Transcription
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So, thoughts? I had no thoughts. It's going to be massive. This is going to be massive. It is.
The goal is to be able to live off-grid for at least two weeks or whenever. This is something for full-time RVers, for those that want to go off the grid. It's not really just for full-time RVers; it's for those that actually like to travel.
If you don't want to be paying for campground stays in between the destinations you're trying to get to, this is perfect. Yeah, and we no longer have to say we want electric, so options are endless for us.
Actually, let’s go over there. [Music]
Close enough to where I'm hitting the wood. Okay, I definitely don't want the corner to catch the glass. Yeah, we need all the storage we can get. Our cargo bays are not that wide, and we don't have that much room.
Being that we have a toy hauler, I think I'd rather have the weight more over the axles versus up front. Because if you look here, this is where everything would be, right across here, close to the rear axle.
So, our cargo bays are very small. We probably could have done something in here, but it would have been hard for the guys to get into, so we chose not to. We do have a front cargo bay as well. We could have done something here, still could do something here, but I don't know. I think putting everything in the back will be better.
So, our unit came with two 200W solar panels, but what I found out very quickly is that those 200W solar panels would not keep our refrigerator running. I found myself running to our storage area on a daily basis and putting gas in my fuel tank because after the solar goes out, my generator kicks on.
So, we had to do something quick, and we decided to go with Big Beard Battery. Okay, you guys, this is day two, and right now we are trying to basically figure out where to put the inverter and the batteries.
We thought we had an idea, but realistically, it would not be able to be placed there. The reason why is because of the weight and the ability to get to it if needed. So, we're going to look at something that somebody else did real quick in this rig.
It was an idea to put it up underneath our bed, possibly, and that's what it looks like basically. Yeah, so we just took advantage; they had this bunk area. So, this is actually on a motor. There's a switch on this side that raises up the back, and it used to kind of give them more space.
Whatever, there was a shelf right here. This wall was originally a foot and a half to two feet back, so I actually relocated this wall more this way and put some slants to mount our inverters and everything in here.
But we kind of did the most with our space. If you want to get in here and look at all the wiring that's going on, nice. But we got all this stuff squeezed in here. I had to finagle some 12 volts in here to get a small car inverter so we could get 120 to power our fan system in here.
So, we have quite the crazy stuff going on in here. This rig is complete with 5800 watts on the roof. Nice! But that is a good area; it's an option up underneath the bed.
A lot of people will say, "Well, there's a humming noise." Well, if you already have a fan, and if you are lucky to have someone that snores next to you, all of that would be drowned out. You'll have some that will put it all the way in their bays, so that's another option.
So, when you're thinking about solar, you have to think about where can it go, what space can you give up, and will it structurally support the weight of the [Music] system?
So, today kicks off the first day of the solar install. Yesterday, they did a lot of measuring, and then they actually placed a lot of solar on the roof to see where everything is going to go.
So, right now we are going with 14 panels. Are we doing 14 panels, or are you going to go? Okay, 14 panels for what? Um, 1,800 watts? Is that 800 watts? And I have 480 volts coming [Music] down.
All right, all right, you guys. So, as you know, I definitely stated that Todd is the mastermind. We are missing the other half of the mastermind, which is Stephanie. But I wanted to ask him, what makes your batteries better than others that are on the market?
Okay, well, the whole reason why I got into building batteries was because I looked at, you know, people would crack them open and review them. I'd crack them open, look at them, and you're using quality parts, but there was a lot of stuff that could have been done better.
Batteries are about performance, right? You know, especially when we put them in RVs. We run air conditioners, and we don't want to run it just for 10 minutes; we want to run it for four or five hours.
Well, in order to do all that, that battery has to be built to perform. One of the markers that we look at is what we call internal resistance energy. Energy delivered is best with the lowest internal resistance, right?
So, it's just like the older we get; our joints hurt and everything else. We have to work harder to get up out of bed and everything else. That's resistance. Wow! When we're young, you know, your joints, you jump out of bed, the joints just go right there with you.
So, a young person has less internal resistance, okay, versus us. So, same thing with batteries. I mean, I don't know if that analogy... I got it. Okay, because I have a lot of resistance, especially in my knees and in my back.
Remember when you were young? You didn't care; you just jumped out of bed. You could fall, and you jumped right back up. Now that you fall, you're like, "Oh, wait, hold a minute." The parts are a little bit different.
That is true, that is true. So, it's the same thing with batteries. One of the markers that we look at when it comes to lithium batteries is the internal resistance. Industry standards about 5 milliamps, which is pretty great compared to, say, a lead-acid battery.
We just had ours certified tested, and they are coming in at 2.5 milliamps, so half of that. So, what does that mean? A couple of things. We can run these at the maximum age; they're going to stay cooler. They won't get warm; they won't get hot as long as the connections are tight, which means we're going to deliver the power needed to run these things.
Not only that, but they're going to run longer. So, you know, we put an 11-year warranty out there, and you know, because of the internal resistance being so low, we got to make that.
So, looking for a battery that's going to perform, that's one of the markers you look at is internal resistance. We have right now half of the industry standard.
And he said something that really stands out: he has an 11-year warranty. Because I was about to say, what are you going to do to ensure that your technology is staying forward?
Yeah, from other... well, the air conditioners came on. Yeah, um, well, okay, so one of the things is, and this is where, you know, I have a fight. We're small enough being a, you know, kind of a family-owned business.
As the technology increases, we're going to add that to there. It'll create a different type of battery, but that's what we'll always do. We're about to roll out that all of our batteries are not only heated, but if you have a Victron system, we can connect it directly to the brains, which we call the Serbo, and that information directly from the battery will be delivered over.
So, yeah, we're going to keep up with the technology, and as long as we can put in new technology, that's exactly what we'll do. See, and that's what I like.
So, he also stated something else: this is a mom-and-pop organization, family-owned, family-run, and you guys are right here in the United States, which is even better. Totally support.
Well, I agree. I'm sorry, you are here in Texas, the best country in the world. Max, what you're doing there?
Now, I have to check another vent. Okay, that one over there goes straight on top of that tank, and there is absolutely no access to it. So, I was hoping to get that one to work so we wouldn't have to reroute our wires, but we're going to have to check this one.
If this one's no good, then we'll end up doing what we originally decided and dropping it through a cabinet and coming down. Okay, we'll just go that way. But it's easier to have it through a vent; it's cleaner looking.
Okay, it just makes it look cleaner, which is normally what we do whenever we do normal solar builds. We'll try to find the nearest vent. The vent locates a wall that's big enough to drop wires through, and the goal that you have is to make sure that everything that's up here on the roof looks clean and looks neat and presentable.
Exactly. Nice! We're going to use the back of this toy hauler to put all our inverters, our link system, and charge controller. So, let me show you where everything is going to go.
We chose this wall since it's a free wall and it won't be in the way. We're going to put our inverters over here, as well as our charge controller and the two batteries. This door will still be able to open, I believe.
It stops right in here, our little makeshift drape here, because you can see straight on in. I wonder if we can get that tinted to where you can't see on the inside. Huh, if anyone does that or it can be done, I may have to give that to Talage as a project.
Another project, but so excited! So, so excited! I need to figure out how to get my wires down from the roof.
So, did it pan out to be a good spot? Yep! So, I think this spot's going to be very doable. We've made sure that we can actually get to the under base from right here and shoved one of these through.
He was able to see it and feel it from downstairs, so we'll probably have to drill a little bit bigger of a hole so we can run all of our stuff down. Once we get that done, we'll be good, and it'll be all confined in this area right here.
Yeah, so we'll have to add in some ventilation fans and stuff like that just to make sure that we're not overheating the system under the bed. Okay, but besides that, yeah, it's going to be great. Perfect!
So, actually, you can come back in here. Absolutely! So, we'll be able to come back and pop a hole somewhere over here. Maybe two holes, three holes, depending basically from there to there, but that's all underneath. We can do that.
Okay, that's what that pass-through is. So, whether we can get all the way here, but that wire goes up to the breaker, I mean up to your automatic transfer switch. We could do that, leave that here, we'll just tap into there.
Yeah, so, but what we'll need to do, I think this is a go. Put it up front, but we'll ask you to, you know, take the stuff, put it up under a little bit, take the whole door off, and put it up, and take everything out and put it up under. No problem!
Yeah, our plans were to put it in the toy hauler, put it back in the toy hauler, but we got started. Yeah, we started thinking about the grandkids and playing with it, and that's when we decided to change the vocations.
Well, and if you're going to show it, you have to make it a showpiece. Because you guys, you still use it as a toy hauler with all your gear. You still use the Happy Jack system. Exactly!
We could put it up there, but it would look like it was just put up there. So, yeah, there we go. Yeah, we could.
So, we have a plan. Yes, we looked at multiple plans, but that's good because what they're doing is they're making sure that your rig still remains functional for the reason why you got it.
And the reason why we got that is because of the toy hauler. Now, this space right here, we don't use really. We put shoes in there, and as you can see, a TV is in there, but that's about it.
So, guys, we keep our Brooklyn mattress on this bed, and that Brooklyn mattress is heavy, so we don't even go up under this bed. So, this will be a perfect place, right?
And then with them drilling the holes to vent it, yeah, that's perfect. So, a win-win situation.
We didn't rush to figure out where we were going to put it, but we looked at all options. When you're doing a solar install, you sometimes are set on one thing, but it drastically changes just like that.
So, guys, we were on the hunt for the transfer switch. They couldn't find it, but I found it. Guys, don't you be talking crap!
So, I had to crawl up here, torque my body all kinds of ways to get up in here to take the screws out. What does the transfer switch look like, and what do you look for?
They said it's a silver box with three wires going in. That's the only silver box I see. So, you feel like you found it? Yeah, I found it.
Okay, let's see what the other... let's see what our... they say something different. Tech says so.
Something that I'm finding out, which is not a bad thing, it will help you or anybody else that is doing something literally to your RV rig that you're needing wires or rewiring for, is to get the blueprint.
If you get the blueprint, I am the blueprint. No, if you get a legitimate blueprint and you're able to share it with someone that is working on your rig, that will go a long way and be very helpful.
And I do believe you can get that from the manufacturer. No, tell you the truth. Tell you the truth. There is, you can go online and pull up the blueprint of your unit. It tells you where all the wiring is at, or you can call, like we have a job. We can call JA and ask him for the blueprint, and they'll email it to us.
That's what I said, basically. Did you? Yeah, okay, I didn't hear you say it.
Mhm, I hope you repeat what I say. Come over [Music] here.
So, you guys, when we originally got our rig, we opted to get two solar panels, and these are the two solar panels that we had got. They are... they're Gowers. Gowers!
So, that was definitely a good trade-off because I believe these were only 100 watts, right? No, those are 200 watts. These are 200 watts.
Yeah, but the thing about it, though, the gold power, being that we only had two, they weren't getting the job done. Now, on this roof, I got to find out which panels these are.
He wanted to keep all the panels the same, right? So, instead of having two Gowers and the rest be something different, we wanted to keep all the panels the same.
I guess it's something that has to do with the technology, the wiring, voltage, stuff like that. So, we took those off. Now we got all the same panels, and everything should run great.
We're very excited, you guys! It opens up a lot of camping possibilities for us, such as we don't have to find a campground to stay at when we're traveling to and from.
We can go tailgating. You can live off-grid for numerous weeks or however long. We can not have to worry about getting full hookup because if you have electricity, right, and you are able to put in your water, you're self-sustained.
So, you don't have to worry about certain RV sites anymore at a campground. Yes, yeah, that is true.
So, we can pretty much stay anywhere now and still be able to watch TV, still be able to take a shower, still be able to charge our phones, have our refrigerator running, have our refrigerator running with no worries.
And that's not even being plugged into shore power, so I do recommend it. Yeah, but we're going to be testing it out, and you're going to be right along with us, looking at everything that we do.
So that you can see how when you're using certain things, it takes up power consumption, right? So, we're going to take you along with us. We want you to experience this with us so that you know it doesn't matter what type of rig you have; it can be smaller or bigger, how solar will allow you to be self-sustained.
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