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Old 07-23-2022, 03:59 PM   #1
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Our first trip out with the FLX - a short review.

We got our Micro Minnie FLX 2108FBS at the very end of April and after some testing & setup in the driveway, we finally got it out for a weekend trip to do some special event medical services.

Towing it there was fun. It handled great and the dual axle was a lot more comfortable to tow. The brakes worked nicely as well.. fortunately.

None of the cabinets or drawers came open and the fridge kept everything nice and cold.

We replaced the bed already with a Nectar memory foam one and that was a great decision. It's so much more comfortable.

The Truma AC system cools the trailer down in very little time, but when the temperature was nice out, it was just fine on Vent more or simply turned off while the other 2 roof vents & a window remained open. We tried to conserve battery life the best we could. The outside temps got into the 90s during the day and I didn't think that the battery was going to power the AC unit all day or anything but it lasted about 5 hours before I got down to 40% and plugged into shore power.

One of the things I discovered at home was that the Xantrex unit lets you specify the rating of the breaker you're plugged into for shore power. By default it was at 30 amps, which popped the home breakers and overloaded the generator. Dialing it down to 15 amps allowed both the wall circuit and the generator (not at the same time, I tested them separate) to charge the battery. I was able to use the AC while on battery as well as the microwave, although one time it did trip the protection circuit. This tripped the main breaker up front and I didn't realize that at the time. The Xantrex will bounce itself if there's a low battery condition and will display an error.

It just so happens that the Starlink router's reset procedure is to power cycle it 3 times in a row. I hilariously discovered that my wifi network had reset to default. Whoops. At least that was an easy fix.

The shower miser system is great. We didn't even come close to using HALF of our fresh water and we camped Thurs-Sun. 2 of us took quick washcloth showers just to make sure we conserved water but we could have taken more normal ones and probably been ok.

Wife cooked up food on the gas range just fine. The microwave worked ok too. SpeedBumpMedia noted that their ceiling was getting hot when using it, but ours felt ok. We didn't cook for *too* long, though.

Overall, we absolutely LOVE the Minnie FLX and can't wait to get it out on the road again.

Things I'm curious about:

* Xantrex app does not show battery level accurately at all. Xantrex also makes LiFePO4 batteries of the same size, so I'm not sure why there's a 3rd vendor in there.

* Winnebago panel shows fresh/grey/black levels correctly, but not battery. Not surprising, but if you didn't know this previously, it could be confusing.

* GoPower app works ok. Seen charge Current of 13.71A, Solar Power 205 W at 1300. Also, it too doesn't know about the battery.

* Lithionics app works ok. fortunately. We were curious about adding a second battery of the same size. I'm sure it's possible. just not sure if it's worth the money & effort.

It's nice having a few USB ports around and we even used the Qi charging pad a couple times. We put an Apple TV & HomePod in the FLX as well.

The built-in Connexx stereo unit is borderline worthless, though. I am not sure what brand speakers are there, but I want to replace the head unit first. We don't play DVDs at all but we do play a lot of music. Any suggestions for a drop-in replacement? I think there's a speaker replacement thread here too, I just can't find it.

can't wait for another weekend out!
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Old 07-23-2022, 04:07 PM   #2
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Oh yeah, the Solar On The Side port! Almost forgot about that. The GoPower panel I got had a built in charge controller, so that just wasn't going to work. Kind of annoying, but whatever. I didn't want to re-wire it to bypass it, so I returned that one and got one from Renogy. I wasn't looking for "solar generator" panels so I completely missed them. Thanks to CreativePart's suggestion I found the Renogy ones.

Their suitcase panel allows you to bypass the controller entirely, and I did just that. A quick test outside when the FLX's panels were kind of shaded revealed they were getting only 16W of solar power and a charge current of 1.12A.
Plugging in the Renogy panel brought that up to 168W and 10.74A of charge current. Big difference. Being able to plug in a separate panel that I can angle towards the sun will certainly help. We also have a Honda eu2000i inverter generator that I previously tested and it can charge the battery up just fine as well.

We're learning as much as we can about the trailer and had a few people asking us about it. I mean, it's California, and people love energy efficient solar stuff here. we are more than happy to show it to people and talk about it. I also felt like it was quite well insulated too. once the Truma cooled it off inside, it stayed cool for a while. important because it does feel like the ambient air temp affects the Dometic fridge performance a bit, which doesn't surprise me.

thanks for reading.
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Old 07-24-2022, 09:49 AM   #3
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FLX Shakedown

Quote:
Originally Posted by RovingMedics View Post
Glad you’re enjoying your FLX. We are envious of the Truma gear.

Things I'm curious about:

* Xantrex app does not show battery level accurately at all. Xantrex also makes LiFePO4 batteries of the same size, so I'm not sure why there's a 3rd vendor in there.
No the Xantrex is not very accurate at monitoring SOC, or amps in/out. You’ll be much happier if you get yourself a Victron Bluetooth Smart Negative Shunt Monitor. Only $125, and only a few minutes to install. You’ll know at all times exactly what’s going on with your battery

* Winnebago panel shows fresh/grey/black levels correctly, but not battery. Not surprising, but if you didn't know this previously, it could be confusing.
You don’t need to ever look at the battery monitor on the panel if you install a shunt monitor. And, don’t worry, after a few months of use the blank and gray tank monitors won’t be accurate either.

* GoPower app works ok. Seen charge Current of 13.71A, Solar Power 205 W at 1300. Also, it too doesn't know about the battery.
Charge controllers are only good at telling you charge amperage. Once again, shunt frees you from using the controller app

* Lithionics app works ok. fortunately. We were curious about adding a second battery of the same size. I'm sure it's possible. just not sure if it's worth the money & effort.
With the amount of solar you have, you really don’t need a second battery if you are judicious in you power consumption. The monster power bandit is the fridge @ nominally 50amphrs/day. Keep it set at “Performane level 1 for best cooling and least consumption. Eco is lower consumption, but doesn’t keep fridge cold enough IMO
!
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Old 07-24-2022, 09:54 AM   #4
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Could you please share the make and model of the Renogy panel? Did you need any extra adapters?

Thanks so much and welcome to the FLX family!!

Larry
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Old 07-24-2022, 11:34 AM   #5
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Could you please share the make and model of the Renogy panel? Did you need any extra adapters?

Thanks so much and welcome to the FLX family!!

Larry
It's this exact one from Amazon. Renogy made a design change and you can now simply unplug the controller and go from there. I like that flexibility.

I bought this adapter to connect to the panel itself and then this 25' cable to plug it into the trailer. I used the included polarity reverse adapter too, which was expected.
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Old 07-25-2022, 12:12 AM   #6
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What fridge are you guys talking about? Dometic was mentioned, I think. Ours came with a 12 V GE fridge. I haven't seen any Dometic branding on it? Works great, but flimsy fragile door shelving.

Curious what value the “Victron Bluetooth Smart Negative Shunt Monitor“ would provide over the lithionics app?

Thanks,
-steve
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Old 07-25-2022, 10:16 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SactoSteve View Post
What fridge are you guys talking about? Dometic was mentioned, I think. Ours came with a 12 V GE fridge. I haven't seen any Dometic branding on it? Works great, but flimsy fragile door shelving.

Curious what value the “Victron Bluetooth Smart Negative Shunt Monitor“ would provide over the lithionics app?

Thanks,
-steve
Sorry Steve,
Didn’t know your Lithionics has a full featured Bluetooth monitor. If it can do everything the smart shunt can do, then obviously, you don’t need one. Here’s a shot of the smart shunt screen.
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Old 07-25-2022, 10:26 AM   #8
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Thanks, thought I was missing something.

-steve
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Old 07-25-2022, 09:49 PM   #9
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Quote:
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What fridge are you guys talking about? Dometic was mentioned, I think. Ours came with a 12 V GE fridge. I haven't seen any Dometic branding on it? Works great, but flimsy fragile door shelving.

Yours is a GE fridge? Oh wow! Ours came with the Dometic 4101.

This exact one here.

I had no idea there were different brands shipping with the FLX.
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Old 07-25-2022, 10:50 PM   #10
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looks identical, probably are. Both 12 v compressor fridge. Ours has one large crisper drawer instead of 2, but the web page shows 2. Your comment about keeping things cold caught my eye because we have to run it close to off to keep things from freezing.

GE GPV10FSNBSB
https://www.searspartsdirect.com/mod...igerator-parts

"its an Adventure"

-steve
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Old 07-26-2022, 10:39 AM   #11
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Vent Mode Clarification

RovingMedics - you mentioned that you had your A/C on [Vent] mode for a good amount of time rather than [Cool] mode. I looked through the manual but don't seem to see any clear indication on what exactly [Vent] mode is. I assume, it's simply circulating air throughout the cabin without actually cooling it, right?

I did verify that when using [Vent] Mode, the inverter was report ~140W usage vs when [Cool] mode was activated, it'd jump to ~1200W so this seems to confirm my assumption above.
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Old 07-28-2022, 08:02 PM   #12
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RovingMedics - you mentioned that you had your A/C on [Vent] mode for a good amount of time rather than [Cool] mode. I looked through the manual but don't seem to see any clear indication on what exactly [Vent] mode is. I assume, it's simply circulating air throughout the cabin without actually cooling it, right?

I did verify that when using [Vent] Mode, the inverter was report ~140W usage vs when [Cool] mode was activated, it'd jump to ~1200W so this seems to confirm my assumption above.

That was our experience as well. [Vent] just rotated room temperature air throughout the cabin. When it was cool outside, it was nice, and when we were cooking or showering.
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Old 07-28-2022, 09:48 PM   #13
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Chiming in on Truma components and ventilation

iRanduMi and RovingMedics-

There should be manuals, in the Winnebago pouch, on the 3 Truma elements comprising the FLX package; water heater, ”room” heater, and AC/ventilation. We’ve found the manuals to be very thorough, although I sometimes need to re-read to grasp the translation from German.
Ventilation mode does, as you note, just moves “room” air, so just a glorified fan, and therefore not the “hit” on power AC is. BTW, damn that AC is effective and quiet! Love the Truma systems!

There are also 2 roof fans in the 2108, Wow, are those lacking. 1 speed, exhaust only, clustered together; one in bathroom, one in “kitchen”. We are intending to replace, at least, one of those with a Fan-Tastic fan which we have experience with from our previous trailer (NuCamp T@b 400). That fan was vastly superior to the ones in the 2108, in my opinion. I’ve not yet looked into making that upgrade, but I believe I saw a thread on doing that.
I’d be interested in opinions on which (bath or kitchen) folks think would be the priority to upgrade. I can make a case for either one.

-steve
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Old 07-29-2022, 04:55 PM   #14
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iRanduMi and RovingMedics-

There should be manuals, in the Winnebago pouch, on the 3 Truma elements comprising the FLX package; water heater, ”room” heater, and AC/ventilation. We’ve found the manuals to be very thorough, although I sometimes need to re-read to grasp the translation from German.
Ventilation mode does, as you note, just moves “room” air, so just a glorified fan, and therefore not the “hit” on power AC is. BTW, damn that AC is effective and quiet! Love the Truma systems!

There are also 2 roof fans in the 2108, Wow, are those lacking. 1 speed, exhaust only, clustered together; one in bathroom, one in “kitchen”. We are intending to replace, at least, one of those with a Fan-Tastic fan which we have experience with from our previous trailer (NuCamp T@b 400). That fan was vastly superior to the ones in the 2108, in my opinion. I’ve not yet looked into making that upgrade, but I believe I saw a thread on doing that.
I’d be interested in opinions on which (bath or kitchen) folks think would be the priority to upgrade. I can make a case for either one.

-steve
I saw a video on the HIKE 100 Series FLX today and the fan they have looks like it moves A LOT more air than the ones in the Minnie FLX do. Also a bit louder as well. I guess it's a trade off. The Truma vent & the roof vents combined move a lot of air and we got a small fan from Venty to move even MORE air around.

the video I mentioned is titled "Winnebago Hike 100 Series 1316SB with FLX package “interior” " by adv4two ... I'd link to it but embedded videos aren't working right.

I did check through the manual pouch and read the Truma stuff. it was helpful. that was also how I discovered just how bland the Connexx stereo really is. lol. still thinking about replacing that and also seeking opinions on replacements.
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Old 10-10-2022, 06:22 AM   #15
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Wife cooked up food on the gas range just fine. The microwave worked ok too. SpeedBumpMedia noted that their ceiling was getting hot when using it, but ours felt ok. We didn't cook for *too* long, though.
Did you just microwave or use the convection feature? It was when we had the convection going for preheating and then cooking for 15 minutes that the ceiling got hot as hell.
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Old 10-10-2022, 06:17 PM   #16
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Did you just microwave or use the convection feature? It was when we had the convection going for preheating and then cooking for 15 minutes that the ceiling got hot as hell.
We used the microwave feature for a few minutes to cook up some budget nachos but haven't tested the convection feature much. I remember seeing a video (might have been yours, actually!) saying that it got pretty hot and after that we were careful about using it.
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Old 10-10-2022, 06:42 PM   #17
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The microwave is fine, it’s the convection function that generates the heat. It essentially acts as a mini stove with the heating element. I need to run the convection again and take the infrared reader to get the ceiling temp. You will not touch that panel for long.

It was our video. We’ve learned a lot from our trips and got some good info from other owners.
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Old 05-26-2023, 10:17 AM   #18
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Any experience extending slide/awning on battery power? I have a normal house plug close by but I don’t know what it’s rated for. Are standard house plugs 120v/15amp?
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Old 05-26-2023, 01:09 PM   #19
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Any experience extending slide/awning on battery power? I have a normal house plug close by but I don’t know what it’s rated for. Are standard house plugs 120v/15amp?
Basically everything works off the battery except 110 appliances. You can run the fridge, jack, stabilizers, slide, awning, and lights.

Microwave, TV, AC, need the inverter. Haven’t tried or don’t recall if heat or water heater works though.
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Old 05-26-2023, 02:20 PM   #20
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I see, I wasn’t even thinking about inverter vs no inverter, just meant shore vs no-shore power. Only had the rig a week so I’ve yet to explore everything. Guess I need to “get in the books.” Really just need a quick start guide of some kind. After reading threads for hours I still don’t know like, when should I turn battery off, put the Xantrex in standby, basic daily useage etc. Thanks for the reply.
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