New to RVs and Hopeful Warp Core RoadTrekkers

[booster]

Originally Posted by WingedRyno

That would be an interesting test. Turn off the fridge and cover the solar and time it. Should give a pretty good idea of BMS draw.

When I have more time I'll try to find a carport or garage and time it.

You may have a fuse for the solar controllers and/or the panels that would make it easier.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by booster

The whole "how much power do I have left" gets pretty complicated for an Ecotrek, kind of like having "reverse Peukert" on steroids .

“"reverse Peukert" on steroids” – Mr. Peukert is rolling in his grave.
It would be interesting to understand details about the parasitic loss, a $5 power relay? If shunt couldn’t be easily located in a place allowing to capture parasitic loss then a plan B fall is a voltage measurement.
Getting XXXX Ah Li batteries with XXX Ah parasitic losses makes the system practically even with lead acid, just a little more expensive.

[WingedRyno]

Originally Posted by booster

You may have a fuse for the solar controllers and/or the panels that would make it easier.

Good idea. Will hip pocket that one.

[gregmchugh]

Wishing and hoping that RT adds something to give better SOC data has been going on for a long time and other than the possible reintroduction of Coach Connect it seems very unlikely that RT will provide a shunt based SOC measurement.

So, being stuck with voltage measurements as the only real alternative, I would just make the best of the situation and try to get the most accurate voltage measurement and maybe use a recording voltmeter to save a history. It won't take much data to get enough info to come up with some "good enough" indications of SOC vs Voltage for your specific system under your typical usage scenarios. Since the voltage does depend on both SOC and loads and the chargers, you are never going to get anything as accurate as a shunt based measurement but it will likely be good enough to provide a reasonable SOC estimate for purposes of managing the Ecotrek batteries (when you need to bring fresh ones online for instance) and when to start battery charging. I have two recording multimeters that come in handy for this type of data collection, a MooshiMeter and a Redfish, both of which can record voltage data and transfer it to your phone, tablet, or computer for analysis.

In terms of the Voltstart trigger voltage, the trigger seems to be set nowhere near 10-20% SOC but this doesn't really effect the performance of the system. The risk of setting the trigger voltage too low is that voltage drops from load spikes could trigger the Ecotreks to go offline or the inverter to shut down. There is less risk of this at higher trigger voltages. You get the same energy out of the system at a higher trigger voltage as long as you don't go too high and run the GU when the batteries are at full charge. In the end, you can get the total energy available in the batteries and the energy provided by the GU during the Voltstart cycles at trigger voltages well above the 10-20% SOC which is where most expect the trigger to be set. Again, if you set the trigger voltage too high then the GU will fully charge the batteries during the Voltstart cycle and you would waste the remainder of the GU runtime energy. Of course, the RT and salesmen talk at times about the Voltstart having the capability to keep you batteries fully charged during the Voltstart operation but that is a bunch of BS and would be counterproductive if it was designed to do that. You would need to trigger the Voltstart at very high SOC and likely lose a lot of available GU energy charging full batteries.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by markopolo

The Master Instruments chart shows 20% SoC being 13.08V whereas the chart WingedRyno is using shows 13.1V being 50% SoC.

12.44V on the Master Instruments chart indicates 5% SoC whereas the chart WingedRyno is using assumes 12.4V being 20% SoC.

It appears that the chart WingedRyno is using was someones best effort / best guess but likely not accurate.

Another clue as to the inaccuracy of the chart WingedRyno is using would be that it is unlikely that volstart kicks in at 44% SoC. It's more likely that it would trigger closer to 10% SoC than 44% SoC.

RT have reprogrammed their VoltStart 8 months ago.
They are triggering it much sooner,
way before the battery reached the death spiral.

[WingedRyno]

I ran the AC today for about four hours of driving before pulling into a spot with shore power. It was 96 outside and the coach stayed about 86F by the fridge up front and about 79F by the couch with the air blasting on the couch.

Did much better than I expected based on my previous tests. I bought a laser temp gun and I'm going to have to do more testing before I feel solid about the results.

Of course I don't really know what the "standard" is for A/C performance in the Adventurous.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by WingedRyno

I ran the AC today for about four hours of driving before pulling into a spot with shore power. It was 96 outside and the coach stayed about 86F by the fridge up front and about 79F by the couch with the air blasting on the couch.

Did much better than I expected based on my previous tests. I bought a laser temp gun and I'm going to have to do more testing before I feel solid about the results.

Of course I don't really know what the "standard" is for A/C performance in the Adventurous.

What color is the coach?

[WingedRyno]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

What color is the coach?

Silver ice

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by WingedRyno

Silver ice

That's an elegant color and IMO a lot better dealing with hot temps than the charcoal color I have. I wanted silver but was harassed into charcoal which always looks filthy even when its clean.

[WingedRyno]

Originally Posted by cruising7388

That's an elegant color and IMO a lot better dealing with hot temps than the charcoal color I have. I wanted silver but was harassed into charcoal which always looks filthy even when its clean.

It was actually the only color they had left for a quick build. We were gonna go with white to save money, but since all they had was silver ice we went with it. I prefer a darker color myself, but we didn't much care what it looked like.

[cruising7388]

Originally Posted by WingedRyno

It was actually the only color they had left for a quick build. We were gonna go with white to save money, but since all they had was silver ice we went with it. I prefer a darker color myself, but we didn't much care what it looked like.

You didn't do too badly. The silver surcharge on your CS is about 2k. The other CS colors run from about 5k to 8k. But color choices on the Simplicity and the Zion run only about 600 bucks.

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by WingedRyno

I ran the AC today for about four hours of driving before pulling into a spot with shore power. It was 96 outside and the coach stayed about 86F by the fridge up front and about 79F by the couch with the air blasting on the couch.

Did much better than I expected based on my previous tests. I bought a laser temp gun and I'm going to have to do more testing before I feel solid about the results.

Of course I don't really know what the "standard" is for A/C performance in the Adventurous.

The first thing you must do is to point the laser at the intake and the output slots, you should see a 16~20 degrees temperature differential. You can check other areas for comfort, but that does not tell you if the A/C is working properly.

If you do not see the temperature range,
the next thing you can do is to check the voltage to the A/C. It should be at least 103v.

The next thing you can check is the ampere to the compressor. You will need a clamp-on meter to do that. The higher the outside temperature, the higher the electricity draw.

[gerrym51]

I have a suggestion-put the AC on and open the fantastic fan.aim open the air conditioner so it just blasts low. Perhaps the combo of these 2 things will enable the hot air to rise and escape thru the fantastic fan.

[Phoebe3]

I like the silver and it's probably the best color other than white for heat reflection.

Classy looking van.

[booster]

I think you will find that a cooking or meat thermometer will work much better than an infrared thermometer for checking air temperatures, as the infrared can just take the temp of surfaces.

I would also make sure the van AC is on recirc or max AC setting (or whatever they call it) so you aren't bringing in a lot of air that needs to have the moisture taken out of it and requires more cooling to do so.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by booster

I think you will find that a cooking or meat thermometer will work much better than an infrared thermometer for checking air temperatures, as the infrared can just take the temp of surfaces.

I would also make sure the van AC is on recirc or max AC setting (or whatever they call it) so you aren't bringing in a lot of air that needs to have the moisture taken out of it and requires more cooling to do so.

Booster-i've never seen a control on mine that lets me re-circulate inside air-please enlighten me. I have the same AC as Wynged

[booster]

Originally Posted by gerrym51

Booster-i've never seen a control on mine that lets me re-circulate inside air-please enlighten me. I have the same AC as Wynged

We may be speaking of different AC units. I was referring to the van's dash AC unit, not the coach rooftop one, as WingedRyno had said he was driving. The dash air almost always will have a recirc function although it may be called something else. There used to be window and small AC units that had a "fresh air" setting that would bring in outside air, but I haven't seen on in a long time, and never in an RV that I recall.

[Boxster1971]

Originally Posted by booster

We may be speaking of different AC units. I was referring to the van's dash AC unit, not the coach rooftop one, as WingedRyno had said he was driving. The dash air almost always will have a recirc function although it may be called something else. There used to be window and small AC units that had a "fresh air" setting that would bring in outside air, but I haven't seen on in a long time, and never in an RV that I recall.

Sprinters have an air-recirculation mode, but it will only stay on for max of 30 minutes. See attached page from owners manual for deatails.


- - Mike
2012 Sprinter 3500 Extended converted B-Van by Airstream

[booster]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Sprinters have an air-recirculation mode, but it will only stay on for max of 30 minutes. See attached page from owners manual for deatails.


- - Mike
2012 Sprinter 3500 Extended converted B-Van by Airstream

Now that is weird, IMO. We use ours on recirc almost all the time. It makes for less humidity and dust coming in and really reduces the duty cycle on the compressor.

[Bud]

"Now that is weird, IMO. We use ours on recirc almost all the time. It makes for less humidity and dust coming in and really reduces the duty cycle on the compressor."

I use recirculate in the New Orleans area, but Not when traveling in a dry climate as would have even a more bloody nose, dryness.

My 2013 Honda Accord recirculate or outside is automatic so I suppose it has a humidity sensor?

Bud