smkettner
Southern California
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Joined: 03/21/2005
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piano, I knew you would catch that 
No the battery connections are not balanced. That is where the premade 4/0 wire landed. I don't intend to replace the cables to balance it. There might be a way to move the connections around but it is fine until these batteries get replaced. They have 6 years on them as is.
What I really should have done is moved the propane to the right and batteries to the left. Again, maybe when the batteries come out.
I don't plan to run the batteries down to test but as charged it took less than a minute to go 12.7 to 14.6v in the noon sun.
The whole thing might be more hobby than necessity. Reminds me I need to switch off the converter as it should no longer be needed.
2001 F150 SuperCrew
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
675 watts solar
Send a PM if I missed something
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pianotuna
Regina, SK, Canada
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Joined: 12/18/2004
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Hi smk,
Yes, you could balance the wiring easily, and at zero cost, other than a tiny bit of labor.
Regards, Don
Kustom Koach Class C 28'5" 256 watts Unisolar, 875 amp hours in two battery banks 12 volt batteries, 2500 MSW watt inverter.
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renoman69
Edmonton Alberta
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Joined: 02/09/2009
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Nice clean install! 3 questions. I see the main catastrophic fuse how many amps is it? Is the fuse in the CC line a maxi fuse? I like the holder. What is the circuit breaker off to the right of the batts for? My only comment is that it looks like you have your panels attached with only 4 wood screws. Did you get them in the roof joists? If not I would be a bit worried about losing them while driving. Those are big panels and it looks like there is quite a bit of room under them for the wind to get under. Over all a very nice job.
2009 Jayco Eagle Superlite 25.5RKS
2008 Silverado 2500HD Z71 4x4 Duramax/Allison
Reese 15K slider
Honda EU2000I,
270 watts of Kyocera solar
Blue Sky 3024i MPPT controller
450 AHs of Trojan power
Iota DLS-75/IQ4 converter
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smkettner
Southern California
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Renoman, Yes that is a 70 amp maxi fuse, Blue-Sea holder. You do need to remove the snap on cover and loosen the two screws to release the fuse so it is not quite as convenient as a fuse holder that just uses friction.
Circuit breaker to the right is 80 amp protecting #4 wire to the main fuse panel. Most of the run is #2 from the effort to get WFCO into boost mode.
The rear panel has four screws. The front panels have six between them. They are stainless deck screws that I believe have more holding grip than a regular wood screw. Otherwise they are just in the plywood roof. The mount puts about 1.5" gap at the rail, maybe 3/4" in the panel center and 2" at the ends. Roof has more arch to it than I realized.
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smkettner
Southern California
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renoman69 wrote:I see the main catastrophic fuse how many amps is it? Just to avoid confusion the big fuse connected to the 4/0 wire feeds the Prosine 1800 inverter off to the left. 250 amp class T fuse. Not part of the solar charging system or anything else.
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cruz-in
Southern Maryland
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Joined: 02/15/2009
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Could ou elaborate on the rail mounting system. What parts did you use? Where did you get them? How are the panels attached to the rails? etc.
Looking for how to mount mine and would like to use the same approach.
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smkettner
Southern California
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It is a 1" square bar from OSH. HD, Lowes, Ace has it too. Comes in 8' length. I used two bars to mount the pair and cut a bar in half for the single panel.
The single I assembled on the ground and slid up as a unit. Too heavy for the pair so it was drilled and assembled on the roof.
Stainless bolt through to the panel. 1/4 x 1.5" IIRC. SS washer and nyloc nut.
The foot is made with more aluminum stock. The larger C-channel is a bit harder to find. I bought a 2' section at OSH and cut to size.
Between the deck and foot is a neoprene fender washer available at ACE. 2" or 2.5" diameter. Deck screw is stainless #10 x 2.5", the plastic insert for the end is also from ACE hardware. End cap is very important to keep the sharp edges of the aluminum bar off the membrane when tipping over or moving around. Looks nice too.
And of course a big generous dab of Dicor right before pushing the deck screw in.
Couple more pics might give more perspective.
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watchthebox
California
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Joined: 02/04/2010
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Nice job on your solar installation! That should keep your batteries nicely charged. How's is your inverter working out? What do you have it powering?
2008 Ford F-250 6.4 PSD, Curt Mfg. 20K Q5 & R5
2011 Heartland Cyclone 3010
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smkettner
Southern California
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Prosine 1800 is flawless. Powers the microwave and one added outlet in the kitchen. Only downside has been it draws about 2 amps at idle.
I also have a small Go Power 300w SW wired in to power the rest of the convenience outlets. Much lower 260 milliamp draw can be left on without worry.
Idle draw should be less of an issue with the solar. 
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Kiwi_too
Western, WA
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Joined: 05/13/2003
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It has an on/off switch. Just turn it off when not using.
May God bless your travels
Me, The Wonderful Wife
and two Spastic Border Collies 
U.S. Army Retired 
2004 Coachmen Aurora, 3480DS
2007 Saturn Outlook, FROG
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