New Member with Micro Minnie 2108FBS

[Gitgo]

Hi All,

New member to this Forum.

My wife and I purchased a new 2023 Micro Minnie 2108FBS. We plan to do a lot of camping with it to see the USA and Canada. We got tired of (and too old for) sleeping on the ground in a tent. We'll be doing some camping at resorts but hopefully we'll be staying mostly off grid in national/state parks and BLM/public land.

We are in the process of sorting out the trailer right now. We have a project planned to upgrade the solar and dump the cheap FLA battery for a switch to LiFePO. Maybe add a a 2000W inverter charger. I have observed that several members here have done this and that it can be done DIY. Our goal is to be able to extend our off-grid time beyond the standard WBGO delivered electrical system.

[creativepart]

HI and Welcome
Congrats on the new TT. You travel and upgrade plans sound terrific.

What do you hope to do with the 2000w inverter on this TT? Also, will you be carrying a portable generator, too?

[Gitgo]

Hi Creativepart,

We want to power a coffee maker in the morning, microwave, and occasionally my wife's hair dryer. I have a Champion dual fuel inverter generator that I plan to use to top off the battery if solar can't keep up or when I need additional power for the aforementioned.

[creativepart]

All that sounds doable - mind you all of those items can require a lot of instantaneous power draws. You'll need to mount the inverter as close as possible to the batteries with stout battery cabling - likely 4/0awg cables. The microwave is probably at least a 1000w-1200w draw.

Wiring from the inverter to your power center (I think it's under the fridge on your TT) will be standard Romex. Since that wiring is 110v A/C it doesn't need to be any special extra gauge.

I have 2-200ah LFP batteries (400ah total) and a 2000w pure sine wave inverter (important) and I can run my rather large microwave without issue. However, previously, I had 4-100ah AGM batteries and they were not capable of running the microwave for even a minute.

Here's a discussion at a sister Jayco forum about the difficulties of doing as you are planning to do:

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ave-96041.html

[Marine359]

Originally Posted by Gitgo

Hi All,

New member to this Forum.

My wife and I purchased a new 2023 Micro Minnie 2108FBS. We plan to do a lot of camping with it to see the USA and Canada. We got tired of (and too old for) sleeping on the ground in a tent. We'll be doing some camping at resorts but hopefully we'll be staying mostly off grid in national/state parks and BLM/public land.

We are in the process of sorting out the trailer right now. We have a project planned to upgrade the solar and dump the cheap FLA battery for a switch to LiFePO. Maybe add a a 2000W inverter charger. I have observed that several members here have done this and that it can be done DIY. Our goal is to be able to extend our off-grid time beyond the standard WBGO delivered electrical system.

Hi Gitgo,
There are several 2108 owners, or prior owners who have done what you want to do. Yes, it can all be done DIY, and you’ll save $6,000 or more by doing it yourself. Installing LFP and moving it to the pass -thru, and solar with charge controllers are not very difficult if you have some skills and patience. Installing an inverter/charger is a bigger challenge, but well worth it because you’ll be able to charge your LFP lightning fast, and with 2,000w models, you’ll have enough power for anything you want to use in your 2108 (as long as you don’t run too many appliances simultaneously). For us a 2,000w inverter/charger was the sweet spot. 2/0 awg wiring between inverter and battery is sufficient if they’re near each other. The dc wiring part is pretty easy. The ac wiring, not so much, as you’ve got to run two ac wires (input and output) back to the distribution panel and disconnect the stock charger. However, you may not want to that because newer Micro Minnie’s come equipped with a charger that can sense LFP and change to LFP profile. Stock charger still don’t have a lot of output, so the choice is up to you. Strongly recommend you install an easy start on your ac. This will allow you to carry a smaller generator, and even run the ac off batteries for a short period.

Take a look at my upgrades and mods photo album for some ideas. If you don’t mind spending $10,000 more, you can get a FLX model that has all the upgrades included, and more. Our setup with 400w solar and 4kWh of battery made us comfortable boondocking with no hookups and no generator for up to a week.

Good luck.

[creativepart]

Originally Posted by Marine359

The ac wiring, not so much, as you’ve got to run two ac wires (input and output) back to the distribution panel and disconnect the stock charger.

Clarifying Jim's comments just a bit... Inverters come in two flavors: inverter only or inverter/chargers.

As Jim mentioned, your newer TT likely has a Lithium capable Converter, with a built in charger, installed in your TT to charge your new batteries. So, you can buy just an inverter which is a tad cheaper than and combined inverter/charger.

If you get just an inverter, not an inverter/charger, then you don't need to disable the Converter's charging function which makes wiring easier.

As Jim alluded to, the charger in an Inverter/Charger is usually more fully featured than the OEM Converter in your TT but it's certainly not mandatory. It's your choice.

[Wmlunt]

Good day Gitgo and welcome to the forum!
I have a 2024 2108fbs with all of the changes you are planning.
Mods: 2020 Jeep GC pulling 2024 WBGO Micro Minnie 2108FBS, Full Size Queen w/bed and frame extension, 2000W GoPower pure sine inverter, second portable 200W solar, both on Victron 100/30s, locked dual 110aH lithiums, Hengs upgrade ceiling fans, MissMin t’static shower valve, dimmable ceiling lights, Furrion rear & side cameras, BlueOx WDH.
Feel free to pm me with questions.
I do not have a changeover switch for the inverter, just use the breaker to kill the converter when running the inverter…
Again, welcome! Bill

[Gitgo]

Originally Posted by creativepart

All that sounds doable - mind you all of those items can require a lot of instantaneous power draws. You'll need to mount the inverter as close as possible to the batteries with stout battery cabling - likely 4/0awg cables. The microwave is probably at least a 1000w-1200w draw.

Wiring from the inverter to your power center (I think it's under the fridge on your TT) will be standard Romex. Since that wiring is 110v A/C it doesn't need to be any special extra gauge.

I have 2-200ah LFP batteries (400ah total) and a 2000w pure sine wave inverter (important) and I can run my rather large microwave without issue. However, previously, I had 4-100ah AGM batteries and they were not capable of running the microwave for even a minute.

Here's a discussion at a sister Jayco forum about the difficulties of doing as you are planning to do:

https://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/f...ave-96041.html

Hi Creativepart,

Thanks for the info and link to the Jayco forum. It was an interesting (and cautionary) read.

This is my plan so far:
Replace the dealer FLA battery with an Epoch 300 Ah LiFePO4 Battery
Add a second 200W panel to the roof from Rich Solar to give me ~400 watts on roof
Purchase a 200 Watt Portable Solar Panel Briefcase for the side solar port
Replace the OEM SCC with a Victron MPPT 100/30 Solar Charge Controller for the roof panels
Add a Victron MPPT 75/15 Solar Charge Controller for the portable panels on the side
Disconnect the OEM WFCO converter and replace with Victron MultiPlus Compact 2000VA Inverter/Charger

Our 2023 2108FBS came with OEM High Pointe Microwave/Convection oven Model EC028KD7. The manual says it’s Rated Input Power(Microwave) is 1500W and its Rated Output Power(Microwave) is 1000W. Now I’m starting to question whether that may be near the upper limit of the Victron 2000W MultiPlus as I don’t want to run it for long periods (10-15 minutes?) at max capacity. Maybe the Victron 3000W Multiplus would be a better choice? Hopefully someone on the forum has had experience with this.

Michael

Originally Posted by Marine359

Hi Gitgo,
There are several 2108 owners, or prior owners who have done what you want to do. Yes, it can all be done DIY, and you’ll save $6,000 or more by doing it yourself. Installing LFP and moving it to the pass -thru, and solar with charge controllers are not very difficult if you have some skills and patience. Installing an inverter/charger is a bigger challenge, but well worth it because you’ll be able to charge your LFP lightning fast, and with 2,000w models, you’ll have enough power for anything you want to use in your 2108 (as long as you don’t run too many appliances simultaneously). For us a 2,000w inverter/charger was the sweet spot. 2/0 awg wiring between inverter and battery is sufficient if they’re near each other. The dc wiring part is pretty easy. The ac wiring, not so much, as you’ve got to run two ac wires (input and output) back to the distribution panel and disconnect the stock charger. However, you may not want to that because newer Micro Minnie’s come equipped with a charger that can sense LFP and change to LFP profile. Stock charger still don’t have a lot of output, so the choice is up to you. Strongly recommend you install an easy start on your ac. This will allow you to carry a smaller generator, and even run the ac off batteries for a short period.

Take a look at my upgrades and mods photo album for some ideas. If you don’t mind spending $10,000 more, you can get a FLX model that has all the upgrades included, and more. Our setup with 400w solar and 4kWh of battery made us comfortable boondocking with no hookups and no generator for up to a week.

Good luck.

Hi Marine359,

Thanks for the information on your setup. We really like the idea of being able to boondock for several days. I would like to install an easy start so we can run the air conditioner when needed on generator. The ability to charge quicker is also high on our list.

I took a look at your upgrades and mods photo album as suggested. I see that you installed a Xantrex 2000W inverter charger. I have read that the Xantrex inverter chargers have a higher output than the Victron. Do you have any feel for whether the Xantrex would better fit my plans than the Victron 2000W? Or should I be looking at the Victron 3000W as I mentioned above to Creativepart. We want the ability to use the microwave on battery and not always have to pull out a generator.

Thanks,
Michael

Originally Posted by Wmlunt

Good day Gitgo and welcome to the forum!
I have a 2024 2108fbs with all of the changes you are planning.
Mods: 2020 Jeep GC pulling 2024 WBGO Micro Minnie 2108FBS, Full Size Queen w/bed and frame extension, 2000W GoPower pure sine inverter, second portable 200W solar, both on Victron 100/30s, locked dual 110aH lithiums, Hengs upgrade ceiling fans, MissMin t’static shower valve, dimmable ceiling lights, Furrion rear & side cameras, BlueOx WDH.
Feel free to pm me with questions.
I do not have a changeover switch for the inverter, just use the breaker to kill the converter when running the inverter…
Again, welcome! Bill

Hi Wmlunt,

I appreciate the offer to pm with questions. Your mods look pretty close to what we want to do. I am going to assume your 2108FBS has the same microwave/convection oven as ours – are you able run it with the GoPower inverter straight off your batteries?

Thanks,
Michael

[Marine359]

Hi again Gitgo,
The decision to go with Victron vrs Xantrex is a pretty easy one for you, but wasn’t so easy when I did my installs. At the time, The Victron comparable model costs significantly more. Plus it was significantly larger than the Xantrex. The $$$ part was the big decider for me, but since then I believe Victron has dropped their prices. In every product category whether it be inverter, inverter/charger, or solar charge controller, Victron is a superior product to anything else on the market. I wanted an inverter/charger, and I just couldn’t make the Victron Multiplus work in the space I had allowed for the inverter/charger. If you’re going to forego inverter charger, and just get an inverter, then by all means, go with Victron. Just be aware that if you choose just an inverter, you’ll also have to install a transfer switch at the panel. Transfer switch is built into inverter/chargers. I’d stay away from Renogy, as I’ve read that some people complained about the ac pass-through not being the full output amperage of the product, and they didn’t find out until after they bought the product. But, definitely make sure your inverter is pure sine wave. Don’t go (real) cheap, or you may be sorry.

BTW: we never felt the need for a 3,000w inverter output. 2,000w is way more than enough to run any ac appliance in the camper, albeit, not all at the same time. Also a 3.000w inverter will need bigger cabaling, will use more power in standby, and requires a larger battery bank capable of outputting the amount of amperage it can use.

[Wmlunt]

Hi Gitgo, haven’t run the mic/convection/broiler yet off the inverter, but will be testing that over the next few weeks! Max load is 1500 watts per the label specs, and gopower inverter can take a spike over the 2k - I don’t anticipate any issues. The Keurig mini is also going to be a test although it is much lower wattage than the mic.
A/C with soft start and one Honda genny converted to propane will also be a test, but Hutch mountain assures many folks are doing just that.
Considering a changeover switch either manual or auto, but would likely need help with that..
Bill