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Old 09-28-2016, 12:39 PM   #41
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All good questions, besides dialog brings better solutions.

You could easily have both methods wired DC to DC and ACR, I would not want to use them at the same time, but you could get both worlds out of it, The DMT does have a on/off switch, it would be even better if their start terminal could disable versus just change the start-up and low voltage recovery settings.

My concerns are around my van having Starcool Air conditioning, that is all hooked up to house side. When the blower is on high the draw with other things on could be very close to 30 amps. Anyhow there would be ways around that also. It does get the wheels spinning.

If you were to go that route, I'd be happy to aid in anyway I could.


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Old 09-28-2016, 12:39 PM   #42
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1der and I have talked to the folks at Midnite Solar about the diversion load capabilities of the kid.....

Here are some random things.....

The folks at Midnite solar have not tested the kid with a high amp diversion load like a 20A water heater element. It's more or less designed to power a light or some other low amperage load. They are interested in how 1der's setup works out.

That being said, a guy named TechnoDave on the midnight solar forum has successfully used the diversion load feature to heat water. The diversion load has lots of setting options (PWM, upper/lower limits, etc) for endless days of playing.

The diversion load is basically connected to the battery with the kid managing the excess solar. In other words.....once the battery is topped up the kid will close a relay allowing the excess solar to flow to the load....

However.....it's basically connecting the battery to the load and the load will pull whatever amps it needs based on it's resistance....so there may be some tweaking of diversion load settings to prevent oscillation. The kid will also open the relay controlling the load when the battery starts to get drained (all configurable).

If this feature is of interest, it's best to study the kid's user manual, which is readily available online. Go slow........the diversion load settings are vast.
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Old 09-28-2016, 01:52 PM   #43
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Wow, great dialogue, guys! I'm learning way too much here . Thanks very much for the info. I'm a bit bummed out about my charger situation, but as Greg noted, there does seem to be some strange absorption voltage numbers as compared to other (newer) smart chargers out there. I'm looking at those KISAE units and am very intrigued.

So, it looks as though I may want to look into a new charger/converter. I'm not too interested in charger/inverter combos, only because I haven't got anything that I run using 110v while dry camping. If I'm plugged in to shore power, it's obviously a non-issue.

However, I'm interested in how an inverter charger is wired into the system...would it have a way of powering my 110 receptacles throughout the van (while dry camping), or is it something that has its own 110 output receptacle and I have to plug anything 110 into it directly? It doesn't really list that kind of information on the various websites that I've checked out. Some obviously have receptacles built directly into them, but to find a place to mount something like that (under my gaucho) and be able to use it conveniently seems difficult. I'm guessing that it can plug into the house 110 system somehow and knows when I'm plugged into shorepower so that it doesn't feed into the system during that situation? I guess I'd like to see a wiring diagram on one of those to know if I should just get an all-in-one solution.

Boywonder, how long have you had your agm batteries from 619battery? I'm interested mainly because I'd like to know if it's a matter of very little time spent on the intellipower 9160 that's keeping them alive, or if it truly is an option for me (as I'd be charging them fully with it more than once a week). They seem like a great deal, so even if I fried them after two years of use, I wouldn't be so upset at the money spent on them. 619battery has 105ah exide branded flooded cells for 140 each, which is another alternative for me...or if I can indeed fit a 31 in my battery boxes, I could go with two 115ah for 155 each. If I go the blem agm route, I'll obviously have to reconfigure my battery mounting/storage situation to fit a 4d-ish size.

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Old 09-28-2016, 02:56 PM   #44
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So the KID is configurable, so to speak. You can use it's load connection for general use, or use it for diversion.

Pretty cool!!

Never say never, but the plan for now is to just run a fridge, lights, espar D2, and charge electronics. Might have to get an inverter going for charging my laptop, it's a pig.
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Old 09-28-2016, 08:55 PM   #45
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boywonder,
thanks for the input on the load features of the KID. I suspect that you can come pretty close to mimicking that with your battery monitor. certainly not all the features the Kid has, but your general thought was to heat your hot water heater but still manage your batteries.

capn,
You can get a inverter that is hardwired so that your existing plugs are usable. The first decision you need to make would pure sine or modified sine. That comes down to really understanding what you plan on running on it. Next comes size, if you are just plugging in smaller load you can get by with a smaller 300-500 watt pure sine pretty cheep. I generally recommend only pure sine, but it was not until this year that I replaced my original modified sine wave tripplite. You will pay more , a use a little more up front power, but on the back side depending on what you use you will make up for it by having cleaner power. It all comes down to how much you want to spend. I switched to a Magnum Energy MS2000 that I am very happy with.


Flux,
have you thought of a DC to DC converter for you laptop? I run a a Intel NUC off of a dc to dc converter to run my in car infotainment system. Less power loss going from DC to DC instead of DC to AC and then AC back to DC.

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Old 09-29-2016, 08:24 AM   #46
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However, I'm interested in how an inverter charger is wired into the system...would it have a way of powering my 110 receptacles throughout the van (while dry camping), or is it something that has its own 110 output receptacle and I have to plug anything 110 into it directly?

Boywonder, how long have you had your agm batteries from 619battery? I'm interested mainly because I'd like to know if it's a matter of very little time spent on the intellipower 9160 that's keeping them alive, or if it truly is an option for me (as I'd be charging them fully with it more than once a week). They seem like a great deal, so even if I fried them after two years of use, I wouldn't be so upset at the money spent on them. 619battery has 105ah exide branded flooded cells for 140 each, which is another alternative for me...or if I can indeed fit a 31 in my battery boxes, I could go with two 115ah for 155 each. If I go the blem agm route, I'll obviously have to reconfigure my battery mounting/storage situation to fit a 4d-ish size.

capn

Capnkurt: There are several ways of wiring in an inverter....

If it's a combo inverter/charger, it has a built in transfer switch that senses shore power and switches your 110V receptacles to shore power via a contactor/relay.

I have just an inverter and purchased a separate transfer switch to do the above function, but have not installed the transfer switch since I rarely use shore power. Presently my shore power connects only to the intellipower charger, so my 110V stuff is only powered by my inverter and batteries. So when plugged into shore power if my 110V loads are less than approx 6A AC (or 60A DC) then my batteries are breaking even since the inverter will be pulling 60A DC to provide 6A AC to the receptacles (neglecting efficiency losses)....I suppose that we can have a philosophical discussion if that's harder on the batteries than installing the transfer switch.

My inverter has receptacles on it (not hardwired style) so I just wired two male plugs to some 14AWG romex that is hardwired to my receptacles in the van.

I've had my batteries for almost 3 years. They are mostly managed/charged from my solar setup.



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boywonder,
thanks for the input on the load features of the KID. I suspect that you can come pretty close to mimicking that with your battery monitor. certainly not all the features the Kid has, but your general thought was to heat your hot water heater but still manage your batteries.

c

Yes......pretty close.....kinda...

I use the alarm output on the linkpro (configured to be normally closed) so that if the water heater load drops the battery state of charge to less than 75% (completely configurable)....it opens the circuit to the heater element.

The alarm output can also be set for voltage; I started using it that way, but now feel using the SOC setting makes more sense.
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Old 09-29-2016, 09:26 AM   #47
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Flux,
have you thought of a DC to DC converter for you laptop? I run a a Intel NUC off of a dc to dc converter to run my in car infotainment system. Less power loss going from DC to DC instead of DC to AC and then AC back to DC.

-greg

I Will look into that!! It's a Zbook 17 and it's a pig. I know the charger is 200Watt.
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Old 09-29-2016, 01:45 PM   #48
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Thanks for the responses, fellas.

Greg, you had mentioned in an earlier post that you can run into issues with starcool and the inverter? I can't find the exact post because the thread search function isn't working for me. Since I also have starcool (the one that can run while driving or while using shorepower...starcool III?), what issues would I run into with using an inverter/charger? Keep in mind that I never use Starcool while dry camping, as I would have to have the van running the whole time to do so. The only thing that works while the engine is off and I'm not on shore power is the blower fan and condenser fan.

Boywonder, thanks for the information on the battery life. Since I don't use solar unless I'm actually out camping (because it's a portable unit, not a permanent install), fully charging my depleted batteries with it isn't something I would do on a regular basis.

I guess I could take my chances using the intellipower to charge agm batteries, but I think for the short term I am simply going to purchase new flooded batteries to replace the old ones. I think that using shore power to charge them regularly will result in a longer lifespan for me. Then I will look into updating to a new charger/converter (possibly an inverter, if starcool won't present issues that are more of a nuisance) that has the ability to charge flooded, agm and lithium. In the long run, this will allow me to update to whatever battery type I see fit.

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Old 09-29-2016, 04:08 PM   #49
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I guess I could take my chances using the intellipower to charge agm batteries, but I think for the short term I am simply going to purchase new flooded batteries to replace the old ones.

capn
It's interesting to see that the charge wizard info states that it's for use with flooded or AGM batteries......and every 21 hours it equalizes....

...may be worth a call to PD to discuss.....
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Old 10-11-2016, 05:44 AM   #50
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Thanks for the responses, fellas.

Greg, you had mentioned in an earlier post that you can run into issues with starcool and the inverter? I can't find the exact post because the thread search function isn't working for me. Since I also have starcool (the one that can run while driving or while using shorepower...starcool III?), what issues would I run into with using an inverter/charger? Keep in mind that I never use Starcool while dry camping, as I would have to have the van running the whole time to do so. The only thing that works while the engine is off and I'm not on shore power is the blower fan and condenser fan.

Boywonder, thanks for the information on the battery life. Since I don't use solar unless I'm actually out camping (because it's a portable unit, not a permanent install), fully charging my depleted batteries with it isn't something I would do on a regular basis.

I guess I could take my chances using the intellipower to charge agm batteries, but I think for the short term I am simply going to purchase new flooded batteries to replace the old ones. I think that using shore power to charge them regularly will result in a longer lifespan for me. Then I will look into updating to a new charger/converter (possibly an inverter, if starcool won't present issues that are more of a nuisance) that has the ability to charge flooded, agm and lithium. In the long run, this will allow me to update to whatever battery type I see fit.

capn
Capn,
Sorry, I thought I already responded. There should be no problem with Starcool and having a inverter. My problem was loose wires on the starcool relay panel, which in part tried to run the starcool off of the inverter while driving. I always now make sure my Starcool breaker, and thermostat are both off when running the inverter.


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