Beginner questions - Solar boondocking a micro minnie

[dmacd]

Originally Posted by SummitPond

It sounds as if you are going to swap out a single lead acid battery for a lithium battery. My concern would be if you were going to get four or more batteries; if you were to load them on a single side of the TT it might cause an imbalance and overload of one side's tires.

I may have missed the discussion on this, but you may need to replace the converter you have with one that can handle the charging requirements for a lithium battery. I do not believe the standard WFCO unit can accommodate lithium.

Probably going to set them up in a battery box and put them in the same place as the existing battery, planning on driving away from the subfreezing temperatures so not too worried about keeping them in a safe temperature range for charging/discharging. If I do end up going into winter climates I'll probably move them inside.

Speaking of the controller, I'm not able to find really any information about converting a micro minnie to lithium, anyone had any experience. I'm pretty sure I can find the existing controller, is it as simple as swapping out whats there with something like this https://www.etrailer.com/p-PD9160ALV.html

and then using the existing leads that were hooked up to the old battery for the new lifepo4? (With its own BMS of course)

[dmacd]

Posting this here so i dont lose it. tinglett on these forums posted a workup where they installed some battleborne batteries into their MM, going to follow this with the addition of adding an inverter.

https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...iv-359008.html

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by dmacd

Speaking of the controller, I'm not able to find really any information about converting a micro minnie to lithium, anyone had any experience. I'm pretty sure I can find the existing controller,

Just a heads up - this is a converter you're talking about not a controller. Don't confuse the two things.

The converter takes AC power from a campground pedestal or generator and charges your house battery(s) AND when connected to outside AC power converts the 110v AC to 12v DC to power all the 12v devices in your TT.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by imnprsd

To build on BobC's idea above, I was at Costco today and found this portable "all in one" device for $500. (Weighs about 60 lbs.)

This is exactly the opposite of what I proposed, which was to stay away from these all-in-one units.

This one contains a 55Ah AGM battery that's about half the capacity of most deep cycle AGM batteries and only 26% of the capacity of two Costco golf cart batteries, which cost $100 apiece.

The only additional things you're getting for your $500 are a modified sine wave inverter, a charger and portability. These days, a pure sine wave inverter is preferred and a charger is unnecessary in an RV since you have a converter/charger. Your RV may also already have an inverter and you don't need portability.

[arbogajim]

Just curious. Have you looked into how long it will be to take delivery of a new Micro Minnie?


We are very happy with ours!



James L.


2019 Micro Minnie 2306BHS
2017 Chevy Silverado 1500 LT

[Pianotuna]

Originally Posted by dmacd

Hello everyone, I'm a couple months out from buying a travel trailer and am just in the starting stages of planning out a solar / generator setup for it. I work remotely and have been wanting to have a travel setup I can work out of. I've been spending a couple months buying overpriced things for my truck to make it livable, and then realized that not having a bathroom reduces you to the whole...bucket situation, and I just dont think I love freedom that much to want to use that. Decided to switch gears and get a small travel trailer that has a decent bathroom/shower. I'm very new to the travel trailer work so leaning towards name brand I know that has good owner reviews.

Right now I'm eyeing the Winnebago Micro Minnie 2100BH, with thoughts of removing the bottom bunk and installing anywhere from 12v 200ah-400ah of lifepo4 to keep it inside the insulated trailer, and having the whole 12V and 110ac systems of the trailer run off of that (with an inverter somewhere in there I believe). I'm buying it with the sole idea to be 90% away from shore power, but I still need enough power to run things like the fridge, and keep my macbook charged every day while I work remotely, and plenty of buffer space in between. Also planning on buying a gas generator as a backup plan if its cloudy for long stretches. I dont really plan on needing the AC or the heater, i'd rather just drive somewhere where the temperature is nice, but it would be nice to be able to run it for an hour or so every once in a while.

I'm a complete beginner at this sort of stuff, and would prefer not to burn down anything, so I'm trying to get an idea of what a DIY setup would entail, or if it would be worth the money to just buy the batteries and solar panels and pay someone who knows what they are doing to install everything. The solar panel and battery bank looks within my ability, but I have no idea about the safety of things.

I guess my main question would be, once I have a solar battery bank setup with, how do I go from the inverter feeding off that battery into the trailer systems? It doesnt seem as simple as somehow plugging the trailer directly into the inverter with a common power plug.

Anyway, sorry for the huge wall of text, appreciate any help or experience in the matter.

Also, if you now anyone in the treasure valley area in idaho that does this sort of installation, let me know

This may help with solar https://freecampsites.net/adding-solar/

[Greg Morrow]

I don't how much 12v a gas refridge needs, but when my battery dropped to around 10v, my fridge stoppped, and everything else 12v was cut off. I made it less than 2 days. The water pump really seems to suck it up. My solar was useless under trees, I plugged my vehichle in and idled for an hour, brought everything backup. There are some vampire componets like propane sensor, carbon mono sensor and power ant. Don't know if disabling them would be worth it or not.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Greg Morrow

I don't how much 12v a gas refridge needs, but when my battery dropped to around 10v, my fridge stoppped, and everything else 12v was cut off. I made it less than 2 days. The water pump really seems to suck it up. My solar was useless under trees, I plugged my vehichle in and idled for an hour, brought everything backup. There are some vampire componets like propane sensor, carbon mono sensor and power ant. Don't know if disabling them would be worth it or not.

Greg-

You might want to start your own thread, so you get answers specific to your situation. You also don't mention how much battery capacity and type you have.

The refrigerator's draw shouldn't be an issue on its own. You can look it up on the manufacturers website. The water pump draw can be significant when running, so minimize its use and turn it off when you're not using it. Generally there will be enough pressure in the system for some water even if it's off. There's no need to turn it on every time you want a glass of water.

The parasitic draws shouldn't be two significant. It's not a good idea to turn off any safety items like propane leak alarms, etc.

I suggest you get a multimeter capable of reading DC amps with a clamp-on amp probe. They're not too expensive. If you turn everything off but your parasitic loads, you can read the amount of the draw by clamping the meter on to one of your battery cables. Usually the negative is the best since the positive terminal may have more than one wire attached. In any case make sure all the wires connected to the terminal pass through the clamp.

Once you have a baseline, parasitic reading you can check the draw of your various appliances by turning one on at a time while all others are off. Don't forget your lights. Have you converted to LEDs, or did your rig come with LEDs? If they're accessible, you can also clamp-on to one of the two wires feeding each of your various appliances for direct, individual readings.

Here's a $35 clamp-on meter that can read both AC and DC amps. Be careful in that many say AC/DC amps but can only read AC via the clamp. Otherwise you have to break the circuit to measure DC amps:

https://www.amazon.com/328D-Auto-Ran...834582&sr=8-15

[Greg Morrow]

Thanks for the input, I have 1 battery, dont know it's rating it came with the winnie drop. I have some camping experience, but doing it without shore power is new to me. I shouldnt say this but, my wife doesn't understand the concept of finite resourses, battery, water, gray and black storage,etc. It's all just magically taken care of. I would guess that the winnie's power system would some what protect the battery from abuse, like over/under charging. The only maintenace I do is checking it's water level. A side question, Is boondocking camping without any resources, or is camping in a NP/SP that has Water/Dump Station, but hookups also boondocking. Pretty new to this.

[dmacd]

Originally Posted by arbogajim

Just curious. Have you looked into how long it will be to take delivery of a new Micro Minnie?


We are very happy with ours!



James L.


2019 Micro Minnie 2306BHS
2017 Chevy Silverado 1500 LT

Just put the deposit down today, expecting it the beginning of February, most dealerships are around that timeframe.

[Marine359]

Hi Greg,
We got our new 2108ds last month, and we love it, but it requires upgrades for us to use it dry “glamping”.

I saved a lot of time and head scratching by asking Fed2106ds for help on the Micro Mini thread.

He has graciously posted there photos and complete instructions for his electrical system upgrade. You really should check it out before you make any upgrade decisions.

We’re pretty much gonna follow his install. I just ordered all the components. We want to keep our big 10cuft 12v only fridge, use the convection microwave and be able to use my cpap. We’ve found the furnace to be the biggest power consumer. The fridge is more efficient than we thought, if pre-cooled o. Shore power. So we figure we needed close to 200ah lithium power to allow us to boondock with about 2 hours of daily generator run time.

This set up gives us dry camping length of 5 days using supplemental water jugs and sewage caddy.

Cheers

[SonofBert]

Originally Posted by Marine359

Hi Greg,
We got our new 2108ds last month, and we love it, but it requires upgrades for us to use it dry “glamping”.

I saved a lot of time and head scratching by asking Fed2106ds for help on the Micro Mini thread.

He has graciously posted there photos and complete instructions for his electrical system upgrade. You really should check it out before you make any upgrade decisions.

We’re pretty much gonna follow his install. I just ordered all the components. We want to keep our big 10cuft 12v only fridge, use the convection microwave and be able to use my cpap. We’ve found the furnace to be the biggest power consumer. The fridge is more efficient than we thought, if pre-cooled o. Shore power. So we figure we needed close to 200ah lithium power to allow us to boondock with about 2 hours of daily generator run time.

This set up gives us dry camping length of 5 days using supplemental water jugs and sewage caddy.

Cheers

Two hours of daily generator run time would be nice. I go maybe six hours runtime boondocking with two lead-acid batteries on the tongue. Had two 6v's and two 12v's on the trailers. Had 85W solar on the roof of the TrailManor that gave a decent charge but still needed the genny to get the batteries recharged after a 20*F night running the furnace.

It's all about cost vs efficacy. For me, I physically can't get enough solar panels on the 1706fb and don't want to carry and deploy a portable 100W solar panel (been there, done that).

I just stay with the current LP powered Yamaha 2000is for boondocking. We have to carry extra LP tanks for the furnace and fridge boondocking for a week, so furnace/fridge/Yamaha we carry four 20lb LP tanks boondocking. Thought about putting 30lb tanks on the tongue, still may do that.

[Marine359]

Cost vs efficacy.
Solar costs a lot and doesn’t deliver enough amperage to justify buying it vs just buying gas for the generator. Even with so,ar, you still need a generator. I can play for several years before the cost of gasoline for the generator exceeds the cost of solar installation.

[DavidM]

Originally Posted by Marine359

Cost vs efficacy.
Solar costs a lot and doesn’t deliver enough amperage to justify buying it vs just buying gas for the generator. Even with so,ar, you still need a generator. I can play for several years before the cost of gasoline for the generator exceeds the cost of solar installation.

Ah, but the silence is priceless!!!!

A well designed solar installation along with sufficient batteries can keep up with no generator running in many cases. It all depends on your average amp hour usage. In my former 20' T/T I used 15 Ah daily with no furnace or fans running. 200 watts of solar would cover that nicely. Add a couple of 6V golf cart batteries to see you through a few cloudy days and you can run this way indefinitely.

David

[Marine359]

Point taken David,
My son has a Masters in Environmental sciences. He would choke me is he saw my post. Lol

[SonofBert]

Originally Posted by Marine359

Cost vs efficacy.
Solar costs a lot and doesn’t deliver enough amperage to justify buying it vs just buying gas for the generator. Even with so,ar, you still need a generator. I can play for several years before the cost of gasoline for the generator exceeds the cost of solar installation.

I use an LP generator, that's kind of a big deal IMO. One 20lb LP tank = 4g of gasoline for the genny. We carry four 20lb LP tanks boondocking. Two for the furnace/fridge, two for the genny. 80lbs, no big deal. Good for comfort for 3-4 days below freezing. There's other ways for comfort.

[Marine359]

Hey SonofBert,
I’m gonna guess you have a diesel tow vehicle. So, it makes sense to use propane generator so you don’t have to haul gasoline around. We have a gas tow vehicle. It’s got a small fuel tank. So we have to carry a 5gal gas can just in case we run low on fuel in the tow vehicle. So it made more sense for us to go with a 2200w gas generator.

[RocknRoll]

Hi everyone, like dmacd, I'm a total newbie to this "hobby". I could have probably saved countless hours had I found this awesome site first.

So I bought my 2108TB slightly used mid-October. The previous owner only used it only once and did a few basic upgrades which has met my needs thus far. (2) Duracell 6V batteries (230AH) with a Progressive Dynamics PD4655V charge converter. I installed a 600W Samlux Inverter so I could have minimum AC power if needed (planning on working remotely)

The following might help @dmacd to accomplish what he's trying to do.

To keep power cords out of the way, I ended up installing the inverter under the oven with a panel outlet. From the dinette, I ran an extension cord connected to (2) panel outlets directly across to the dinette where I installed (2) additional AC outlets. I could either plug-in this cord to the 120V outlet right below the TV when on shore power or to the inverter when I'm doing an overnighter. It gave me sufficient battery power to watch TV and/or use my laptop for a night, maybe two.

However, my eventual goal is to boondock for 2-3 days at a time and this existing setup would not be sufficient for that and thought an inexpensive, basic solar setup would be ideal.

This is what I've done in the last month or so. This was pretty much a test setup to confirm an alternate power source

1. Installed a 100/30 Victron Solar Controller utilizing the existing "solar ready" wiring
2. Purchased a Rockpals 100W suitcase solar panel

I was able to charge the batteries with cables brought down from the roof however, charge time was too slow. After some reading, I stumbled on Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries. Time to open the wallet I guess lol.

Some advantages to LiFePO4

Weight savings
2X recharge rate
10X number of cycles (lifetime)
No maintenance

Weight is a major factor as my 1/2 ton F-150 can tow my rig, but not as easy as I'd like. The existing batteries weigh 65lbs. Each (130 total). Throw in (2) 100W panels and I'm close to 200lbs. By replacing the 6V batteries with a single lithium and flexible panels, I can shave it down to 50lbs.

So as of today, I purchased:

(1) Valence LiFePO4 Battery U27-12XP | 12V 138AH ($525 USED)
(2) Newpowa 100W 100 Watt Semi-Flex Solar Panel - ($130 ea.)

I took a gamble on the Valence battery, but after watching a Will Prowse video on a teardown, I was convinced!

I believe my PD charge controller may not be compatible although would like to still use it if possible. I may upgrade the inverter from 600W to 1500W. I also plan on getting a Honda 2200 generator, but would want to use it sparingly.

Besides the weight factor, I chose flexible panels for now as I do not want to drill holes on top of the roof and also have the "flexibility" to move them where there's sun. I'll still use the Rockpals suitcase to charge an existing Bluetti solar generator for additional backup.

So far, I have almost $1000 invested and may be another $1500 by the time I'm done. More than I wanted to spend, but it's a hobby, right?

Thank you for letting me share my experience thus far. I'll be happy to answer any questions and would appreciate any feedback!

[SonofBert]

Originally Posted by Marine359

Hey SonofBert,
I’m gonna guess you have a diesel tow vehicle. So, it makes sense to use propane generator so you don’t have to haul gasoline around. We have a gas tow vehicle. It’s got a small fuel tank. So we have to carry a 5gal gas can just in case we run low on fuel in the tow vehicle. So it made more sense for us to go with a 2200w gas generator.

'08 4Runner V8 tow vehicle. 23g fuel tank. Bugger had us worried many times in Utah on that long stretch between fuel stations from Green River to Salina on I70, especially with offroad excursions trailering north and south off of I70.

Been able to avoid hauling a 5g gas can, but barely. Had to unhook, leave the trailer out in the boonies and take the Runner into Green River a few times for a top off.

[jonnyr1]

Originally Posted by thebunker

My late model 2108DS came wired for solar so it's just a plug in from the solar panel. When you shop look for that. I have a 200watt suitcase panel and had the dealer add another lead acid battery, two will fit on the frame behind the propane tanks. I have two 30lb tanks versus the normal 20lb. I use a 4500watt generator and only take it when I need AC, its quiet run, weighs 104lbs and is over-kill for my needs. It often stays behind especially in cooler months. The TV runs on AC power so I bought 250w Li-ion battery pack that charges on AC or solar for this I use a 60w panel it will also charge from your vehicle charging port. This is all real simple stuff and I primarily boondock in Nat Forest I can go for weeks just have to watch the black/grey water tanks.

Hi, sorry to slightly hijack the thread.

Do you have any further information on the hardware that comes with the Mini? I've ordered one and will be going away for a week shortly after with no shore power. Is an inverter factory installed? I see it has a gp-pwm-10-sq and one 100W panel.

Thanks