Upgrading the MPPT SC for Suitcase Solar

[mountainoliver]

My Furrion/Cnlinko inlet is an older design. The socket itself is all metal the new ones are plastic. When I ordered mine, Furrion advertised the metal version but sold the plastic version both with the same model number. I called Furrion and the guy I talked to sent me another plastic version and a cable tv inlet. After further conversation, he found a metal version in someone’s desk in their office and sent that one to me. Apparently they no longer make the metal version. By the way, the Furrion/Cnlinko solar inlet has the same mounting hole pattern as the Furrion power inlet if interested.

Edited August 16 by mountainoliver
Added content

[rich.dev]

2 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Thanks Rich. Does it feel heavy to setup? (30.2 LBS) I was looking at the same item.

Yah kinda on the heavy side but I’m still a spring chicken so doable for now! 😜

2 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Do your SCs ever feel very hot at the heat of the day?

I haven’t checked yet, plan is to monitor them for heat/cold when we’re in Arizona this winter. I might eventually install a fan for ventilation like @NCeagle did in this thread.

 

 

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, rich.dev said:

I haven’t checked yet, plan is to monitor them for heat/cold when we’re in Arizona this winter.

"Spring Chicken" yeah you and me both! Stop by or let's meet up this winter!

That is one cool fan install! Though not sure if I'd want to pull 100-degree air into the interior directly, which is the number I read yesterday. Check out the third post in my upgrade mod. It pushes hot air to the trunk area and should pull some cooler interior air in its place from the dinette and bath/closet areas from other installed vents. The Beech Lane is a decent product and the thermostat is working well at the 85 degree setting (90 is max). I have one behind the fridge too. 

 

[jd1923]

I concluded my battery solar-charge test. After using the A/C to run the 600AH batteries down to 27% yesterday, today by 3:20 PM they got up to 53% SOC being charged ONLY by the 340W (or 320W?) rooftop solar via the Blue Sky MPPT SC.

Given this measured 26% increase in SOC, what additional would occur by adding a 400W suitcase? It's 20% more wattage, tilted to the sun. A new Victron 100/30 could be a more efficient MPPT SC than the 25A Blue Sky manufactured in 2015. I estimate a good 35%, maybe more. This could get us up to near 90%. Not too bad. Also, replacing the A/C with say the Atmos, using half the number of AHs, we might get back to 100% <OR> we could run the air twice as long.

This will work for us. When camping and the weather gets hot, we'll go do something, leave in the truck for the day. Get back at say 4PM and it would be great to run the A/C for 2-3 hours. Unless it's winter we're camping at altitude, and it always cools off enough to sleep well at night with the Oliver windows open. We live at 5440 ft elevation and of course the air is dry. I can see that most points east, being humid and when close to sea-level this would not work, needing a generator or shore power. Thanks for reading.

 

[Ronbrink]

15 hours ago, mountainoliver said:

why am I using a 10 amp fuse?

I was simply asking if you or anyone knew why the Furrion port was rated at 10A when the wiring is obviously higher amp capable. Thanks for your response and information provided therein!

[mossemi]

15 hours ago, rideadeuce said:

I do have a bias towards GZ stuff. Been using it since 2007.

I was beginning to think you worked for GZ, maybe you’re just one of those influencer's.  Just kidding!
Mossey

[mountainoliver]

I’m not sure on why the Furrion inlet itself is only rated at 10 amps even though (I think) #10 wire is used. Also it just occurred to me that in the DC world for longer wire runs it’s a good idea to use large wire to reduce the losses. Maybe that’s why they use larger wire than really needed even though the plug itself is the limiting factor? I must have read somewhere that the inlet and the available Cnlinko plugs were rated at 10 amps. That may have been my deciding factor for choosing a 10 amp fuse. Seems like I recall that when I was searching for a suitable inlet that they were mostly rated at 10 amps. I probably didn’t dig deeper into it at the time because my small panels weren’t going cause any issues. At the time I only wanted a small easy to carry/store portable panel to supplement the Oliver panels. Even though I can run my air conditioner on my 300 amp/hr batteries I don’t really consider doing that because it would take an unreasonable amount of time to recharge the batteries. In recent years the prospect of running an air conditioner for a meaningful amount of time has become a reality with the large capacity batteries and large solar panels which I have neither unfortunately. Good question though.

Edited August 17 by mountainoliver
Clarification and additional information

[mossemi]

On 8/15/2024 at 3:44 PM, jd1923 said:

This model is $260 less than the 70A version. What do you think?

Have you shopped EBay for a Victron CC?  I am using a 150/45 that was cheaper than the 100/30 at that time.  It's often all about inventory!

Mossey

[rich.dev]

19 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Do your SCs ever feel very hot at the heat of the day?

John, I just remembered I have Sensorpush wireless thermometers all over the Ollie, sorry did I say I’m still a spring chicken!😜 I checked and the temp under the street side bed got up to 40°C/104°F one day in July, while the inside was approx. 75-80°F!. I see the output is rated up to an ambient temperature of 104°F after which the current will be derated. So I will definitely have to look at ventilation in that area.

I checked out your ventilation option, sorry if I missed it in the pictures but where did you mount the fan, is it the partition between the rear basement and below street side bed? 

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, rich.dev said:

John, I just remembered I have Sensorpush wireless thermometers all over the Ollie, sorry did I say I’m still a spring chicken!😜 I checked and the temp under the street side bed got up to 40°C/104°F one day in July, while the inside was approx. 75-80°F!. I see the output is rated up to an ambient temperature of 104°F after which the current will be derated. So I will definitely have to look at ventilation in that area.

I checked out your ventilation option, sorry if I missed it in the pictures but where did you mount the fan, is it the partition between the rear basement and below street side bed? 

Thanks Rich, I was getting the same 104 MAX after running the inverter over 3 hours, 94F outside with A/C thermostat set at 78F. The Blue Sky MPPT felt much hotter on a sunny day than the Victron MP2 inverter case, both under the streetside bed. 10-15 minutes with the fan on brought temp down to 95F. These temps are fine for electronics. The manual for the Victron MPPT 100/50 and 100/30 states "operating temperature -30°C to +60°C, full rated output up to 40°C." 40C = 104F for fully rated operation and MAX 60C = 140F. The fan did just what it needed, bringing temp under 100 vs. much over.

Yes, fan position is hard to tell from my pictures. I call the rear basement "the trunk" since it is for rear storage. You can reach in that opening sitting outside with drill and jigsaw to cut that opening. The fan is mounted inside the basement under the streetside bed, and the fan control and grill are outside in the trunk.

[Ronbrink]

On 8/16/2024 at 4:56 PM, mountainoliver said:

Ronbrink, why am I using a 10 amp fuse? My portable solar panels are 100 watts total. That’s all I needed. I haven’t looked at the plug/socket amp rating but that may be 10 amps.

Just saw this. If the 10A fuse has posed no issues with use of the 100W solar panels, then no need to change. 

[jd1923]

The Renogy 400W Suitcase specifies 11A short circuit amperage and Max Series fuse rating of 15A, listed on product label. Use fuse rating per solar panel specifications.