Quick & dirty AC test with Platinum Lithium package

[Jstone]

I’m home, in hot, humid Myrtle Beach SC area. I have the 630ah/340w on my 2022 Elite 2…soft start on the AC. I ran a quick & dirty test last week, ambient temp in low 90’s, camper fully closed & in full sunlight.

I started at 100% SOC, and set the thermostat to 80 degrees/automatic…kept the blackout shades closed.

Ran the AC as stated above for 5 hours, 3-8pm, charge dropped to appx. 40%.

I replaced about 10%  charge per day, so I was just over 50% on Friday, 60% Saturday, with no power consumption….I did the same full-sun run in the AC on Sunday, started at 60% SOC, ambient temps were about the same. 4 hours of use saw the SOC drop to 18% & 20%.

I plugged into shore power and the batteries were at 100% SOC in 3 hours.

Far from a  scientific test, but I was surprised how well the batteries handled the challenge and how quickly they recovered.

[Guest]

That is interesting. It seems this may be evidence that portable solar panels may be useful to some people. I am hoping more than double my solar power production using solar panels. 

Thanks for posting the information!

Kirk

[Steph and Dud B]

So, very rough estimate, the AC used approx. 10% SOC per hour and your solar replaced that 10% the next day. In theory then, someone in similar weather could probably run the AC for 1/2 hour each night to cool the cabin off before bed and recoup that power (and some other power used) the next day. Looking forward to trying this when we get our Ollie!

[Jstone]

I may get portable panels, I’ve used them with a big Goal Zero lithium power station….it just isn’t much fun to stay around camp moving solar panels to optimize their output(ask me how I know, Lol). I have a Honda 2200i with a Hutch Mountain propane conversion, quiet, simple & it is under 50 pounds, and will run forever on the 30 pound propane tanks.

I think weight & size wise,  the generator vs. 200 or more watts of portable solar may be a wash. YMMV!

[Steph and Dud B]

Yes, we have a 2000W Honda that we'll probably carry to supplement the solar. I like the idea of portable solar panels, but we already own the Honda.

[BBL]

On 6/7/2022 at 9:47 AM, Jstone said:

I’m home, in hot, humid Myrtle Beach SC area. I have the 630ah/340w on my 2022 Elite 2…soft start on the AC. I ran a quick & dirty test last week, ambient temp in low 90’s, camper fully closed & in full sunlight.

I started at 100% SOC, and set the thermostat to 80 degrees/automatic…kept the blackout shades closed.

Ran the AC as stated above for 5 hours, 3-8pm, charge dropped to appx. 40%.

I replaced about 10%  charge per day, so I was just over 50% on Friday, 60% Saturday, with no power consumption….I did the same full-sun run in the AC on Sunday, started at 60% SOC, ambient temps were about the same. 4 hours of use saw the SOC drop to 18% & 20%.

I plugged into shore power and the batteries were at 100% SOC in 3 hours.

Far from a  scientific test, but I was surprised how well the batteries handled the challenge and how quickly they recovered.

Thank you for this post. We are waiting on an LE II build with a similar setup. So you are saying you have 340W of solar panels and in full sunlight you only recovered 10% each day?   I am guessing you have the Zamp solar charge controller?

I am hoping their move to the Victron Solar Charge controller and adding 60w of solar (for a total of 400w) will perform a little better than that.

Also, I will be supplementing my solar with a portable, dual-fuel 2500w generator as required.

Again, thank you for the post.

Brian

[Jstone]

Yes to replacing +/-  10% per day.

[Hokieman]

On 9/1/2022 at 4:45 PM, Brian and Brandelyne Lewis said:

So you are saying you have 340W of solar panels and in full sunlight you only recovered 10% each day? 

14 hours ago, Jstone said:

Yes to replacing +/-  10% per day.

I’ve got the same Zamp 340W panels on our trailer also, as well as the standard Zamp 30A PWM controller.   In a conversation with Zamp Tech Support, they said to expect an average of +/- 70AH/day,  conditions varying widely of course.    This figure lines up fairly well with @Jstone’s +/-10% (~63AH).  I’ve never measured my daily solar input carefully, plan to do that soon just to confirm.   I know I can improve that with retrofitting a Victron MPPT controller, but frankly, I have not come up short on stored power when I need it….yet.  We do not have an inverter nor a microwave, so no major energy draws.   I have an older Honda EU2000 generator if we fall short on power, however we rarely use it, and only to run the AC for a short while.   Does anyone have good figures of how much daily power their 340W Zamp panels produce?   If so, let us know which controller you use.  

[MnM]

On 6/7/2022 at 7:47 AM, Jstone said:

I’m home, in hot, humid Myrtle Beach SC area. I have the 630ah/340w on my 2022 Elite 2…soft start on the AC. I ran a quick & dirty test last week, ambient temp in low 90’s, camper fully closed & in full sunlight.

I started at 100% SOC, and set the thermostat to 80 degrees/automatic…kept the blackout shades closed.

Ran the AC as stated above for 5 hours, 3-8pm, charge dropped to appx. 40%.

I replaced about 10%  charge per day, so I was just over 50% on Friday, 60% Saturday, with no power consumption….I did the same full-sun run in the AC on Sunday, started at 60% SOC, ambient temps were about the same. 4 hours of use saw the SOC drop to 18% & 20%.

I plugged into shore power and the batteries were at 100% SOC in 3 hours.

Far from a  scientific test, but I was surprised how well the batteries handled the challenge and how quickly they recovered.

This is SUPER helpful and very encouraging as someone taking delivery in FEB and hoping the Victron charger, and slightly better panels will do even better.   Still will go with either a Honda or Champion 1800 Watt generator as a backup but hope we can minimize its use. 

I will be curious to see how it does running at night during sleeping hours for us.  The lack of sun gain into this equation should help but of course no sun either during that time period. Sleeping is where we expect to really need AC when its super hot and humid. 

Thanks for running the test and sending out the info!

 

[Jstone]

Glad my testing has helped! I recently purchased a 200 watt portable panel, but haven’t tested it. I did camp over 10 days in early July, high elevation, so no AC was needed. I had filtered sunlight due to foliage, used anything and everything we wanted, including the convection feature on the microwave, CPAP nightly, just no AC…..after 10 days, we still had 66% of our battery power left. 

 

[SeaDawg]

I'd say the 10 per cent recovery on 340 watts is pretty accurate,  in full sun, with 630 ah batteries. 

When we swapped 200 watts solar for 400, in partial spring shade (buds, no leaves) we could power our 12v danfoss/secop without portable. I took a lot of notes, but I can't find them at the moment.  Our truckfridge uses 60 or slightly more ah per day. We can keep up in mostly sun. In shade, or rain, we have to break out the portable panels, or the genset to keep up. ( we only have 2 x 105 ah agm batteries. )

If you do the math, that's acceptable.  And, expected.  To recharge 630 ah batteries with solar, you'd need a ton more solar. The Ollie rooftop is just not that big. 

The idea is to give you power when you need it, without worry. Boondocking.  Ac for an hour or two, sure. Overnight, I don't think so, as far as replenishing. 

 

[John E Davies]

On 6/7/2022 at 8:21 AM, Steph and Dud B said:

So, very rough estimate, the AC used approx. 10% SOC per hour and your solar replaced that 10% the next day. In theory then, someone in similar weather could probably run the AC for 1/2 hour each night to cool the cabin off before bed and recoup that power (and some other power used) the next day. Looking forward to trying this when we get our Ollie!

Running the AC for 30 minutes won’t do it. These are very well insulated trailers, they heat up quite slowly during the morning, by lunch time they can get really hot inside. If you wait until late evening to run it you won’t get all that built up heat out. You are not just replacing the air inside…. You have to cool the thermal mass of the entire structure between the hulls and its contents: behind the cabinets, the water in the tanks, your personal belongings…. That takes hours.

My sister has a 5x7 teardrop and she does what you suggest by opening wide the doors and running the Max Fan after the sun sets. But it has zero insulation.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Steph and Dud B]

3 hours ago, John E Davies said:

Running the AC for 30 minutes won’t do it.

In practice, that is correct.