Front Panel instrumentation "flickering" intermittently

[daveb]

Originally Posted by ucsundog

Thanks for info... I'm now talking to Peter at Sportsmobile West to possibly get the upgrade for a "momentary switch" v.s. the old "automatic junction signal". He said he can do it for $320.


Btw, do you have any suggestions on a Solar panel setup? I plan on camping where I'm off the grid for 2-3 days at a time with "average" use if that means anything.


thanks,

Alex

If you're not having issues with the separator, a simple switch can be cut into the ignition circuit that controls the assist start function. I'm guessing 320 includes pulling the old separator and installing a new model probably made by Blue Sea. If you do purchase a Blue Sea 7622 it has full manual control on the separator itself. I'd check with Blue Sea but if you have easy access to it, there really isn't a need to add a switch at the dash. I mean how many times will you need to jump start your van? If you kill the starting battery system, all you have to do is manually close the switch on the separator. The 7622 is also fully automatic in the normal operation and an addition of solar will charge both battery systems.

I'm with Mike on the solar. In the past many SMB's came standard with a 130 watt panel and a single 220AH 4-D battery. I had that setup and it worked fine with a 4cf fridge and even with Fluorescent Lighting. But more is sometimes better. How far you go depends. If you frequent overcast skies now and then, a larger panel or array might be in order. There really isn't enough roof area to have enough solar to run high amp draw items like a microwave...that's were the batteries come in. I'm running 270 watts of solar and 440AH worth of battery reserve, somewhat an overkill. If you spec out the system correctly, you can add a single panel for now and add more down the road.

Hope this helps.

[ucsundog]

thanks for the reply and it's very helpful!

Also since i'm considering to have this done would it also be advisable to change out the AGM house batteries as well? My Sportsmobile is a 2006. So far I can get two days running the fridge and fan continuously and the battery drops to ~11.4-11.7 Volts. How long do people go before changing their house batteries?

[daveb]

Rule of thumb is not to take an AGM below 50% or 12.2 volts on a regular basis. SMB might be able to do a load test on the battery. If you have a Lifeline battery, 6 years is still OK and they can last up to 8-10 years if treated well in the past. As they age, the battery will lose a percentage of storage capacity, so it may work, just not as long. If I were to replace a battery, I'd stay with the more premium brands like Concorde Lifeline, or East Penn Deka. There are other high dollar batteries out there. Just remember any battery can be destroyed by poor charging habits. Sometimes it might make more sense purchasing a cheap battery like a Universal brand. At least if you kill one of those it won't hurt the pocket book as bad. I just wouldn't expect one of those to last past 4-5 years. Some have had good results with Universal though.