Spring Project Solar Install Momentum 21G

[acoleman43]

Slow progress this week mainly because I went backwards.

I glued some black trunk liner to the flat surfaces of the built storage area. Started adding some recessed handles and the trunk liner was not working out. It trapped all debris and the glue wasn't working well. So, I'm ripping off all the trunk liner, sanding the glue off the surfaces, and trying a different, more expensive approach. Sigh....more money.

While waiting for the new stuff to come in I'm doing what I can.

Removed the factory 300W panel. Need to do some cleaning. Eternabond tape on rear corner is from catching a branch around a turn which ripped the TPO membrane. Other Eternabod strip is where the factory solar junction panel was installed. 2 panels will be installed in this same area.



Easy start installed. Very easy installation. If anybody is on the fence, it's a quick easy solution for significantly reducing startup amperage (by about 70%). Total installation time was just 53 minutes.

[acoleman43]

Standing on the bed in the bedroom, the sun was directly in my eyes as I was enlarging a hole in the roof of our 21G. it's a desperate, urgent feeling seeing a 14"x14" hole through the roof of your trailer. It definitely makes you question your decision.

In the end it worked out. Sky light installed. WHEW!

Something I didn't consider with previous fan installations on the roof: Use roofing screws (meant for metal roofs) to attach skylight/fan to roof. They come with a rubber washer that expands when it's crushed as the screw is embedded which covers and seals the hole the screw made. The screws are also corrosion resistant. This adds another layer of protection from water intrusion.

I still struggle with the Alpha self-leveling sealant. About 3/4 tube for just this skylight....and it still doesn't look nice and clean :(




Forecast calls for a lot of rain this week. That limits me to putting the bedroom ceiling back together and possibly rewiring the main panel this week. Many hours still ahead of me, and only a couple more weeks until we pull the trailer to our next destination.

[howson]

acoleman43 -- welcome to the club (struggling with making the sealant look good). Mine looks like a kindergarten class was let loose on my roof to seal up the seams. At least compared to my skills yours looks fine.

[TucsonJim]

acoleman43 and howson Here's a little trick I learned from an RV tech about getting a clean install on the Alpha sealant. Run a small bead around the exterior and interior perimeter of what you want to cover. Once those beads are in place, use a back and forth motion to fill in the space between the two beads. It will look much cleaner that way.

Jim

[acoleman43]

howson TucsonJim Thanks for the encouragement and advice. Certainly worth a try.

One of me kids found their way up the ladder, saw some cool gummy stuff where the holes from the factory solar panel were installed, pulled it off the roof and used it as a "stress ball". Fortunately I was warned by their younger sibling and used eternabond. That was fortunate as the forecast shows rain for the next 4 days.

[acoleman43]

Memorial Day Update. After going backwards due to some oversite on my part, I am finally moving forward again.

Bedroom ceiling back together (don't look too closely....definitely need some touchup work on the trim pieces) and we now have a skylight in the bedroom. Very cool. We had a couple real good rain storms to test my sealant work on the roof. It passed....whew!




I also made progress on rebuilding the bedroom closet and exterior storage. I'm certainly no carpenter, but it is actually working out. Mockup is fitting together.

Gray switch is main battery shut-off (disconnects batteries from entire DC system. Red switch panel shut-off (disconnects all DC to main panel). Batteries are under the floor ("W" shaped holes are for recessed handles that will be installed later).





Above the "lower" storage area will be the Multiplus (that is my multiplus stunt double). Red switch to right is the Multiplus shut-off.





In an effort to support the wall between closet and storage area (3/4" plywood) that the 46 pound multiplus will be hanging on, I came up with a type of lateral support system on the side of the storage area. Hope it works.





This is the "floor" of the bedroom closet. In the little "hatch" will be the Cerbo GX and the fan temp control modules. I wanted to have easy access to these in case I needed to add or modify anything.




Next step is rewiring the AC from shore power and generator into the pre panel breakers and new ATS, up to the multiplus and back to the main AC panel.

Then start to apply the finishing surfaces to everything and permanently install them. into the storage area.

Oh yeah....something I am finding is that the original construction of the closet/storage area was not square....at all. The paneling was also "wavy" in taht it wasn't exactly straight. That is causing some fitment issues and forcing me to make some of the surfaces almost square. A little disappointing to pay this much money and find things like this...(sloppy electrical work as well).

[KSC_Travels]

acoleman43

Been following this thread for a while now. Very clever use of space and nicely laid out. Big project(s)... congrats!

If I may, there is one thing that gives me a moment of pause... that is how close your negative and positive bus bars are positioned to each other. A little nick in the wire insulation, a stray ratchet head or screwdriver when working in there could bridge between them quite easily. Personally I would separate them a bit further - even just an inch or two. Not meant to be critical - just my safety background.

Great documentation!

Ken

[acoleman43]

acoleman43

Been following this thread for a while now. Very clever use of space and nicely laid out. Big project(s)... congrats!

If I may, there is one thing that gives me a moment of pause... that is how close your negative and positive bus bars are positioned to each other. A little nick in the wire insulation, a stray ratchet head or screwdriver when working in there could bridge between them quite easily. Personally I would separate them a bit further - even just an inch or two. Not meant to be critical - just my safety background.

Great documentation!

Ken

Point taken

[acoleman43]

Quick update. No pictures today.

Wired a new ATS between Shore power input/generator and main panel. The old panel does have an ATS, but I will eventually remove the old panel to replace with a new panel which will remove the ATS.

With the factory ATS there is a preset 20 second delay to switch to generator once generator is started. This is to avoid loading the generator while cold. As I was removing the factory ATS, I noticed it was wired incorrectly. Shore power and generator were swapped. So shore power had a 20 second delay and the generator did not. This makes sense based on past experiences. Again, I am disappointed with the poor wiring quality from the factory.

I'm also doing a lot of "finishing" work. Painting, applying penny rubber flooring, etc.. to make things look a little better. Need to hurry as I have less than 2 weeks to finish...

Good news is I can see a light at the end fo the tunnel. Bad news is I have yet to install solar panels and temps are 100 degrees +

Pictures in the next couple days of progress.

[Jlawles2]

Always remember 95% of the work is in the last 5% of the project. So far it looks great. Excellent job on the rebuild and without you telling anyone that you pulled all of the stuff out, most would think it's just TT wear.

Keep up the good work. BTW I kinda like the W cutout vs a pull, I might consider making it a hand hole for pulling up the floor. Pulls tend to get stuck on me at the worst time, or I have issues getting my fingers in place to lift them.

[acoleman43]

Always remember 95% of the work is in the last 5% of the project. So far it looks great. Excellent job on the rebuild and without you telling anyone that you pulled all of the stuff out, most would think it's just TT wear.

Keep up the good work. BTW I kinda like the W cutout vs a pull, I might consider making it a hand hole for pulling up the floor. Pulls tend to get stuck on me at the worst time, or I have issues getting my fingers in place to lift them.

I appreciate the kind words. Crossing fingers it all works out.

[acoleman43]

Worked many hours the past 2 weeks for what seems to be little progress.

At the beginning of the week, this was the view when you open the closet door from the bedroom. Not ideal.




I also started running a lot of wire and started to rewire the main panel. New main pre-breaker for shore and generator, New ATS, wired the new Maxxair fan and auxiliary power, and ran the AC and DC lines to the inverter space.





A lot of prewiring required in the side wall I named the "spider" wall. Wiring for 2 MPPT chargers, multiplus and 2 lights




After a dry fit (pics in next post), I started the permanent install.....a little nervous....

[acoleman43]

Dry fit day:

First, I tried trunk liner for the surfaces, but it was VERY difficult to keep clean and I couldn't find any good glue that kept it from peeling off the wood surfaces. So I opted to spend more money I don't have and got some Rec Pro flooring. I think it has a much better finished look to it and very easy to keep clean. Their glue is also MUCH better.

Below is the new view when you open the closet door from the bedroom once I permanently install all panels. Notice the 5 "bumps" in the back wall.....I'm not happy about that. Screws for the multiplus mount on back side of this wall were about 1/8" too long. I removed the screws and ground them down about 1/8" so they do not protrude. Now to get rid of those blasted bumps....

Over the next couple weeks I'll put trim around the access panel in the bottom of the closet and caulk all inside corner seams in the closet to make it look a little better.



The access is for the Cerbo GX and 2 fan controller modules




Lower section fit well enough. Access panel at back is for the Lynx distributors to change fuses (if necessary) and replace equipment if something fails. It also gives access to wiring. Access panel to right is the "spider wall" with the 2 MPPT chargers and cutoff switches to the PV array(s).

Round cut-outs are for disconnects/cutoffs/shutoffs. Large one towards center is main DC cutoff switch that is wired just after battery Lynx Distributor. I have double 2/0 cable for this beast making it difficult to add/navigate the cable where I wanted it. ALL DC power will be cut if this switch is off. Smaller cutout shuts off DC power to the main DC panel....basically it replaces the factory "battery cutoff" switch. With this off the tongue jack, emergency brake, smoke/carbon monoxide detectors still run.

Batteries are under the hatch in the floor. The height worked out very well.

I'll do same finishing touches here as in the closet.





Upper storage area (below) will hold the multiplus. Bracket is installed. The screws for this bracket were about 1/8" too long and created "bumps" on the backside of this wall.....which is the back of the bedroom closet :(

I'm also going to have the multiplus supported be a block (at the bottom of the multiplus) because that thing is heavy.

Large circular cutout on right will be the multiplus cutoff switch. The five smaller cutouts are for wires: 1 for both in and out going AC wire (10/2), 1 for DC in, 1 for DC out, 1 for chassis ground, 1 for light below this "shelf".




Next step is to finish the installation of walls/panels, finish connecting the communication cables to the Cerbo GX, wire fans to aid cooling, install a couple small vents int he panels to aid in airflow, install batteries and cables to distribution block, install solar panels and do a lot of "finishing" touch up work.

But we are headed to Dinasaur Valley State park on Wednesday, so I just have to make sure all electrical is working and we have a closet to use. After we come back I can continue working.

[acoleman43]

Less than exceptional update:

I didn't get it finished in time for our 1 week Dinasaur Valley camp. But we had electric hookups so I was able to patch it together enough that AC power was working, and the converter did its job for DC power.

Main storage compartment is almost finished. I need to add the flooring to the top side of the lower area, finish the trim work around panels and cut-outs, caulking all seams, and a little more wiring as I decided to change some things up. Battery cables installed, supports cut and installed, front cap light switch installed, interior motion light installed (not shown in this pic). I also have inverter installed except for AC wiring. Did not take a pic of the inverter area.




Installed some straps to the batteries to keep them in place while traveling down the road. I also installed a 3/8" rubber mat on the floor (in the above pic) which will absorb/soften some of the vibrations....I hope. I am also installing 7 small fans throughout to keep air flowing to the vents. There is a vent in the upper part of the storage area to the outside. The fans will turn on when temps reach 40 Celsius and turn off once the temp cools below 30 Celsius.

(Small wires are not fun to work with)




To aid in dispersing hot air I added four 3" circular vents to the hatch over the main distribution bus bars/DC-DC converters. The idea is for the fans to push the air around the batteries toward the inside of the storage where the main distribution bus bars lie. Then the air will be pushed toward the vents in the hatch door toward the outside of the storage area. If this works out well it will be a miracle




And, finally, wiring the cerbo gx and temp modules in the access panel below the bedroom closet. Tonight, I decided to add a battery temp sensor to the cerbo gx which means removing the zip ties...again. That will be a job for tomorrow. But I have the Lynx Shunt, Multiplus, 2 MPPT chargers and the gx Touch connected to the cerbo gx. I wanted a little cleaner look, but this will do.





Now that I don't have the pressure to finish NOW, it's less stressful and am thinking more clearly which means things are coming together better. Not as many re-do's. Taking time, planning and thinking through things does pay off in the long run.

[acoleman43]

I had a concern with one of the RJ45 cables that got pinched during the install (cable from multiplus to the cerbo gx). Murphy's Law says it was the longest cable running through the most corners and "tunnels". It was. I looked at it and it looked like just the outer insulation looked to be affected. I put heat shrink around it and crossed my fingers it was OK. The only real way is to connect a battery, start the multiplus and see the cerbo gx sees the multiplus. So, I reconnected the AC wiring into the multiplus, connected just one battery for the test.



After I installed the battery, I nervously flipped the main battery cutoff to "ON". Flashing lights from the MPPT chargers, Lynx Distributors and Lynx Shunt told me they all had power to them.

Bonus: No explosions or smoke.

Next was the inverter DC cutoff switch. I nervously switched it to "ON". The Multiplus was turned off so I didn't expect anything....well, I was hoping I wouldn't see anything like smoke.

After a few seconds I flipped the main shore power AC breaker to "ON". Again nothing....WHEW!

Now I got a little nervous.....i slowly turned the Multiplus on. Lights started flashing, clicking and buzzing sounds were heard. I waited for a minute and it finally settled down and looked like it should.

Another sigh of relief.

Now I wanted to see if the Touch GX was actually on and if it recognized all the components of the system.



SUCCESS! Both MPPT chargers appeared, the Shunt appeared and the Multiplus appeared!

I quickly configured what I could with the Touch GX, updated the firmware, then went to the closet to see if the temp control modules were powered up...




Wahoo! It worked as planned.

Now to get the VE.Bus to USB dongle and configure the multiplus. Finish installing the other batteries (which may be delayed as one BMS is about 10 degrees warmer than the other 3 which is concerning. May have to replace the BMS).

While waiting there is much more to do. But this was a big step today. Very relieved.