of 50-amp shore plug to the inverter (and back to circuit breaker panel)

Interface Controller
(i) Magnum ME-ARC controls the solar charge controller, the inverter/charger, and the battery monitor.

Misc. Instal Components
(i) I plan to screw the rivets of the panels to the roof using 2" stainless steel screws through Butyl Tape, that I will then cover with Dicor lap sealant.
(ii) 8-AWG solar wires will pass a double cable entry gland into the built-in chase on the 377MBS that goes from the roof to the storage area.
(iii) PT-100 solar charge controller has to be mounted vertically, so it will be mounted in the front storage on the wall dividing the front storage from the pass-through storage.
(iv) Considering mounting the inverter to the metal floor (heatsink?) of the front storage - but I want to make sure I still have room for both of my 3400 watt Champion generators (17.3 inches wide each). I think it should all fit.
(v) AC wiring is a bit of mystery until I get into the basement. I'm going to use the Polaris Multi-Tap connectors to spice out one leg of the 50-amp 6/3 wires running from the RV shore power inlet.
(vi) I'm hoping to rewire the breakers as needed to put devices I care about on one leg of the 50amp service that will be served by the inverter (either as pass-through AC when plugged in, or via inverted battery power when off-grid). Devices on the second leg will only be powered when plugged in (generator or shore power). At least the AC portion of the fridge, the heater portion of the fireplace (or the whole fireplace if it's a single wire), and the bedroom AC will be on the second leg.

[jbarnes4868]

How will you route from roof to basement.

[Flanaganjk]

There is an access panel on the roof of Solitude and Momentum models (since 2017) that has conduit from the roof down to the pass-through storage.

[gbkims]

2" screws might be a bit long, the roof sheathing and trusses aren't very thick.
Andrew's 317RST ceiling:

Gene

[Flanaganjk]

Gene, that's great feedback! Thank you. What do you think about #10 1-5/8" stainless steel screws? With a washer and the rivet of the solar panel, they would penetrate about 1.25". Still too much? The spacing of the rivets in the solar panels may result in some screws being installed in only the ?plywood? sheathing. Should I use even shorter screws (e.g., 1") that only penetrate about 5/8" after the washer and rivet? I obviously don't want the panels to fly off, and I worry that tape or glue will either not be secure enough or impossible to remove when one of the panels inevitably stops working. Do you (or anyone else) know what size screws are typically used for mounting solar panel brackets for installing traditional glass-framed solar panels?

Thanks again!

[gbkims]

1.5" to 1-5/8" length sounds good. #12 or #10 whichever fits the the diameter of the panel's mounting holes best. Philips Truss Head or Hex Washer Head stainless sheet metal screws.

Just connected my 2kw inverter yesterday, used ~54" 4/0 for RD, BK each, so almost the same length as your estimate.

Gene

[jbailey]

Flanaganjk,
In reading up on the batteries, it seems they are not campatible with the Magnum Energy MSH3012M via http://www.lifebluebattery.com/infor...e-battery.html.

I am not sure if that is the same model, but they seem quite close. I would Validate with the company that the Inverter/Charger is compatible before hooking up. An awesome project! I love my solar and plan to upgrade to Lithium batteries sometime in the future. Good Luck!

[blackhawk45]

I recently bought a 397th and I'm planning a solar install similar to yours. Purchased 3 Battle Born batteries to start the build. Hope you keep this thread alive so we can see how you make out. Good luck.

[Flanaganjk]

Flanaganjk,
In reading up on the batteries, it seems they are not campatible with the Magnum Energy MSH3012M via http://www.lifebluebattery.com/infor...e-battery.html.

I am not sure if that is the same model, but they seem quite close. I would Validate with the company that the Inverter/Charger is compatible before hooking up. An awesome project! I love my solar and plan to upgrade to Lithium batteries sometime in the future. Good Luck!

That is disconcerting! I had not seen that notice before. I have been in constant contact with LifeBlue and their distributor Starlight Solar in Yuma, AZ. Before my purchase, I sent hyperlinks to LifeBlue with the Magnum devices I planned to install and asked them if they were compatible. They said "yes" as long as you program it with specific settings that we will provide. They even offered to sell me the Mangum devices and gave me a sales quote (but I had already acquired them).

Starlight shipped the batteries on Tuesday. One of them arrived today, and the other is delayed until tomorrow. Larry at Starlight has been great to work with. He sent me all the programming instructions for the 3012 and the PT-100 yesterday and answered my myriad of questions. His instructions were very detailed and easy to follow.

Just to double check, I've emailed LifeBlue and Larry at Starlight the link you shared and asked them to comment. I'll let you know what they say.

I'm not super worried since the problem was apparently related to "extreme high current" when connected or on startup. The old standard current "SC" LifeBlue batteries were rated for a measly 80 amp max charge current with 60 amps being recommended. The new high current "HC" versions have a max charge current of 150 amps with 120 amps recommended. The HC versions also have a discharge rating of 150 amps continuous or 200 amps for 30 minutes (300 and 400 amps, respectively, with my paralleled setup). I can't imagine that the 3012 exceeds these ratings on startup - if so, it's a HUGE design flaw on Magnum's part that could cause all kinds of other problems in the system.

I secretly hope the answer is "its a problem for two batteries, but if you had three of them ... you'd be fine" Then I'd have no choice but to up my capacity to 600AH!

[Flanaganjk]

I recently bought a 397th and I'm planning a solar install similar to yours. Purchased 3 Battle Born batteries to start the build. Hope you keep this thread alive so we can see how you make out. Good luck.

I plan to keep it alive. I'll take lots of images and document the whole process. Battle Borne was my close second choice for batteries. I chose LifeBlue because of the HC models that allowed for higher discharge (helpful for the inverter) and because you could buy fewer larger (e.g., 200AH) batteries and save a bit of money. One huge benefit is that Battle Born claims you can use your stock charger. If you aren't installing an inverter, this is a huge deal and makes things a lot easier. Good luck on your install - I would love to read a thread on your component decisions and install process.