User Tag List

Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 35
  1. #11
    Seasoned Camper
    Join Date
    Nov 2020
    Location
    Full Time Traveler
    Posts
    152
    Mentioned
    3 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Started off with the 300 watt panel on the roof, the Jaboni 30 amp controller and had the dealer install a second 180 watt panel plus a victron battery monitor. Dealer messed up the install of both panel and victron. System went to crap in 3 months.

    Had a company in quartzsite Arizona instal more panels and victron controller since jaboni controller would only read 0's on the panel. 1100 watts later and new victron controller able to handle the watts was well worth the price. We no longer have to put the residential fridge in power saving mode and I can make as much ice as I want. We travel with a 5 small freezer and do not worry about running the traeger scout.

    We full time with at least 75% of our time is off grid. If I only went from power hook up to power hook up I would not have added the solar upgrade.

  2. #12
    Fireside Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2021
    Location
    Pacific Northwest
    Posts
    53
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Great info gents wish I had read something like this before I ordered the residential fridge,this solar power seems to be a waste of funds for what I have gotten.
    Retired Pilot 2021 Grand Design 30 g 2018 Ram 3500,2015 Harley Davidson CVO Road Glide

  3. #13
    Site Team Second Chance's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Wherever...
    Posts
    9,018
    Mentioned
    187 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Reddog303 View Post
    Great info gents wish I had read something like this before I ordered the residential fridge,this solar power seems to be a waste of funds for what I have gotten.
    It's not "For what I've gotten," but rather for your intended use. We have a residential refrigerator, the 300 watt factory solar system, a 2,000 watt inverter, and two 100AH Battle Born LiFePO4 batteries. We don't boondock and only have the solar setup and lithium batteries to keep the refrigerator running on travel days and the times that we loose power in an RV park or campground (which happens not infrequently). The factory system has performed flawlessly for these purposes, so we feel we got what we paid for - for our intended purposes after research. It's a matter of expectations and knowing what the system is capable of.

    Rob
    U.S. Army Retired
    2012 F350 DRW CC LB Lariat PS 6.7
    2020 Solitude 310GK-R, MORryde IS, disc brakes,
    Sailun LRG tires, solar, DP windows, W/D
    (Previously in a Reflection 337RLS)
    Full time since 08/2015

  4. #14
    Fireside Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2021
    Location
    Pacific Northwest
    Posts
    53
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Yes that is the case ,but as was presented to me by the sales rep it was the next great wave with the smaller compressor using less energy solar was the future, but should not believe everything I'm told ,I am wondering with the covid issue if GD even had propane fridges as an option as they seem to be relieved at the dealership I was ok with the compressor fridge.
    Retired Pilot 2021 Grand Design 30 g 2018 Ram 3500,2015 Harley Davidson CVO Road Glide

  5. #15
    Site Sponsor SolarPoweredRV's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Tampa Florida
    Posts
    2,047
    Mentioned
    103 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by huntindog View Post
    I have this on my Momentum.
    I added a couple of panels for a total of 540 watts. I was careful not to exceed any of the specs of the Jaboni 30 amp controller.
    I just returned from it's first trip since the upgrade. The Jaboni keeps going into float at peak Sunlight time. The Victron Monitor shows that the Battle Born Batteries are far from charged. If I turned the controller off, and then back on, it would go into Bulk, but 10 minutes later would be back into float.I could not reach Jaboni during the trip, but I did talk to Battle Born. Battle Born told me that reseting the controller that way would not harm the batteries so long as they were taking the charge. Also if I started the generator, it would continue charging at a high rate until full. So armed with that info, and the Victron monitor showing a charge deficit, I spent an afternoon watching the monitor and controller, resetting it everytime it went into float. I was able to completely recharge the batteries doing this.

    Back in town, I had several conversations with Jaboni. As part of the diagnosis I discovered that the Jaboni consistently reads the battery voltage one half volt higher than the Victron monitor. The Victron is correct.

    Jaboni finally said it had to be the controller, as all other possibilities had been ruled out. Now the fun part. In order to get it warrantied, I need to take the trailer to the dealer, and let them diagnose it.
    First off, they would have it for 3-4 months,,,, Second I seriously doubt they are qualified for this,, so it would be a huge waste of time.

    I told them that their policy basically means there is no warranty. .
    I am not going thru all that frustration for a part that retails for 192.00. And I will not give Jaboni any more of my money.

    My adding the solar panels got the system close to the max specs. of the Jaboni, but not over. It seems that the Jaboni can not perform to what its specs state.
    As if I shade some of the panels, it works correctly. But it seems to top out at about 360 watts. Not the 550 it is rated for.

    I will just chalk this up to a bad experience and move on.

    I previously wrote about about upgrading this system here. I no longer think that this system can be upgraded much, if at all.

    I would simply replace that Jaboni Charge Controller with a Victron Solar Charge Controller with Bluetooth capability.

    The Victron Charge Controllers are "Rock Solid".

    I would also purchase a Controller with high enough specs to add more Solar panels in the future, or simply plan on adding a second Charge Controller for any additional panels. Anyway, just consider any future expansion possibilities before you buy your new Solar Charge Controller.
    David and Peggy
    2019 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.7L Diesel, Dually, Long Bed
    Running with 20k Reese Goosebox (Love It) and Ford Factory "Puck" system.
    Stopping with 8,000 lb Disc Brakes and Titan Hydraulic over Electric Brakes system.
    Powering all this fun with 1200 Watts of Solar, two Tesla, Model S, battery modules, 24 volt Victron Inverter.
    2018 Solitude 310 GK

  6. #16
    Site Sponsor SolarPoweredRV's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    Tampa Florida
    Posts
    2,047
    Mentioned
    103 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by huntindog View Post
    Will be going with Victron. Since I am spending more money, I am considering adding more panels as well. So my exact model controller hasn't been decided yet. options are leave as is. or add two 120 watt panels, or add 4 120 watt panels.
    Might I suggest getting away from the "Small" 120 Watt panels. They are rather expensive (when you calculate $ per Watt) and the panels are not very efficient.

    I suggest you go with one or two Residential Solar panels in the 325 Watt range.

    In order to do this, it would be best to get a Victron Controller to handle your current panels and get a second Victron Coltroller for your newer panel(s).

    The 120 Watt panels run a bit over $1.50 per Watt while the Residential Solar panels run around $0.54 cents per watt. So, for the same money, you can get 3 times the energy. The residential panels are slightly larger, but they fit on camper roofs just fine (I have 4, 305 Watt panels on my roof with room for more).

    Definitely check out sizing and fit before you buy.
    David and Peggy
    2019 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.7L Diesel, Dually, Long Bed
    Running with 20k Reese Goosebox (Love It) and Ford Factory "Puck" system.
    Stopping with 8,000 lb Disc Brakes and Titan Hydraulic over Electric Brakes system.
    Powering all this fun with 1200 Watts of Solar, two Tesla, Model S, battery modules, 24 volt Victron Inverter.
    2018 Solitude 310 GK

  7. #17
    Long Hauler huntindog's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    2,177
    Mentioned
    33 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by SolarPoweredRV View Post
    Might I suggest getting away from the "Small" 120 Watt panels. They are rather expensive (when you calculate $ per Watt) and the panels are not very efficient.

    I suggest you go with one or two Residential Solar panels in the 325 Watt range.

    In order to do this, it would be best to get a Victron Controller to handle your current panels and get a second Victron Coltroller for your newer panel(s).

    The 120 Watt panels run a bit over $1.50 per Watt while the Residential Solar panels run around $0.54 cents per watt. So, for the same money, you can get 3 times the energy. The residential panels are slightly larger, but they fit on camper roofs just fine (I have 4, 305 Watt panels on my roof with room for more).

    Definitely check out sizing and fit before you buy.
    I did not choose the 120 watt panels because of the cost. The first two were purchased to wire in series in order to match the 300 watt Jaboni panel as close as possible. When that approach failed, I then moved on to a Victron 250/100 bluetooth controller, and 4 more Aims 120 watt panels. Obviously if I was starting from scratch. some different choices could have made sense. Since I already had 2 of the 120 watt panels installed, I sure did not want to rip them off the roof leaving holes it it. So the decision was to get more of the 120 watt panels. The jaboni system is back to it's stock configuration. It works well like that, and I simply run it along with the Victron controller together. It really cranks out the power, and will do even better when I add 3 more 120 watt panels to the victron controller.
    2021 398M Full Body Paint 8k axles. LRH tires. Disc brakes.
    Two bathrooms, no waiting 155 fresh, 104 black, 104 grey 1860 watts solar.
    800AH BattleBorn Batteries No campgrounds 100% boondocking
    2020 Silverado High Country 3500 dually crewcab Duramax Allison

  8. #18
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    May 2021
    Location
    Ocala, Florida
    Posts
    264
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    1 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Second Chance View Post
    Yep - error corrected. Thanks.

    Since the system is doing what we wanted it to do, I have no plans to add panels or expand the system.

    Rob
    I always appreciate your comments. Are you using one 300 watt panel along with the Jaboni controller/charger? I ask because I’m concerned that my truck will not keep my batteries charged during a day of driving due to the power requirements of the Samsung digital inverter refrigerator. I can’t seem to find the watts needed to run this refrigerator. I have 2 105 AH group 31 AGM batteries. Occasionally we stop overnight in a parking lot but we usually use a RV park each night. I’m assuming that I can use 50% of my amp hours without damaging the batteries. It seems that the refrigerator can’t use more than 20 amp hours in a day. Am I correct and thanks in advance for your help? For the last 17 years we have had propane absorption refrigerators so this is all new to me.
    Ray & Flo
    2021 Silverado 3500HD DRW
    2021 Solitude GK345-R
    Morryde IS & Disc Brakes
    Solar System. 8 100 AH Lithium batteries, 12 200 watt panels, Victron 3000 watt inverter, Smart Shunt, Cerbo, & 2 MPPT Charger/Controllers
    Travel 6 months each year

  9. #19
    Site Team Second Chance's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Wherever...
    Posts
    9,018
    Mentioned
    187 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by USA in a Chevrolet View Post
    I always appreciate your comments. Are you using one 300 watt panel along with the Jaboni controller/charger? I ask because I’m concerned that my truck will not keep my batteries charged during a day of driving due to the power requirements of the Samsung digital inverter refrigerator. I can’t seem to find the watts needed to run this refrigerator. I have 2 105 AH group 31 AGM batteries. Occasionally we stop overnight in a parking lot but we usually use a RV park each night. I’m assuming that I can use 50% of my amp hours without damaging the batteries. It seems that the refrigerator can’t use more than 20 amp hours in a day. Am I correct and thanks in advance for your help? For the last 17 years we have had propane absorption refrigerators so this is all new to me.
    Yes - our rig came with the 300 watt panel and Jaboni solar charge controller. We have two Battle Born 100AH LiFePO4 batteries to drive the 2,000 watt inverter that came with the frig/solar setup, and a lithium-compatible converter/charger. The refrigerator requires 300 watts (about 3 amps surge on startup - a little less after startup) while cycling. How often it cycles depends on the ambient temperature (temps outside and inside the RV when on the road). You'll have to work backwards from that (with an assumed cycle time) to figure out the power draw from the batteries - and figure in a efficiency loss converting the 12VDC to 120VAC via the inverter. I'm sure it's been done somewhere here on the forum if you use the search function... I'm not an expert at this topic. Don't depend on a lot of power from the tow vehicle for charging as that is relatively small-gauge wiring.

    Rob
    U.S. Army Retired
    2012 F350 DRW CC LB Lariat PS 6.7
    2020 Solitude 310GK-R, MORryde IS, disc brakes,
    Sailun LRG tires, solar, DP windows, W/D
    (Previously in a Reflection 337RLS)
    Full time since 08/2015

  10. #20
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    May 2021
    Location
    Ocala, Florida
    Posts
    264
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    1 Thread(s)
    Thanks. So as you travel do you find that your solar system allows you to travel all day & stay overnight without a hookup without discharging your batteries too much?
    Ray & Flo
    2021 Silverado 3500HD DRW
    2021 Solitude GK345-R
    Morryde IS & Disc Brakes
    Solar System. 8 100 AH Lithium batteries, 12 200 watt panels, Victron 3000 watt inverter, Smart Shunt, Cerbo, & 2 MPPT Charger/Controllers
    Travel 6 months each year

Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

DISCLAIMER:This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Grand Design RV, LLC or any of its affiliates. This is an independent site.