150w SUV Setup

[farmhand]

Was building a Stealth-Sleeper and decided to add 150w panel direct to rack, cheapo charge controller, and smart box with a mice 75Ah SLA. Added in an RV light to make it official lol.
(not my finest work but it was pro-bono)

 

[FLD]

Congratulations! Looks nice. Those RV light fixtures give off quite a bit of light, don't they?
Nice inverter too.
Got plans for more camping gear powered by your solar setup?

 

[farmhand]

Congratulations! Looks nice. Those RV light fixtures give off quite a bit of light, don't they?
Nice inverter too.
Got plans for more camping gear powered by your solar setup?

Thanks

There's a dual-head 6" 12v fan in it, an SUV inflatable air mat, and a 10A 120v charger so he can recharge off the SUV or 120v if needed. DC-DC chargers are two much dough (of course the SUV's 120v would come via running the inverter of the SUV 12v socket).

Got the SUV for a grand after a love tap from a deer. Replaced radiator, power steering cooler, added window vents also. So I sourced and did the work but my son has $1750 in it total. He lives in the mountains, but due to immigration work ran dry and he had to go to Amazon in Denver for work (3hours away). So he is going to sleep in this 3 mights a week in there secured lot, and having access to facilities & food cafe he will be just fine.

Unskilled youngins.... but he'll make it.

 

[farmhand]

Oh,
The RV light was leftover from a camper renew we did over the winter, and I thought it funny to install an overly bright LED panel light :D

 

[farmhand]

Here's the Trolling Battery Smart box (well one like it), I think these are great for the price. https://www.amazon.com/Trolling-Con...798&sprefix=smart+battery+box,aps,116&sr=8-23

 

[FLD]

Nice battery box.
A small 12-volt cooler would be a nice addition to the camper van.
I get what you're saying about the dc-dc chargers being kind of expensive. Any chance there's room for another solar panel on the roof? A second panel makes a huge difference (in my opinion), especially in low light like sunrise and sunset. Every watt you can get into the batteries is another watt he can use.

 

[farmhand]

Nice battery box.
A small 12-volt cooler would be a nice addition to the camper van.
I get what you're saying about the dc-dc chargers being kind of expensive. Any chance there's room for another solar panel on the roof? A second panel makes a huge difference (in my opinion), especially in low light like sunrise and sunset. Every watt you can get into the batteries is another watt he can use.

Yes there is room for another panel, but he's on a seriously tight budget. I have a TEG cooler & a 12v Compressor cooler, but as he will be at Amazon the whole time & they have huge door coolers & unlimited ice.... he'll be ok.

 

[FLD]

I certainly understand being on a tight budget. There was a time when I had to live out of the vending machines at work. I can't says the vending machine egg salad sandwiches were great but they were edible and cheap.

 

[justinm001]

It's SLA why would you need a DC DC charger? You could connect right into the cigeratte lighter and plug in when engines running. It'll be low amps though, whatever the lighter wiring and fuse is

 

[farmhand]

It's SLA why would you need a DC DC charger? You could connect right into the cigeratte lighter and plug in when engines running. It'll be low amps though, whatever the lighter wiring and fuse is

Really? I had no Idea you could do that. I figured it'd pop the host SUV 12v socket fuse

 

[justinm001]

Really? I had no Idea you could do that. I figured it'd pop the host SUV 12v socket fuse

Nope the more it pulls the hotter it gets and the voltage drops so it doesn't pull as much. This is SOP for all trailers as the 7pin trailer wire charges the trailer battery.

 

[Supervstech]

Was building a Stealth-Sleeper and decided to add 150w panel direct to rack, cheapo charge controller, and smart box with a mice 75Ah SLA. Added in an RV light to make it official lol.
(not my finest work but it was pro-bono)View attachment 207814

Where did you get the panel? I have been looking for another 3/4” wide frame panel, and that one looks pretty close.

 

[farmhand]

Where did you get the panel? I have been looking for another 3/4” wide frame panel, and that one looks pretty close.

It was some cheapo off AMZ, will pull the link. I have 24 HQST's running the main array here & LOVE them across all other branded panels I have around. HWST have a great frame but may be 1" and not 3/4. I only went cheapo as I needed to span the factory rails to not have to put in crossbars.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B8GZL9F3?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1