2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

Limerick1 · January 2012

We are a family of 4 and will be living off grid all summer in our new trailer ( Bancroft , Ontario ). i have 4 x120 watt panels , 50mppt controller, 4x 100ah (12v) batteries, 0/4 wire to and from battery /inverter, 2500watt pure sine wave inverter.
Can I directly connect my shore power cord on my new trailer ?Or run extension cords?WE use appox 130 ah at most ( rainy days ....kids t.v...).

Thank You
J

2011 Lacrosse 318
2500watt pure sine inverter
2800 inverter generator
480 watt panels
400ah batterry
50mppt controller

BB. · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

Yes, you can run solar and shore power in parallel to recharge your battery bank. Note that which ever controller has the highest voltage set point "wins".

Some RV shore chargers are pretty good, and others are not. For long battery life, you will have to research your shore controller (and solar controller too) and see what their set points are and how many stages of charging they have. The better ones will also have a remote battery temperature sensor--Very handy if your battery bank is subject to temperature extremes.

Regarding your current setup--You might want to look for a smaller inverter. Larger inverters can pull 10-20 watts or even more just to turn on. A smaller TSW inverter (300 watt) may be nice for your lower power loads--Only 6 watts and they have "search mode" (look for AC loads before turning on), or remote On/Off (use a small 12 volt switch instead of a massive couple 100 amp 12 VDC relay/switch to turn inverter on/off. The MorningStar 300 Watt 12 volt TSW inverter is a really nice unit for smaller applications.

Otherwise, at 130 AH of 12 volt load--You probably have enough solar array to keep up with the usage in the summer.

Another tool to think about--A battery monitor (if you don't already have one).

-Bill

waynefromnscanada · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

Totally agree with BB, especially on that relatively huge inverter and the beauty of the much more reasonably sized Morningstar inverter. I've had one of them running 24/7 and a second one dedicated to specific loads where it only runs as needed, for over 3 years now. Beautifully designed and operating inverter.

westbranch · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

Since you are north of the 49th, have a look at the Victron 350 that is sold in Canada. here is a link to Victron.http://www.victronenergy.com/

Limerick1 · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

Thank's for the help !
We just purchased the land and will be off -grids for a few years ( 10k a pole x 7= 70k ). I understood about phamton loads and made sure we had enough (or more )power/watts.
I plug in the trailer ( shore-power ) to the inverter, then used it like it was on utility's .I have a decaited charger for the battery's ( plus solar).
I think I will have to remove the trailer's converter , just to reduce cosumsion of watts? And run extention cords? As it being brand new trailer , I was just hoping to run shore-power cord to inverter.

more to learn !
Thank for all your help

confused ?

Blackcherry04 · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

You didn't say the Manufacturer of the Inverter or the Model. If it has a transfer relay built in then all you'll have to do is use the incoming legs ( Shore Power ) on the input and run the output into your distribution panel in the trailer. There would be no reason to have any extension cords. When you plug the shore power cord in the Inverter will automatically switch off battery power and on to the Shore Power.

Since you said you wouldn't have Shore Power, Another way is if the Inverter is located outside the trailer just make up a pigtail with a female adapter plug and hook it to the output of the inverter and plug your shore power cord into it. You MUST Ground them both no matter what you do with a copper rod driven into the ground.

Limerick1 · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

About the ground thing? Is there any rule on how close or far it can be installed ( 10ft-150 )? I was thinking of putting it about 200 ft away from inverter/ trailer ? Will this be fine ?

I must say , I have been very busy learning this week ( What I thought I knew and now what I know better ).

This forum is been a great deal of help and I continue to read and learn.

Thank's to all of you ! & God Bless !

To all the new B's - Ask , these folks know and it will work right !

Shadowcatcher · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

OK I am puzzled. If you have shore power, probably a 30A 110AC why would you need an inverter? or even use the batteries at all. In all likelihood you have a twist lock weather resistant socket and a three prong plug set up to plug into a power pedestal at a camp ground. There are adapters that will let you plug one of these into a conventional extension cord 10 ga preferable. Most trailers manufactured in the US use a converter that both charges the battery's and provides 12v to those fused circuits in the trailer and some use a power center that also has the 110V circuit breakers.

Blackcherry04 · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

I am not sure exactly what you asking. The 200' that you reference, I don't get. If I was grounding the Trailer ( If you have no code to meet ) I'd run #6 wire to a grounding rod within 6-10 ft of the trailer and bolted to the frame and driven into the ground at least 6 ft, I think one section is 10 ft and sometimes it's hard to drive them in that far. One issue is the 2500 watts of the inverter you almost have to size your wire with that in mind. If the Inverter is going to be remoted , I'd ground it the same. If your talking about running a Power cord 200' you'll have to use a wire calculator to tell you the size.

You have a generator listed, where will it be ??

Your going to have to clarify a little more.

Limerick1 · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

I have a new trailer (2011) and will be leaving it in the middle God God's country ( no power for miles ) .
I have build a solar set up ( panels 120x3 , batteries 4x100ah , 2500 inverter, 30amp mppts).
I will to run the shore-power cord ( attached to trailer) to the inverter. I was not sure if the trailer converter would need to be removed ( to save watts )?
We have 2- generators for back-up / charging ( really do not need trailer inverter as we have a battery charger generator).
Last year , we ran the generator( plugged trailer shore-power cord ) , but found it too noisy.

We use less than 75ah per day ( rain days up -150 ah) per our calulation ( phantom watts, pumps , lights , t.v...etc).
I made the solar system larger than needed , as we plan to build a cabin in the future.

Simple ? Can I just plug and play ?

I was not sure about the grounding ( i thought it needed to be far away, re-200ft ) , but you have answered .Thank you .

Jason

BB. · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

What is your "battery charger generator"? Home made alternator/gas engine, or AC generator with AC battery charger, or generator with 12 VDC primary output, or AC generator that has a 8-10 amp 12 VDC battery charger output?

Lots of ways of making your solution--Some workout better out than others.

-Bill

Limerick1 · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

A/c generator that has a 8-10 amp 12 VDC battery charger output ( not enough amp's )? We do not let the batteries go past 75%. does this help ?
Sorry for all Q's , but I have seen some bad set up's( fires , arcing ..) .

Jason

Blackcherry04 · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

Ok, now I got you. I don't know the lay of your land, you can build a 3 sided bunker of sorts and lay some concrete blocks and put dirt all around it and on the roof and face the open side away from the trailer. I had one dug into a hillside once that worked great. As far as the 200' feet , you can bury come conduit and run the wire to the trailer, but you'd still have to have a shelter for the generator. Is there any water around ?? If you had some ground water ( Stream, pond ) a marine generator with a water muffler and water cooled exhaust would be quiet. You could modify what you have with a water muffler or go to a bigger muffler.

BB. · January 2012

Re: 2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

Limerick1 wrote: »

A/c generator that has a 8-10 amp 12 VDC battery charger output ( not enough amp's )? We do not let the batteries go past 75%. does this help ?
Sorry for all Q's , but I have seen some bad set up's( fires , arcing ..)

Probably depends on the generator brand/model... For example, the Honda eu family (which I am somewhat familiar with), the 8-10 amp is an unregulated output which must have the generator "eco throttle" turned off to generate enough voltage. Can force you to use more fuel at high RPM.

Also, some folks here (Canadians as I recall) have a warning on their eu's that say not to run any AC loads when using he DC output. I have not seen than on my USA models.

In the end, you are looking at around 96-140 something watts into your battery bank.

A eu2000i should be able to pump 40-50 amps (upwards of 600 watts) into your battery bank on almost the same amount of fuel. And if you have a "better" AC battery charger (power factor corrected), you can probably get close to 1,000 watts into the battery bank.

Question about battery charger selection with EU2000 generator

I would only use the 8-10 amp output as an emergency charger (i.e., car with dead battery + genset). I would not use it to recharge your home/cabin/RV battery bank. (in my humble opinion).

-Bill

2011Lacrosse 318 ,can shore power cord be connected to solar ?

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