Going solar

[GQtdauto]

Wise advice Cuppa , to add to that what I've done on the folding panel is a small amount of silastic to stop cords from flexing back and forth into the regulator , just a small dab on the wire and fix to the back of the panel .

[Covo71]

I think going just the panel and using the redarc so I can charge off the car as well would be the way to instead of a kit.

[Clunk]

snip

but that may change in the near future as I have just been diagnosed with severe sleep apnea & will now have to travel with a CPAP machine which can use 60 to 100 amp hours per night! Thankfully I know folk who travel & who have already been down this path & have directed toward a machine which runs direct off 12v & uses a max of 35Ah per night (or only 10Ah if the humidification isn't needed). Our system will have to be worked a bit harder but should cope ok. (Whether I'll cope with having to become an elephant man crossed with Hannibal Lector every night is another matter!).

Me too, my reading was 75.4 per hour..... start my 4 week cpap trial on Tuesday hooooray. Let us know how the travel ones go, as I might well have to do the same for longer breaks away

[Cuppa]

Me too, my reading was 75.4 per hour..... start my 4 week cpap trial on Tuesday hooooray. Let us know how the travel ones go, as I might well have to do the same for longer breaks away

Will do @Clunk, be a little while yet, I'm booked in for an overnight CPAP titration sleep test thingo next week. I'll be buying from the US. Cheaper, as I don't have health insurance & the model I want isn't available here. It's a later model Devilbiss which is a bit quieter, uses less power (does that make this on topic?) & runs on a plain, easily replaced 12v lead & has a reasonably small footprint with humidifier attached (about the same as a 2 litre ice cream tub). There are a couple of smaller travel ones but both have 'issues' I wouldn't be happy about. Some of the others can be plugged into 12v, but actually run at 24v so have to incorporate a voltage converter either in the lead or in the machine, so end up drawing quite a lot more battery power. Check out the power specs of the later Devilbiss in their manual. A friend has been using one with the humidifier in his Oka for around a year now & is very happy with it.

You're the 2nd person to mention a 4 week trial. The other person mentioned they had had one & that it was free Nothing about that has been said to me. How do you access it?

75.4 AHI is high. Under 5 is normal & over 30 is considered 'Severe'. Mine was 43.1 with the longest apnea lasting 81 seconds. That's a long time to stop breathing for & my overall oxygen saturation levels was 89%, but dropped as low as 78%. This desaturation was described as 'profound'. A couple of people including one who's daughter is a Resmed engineer, tell me I'm well within brain damage territory!
All seems a tad dramatic but I guess it's better to know & have the opportunity to do something about it than to not know.

[stevemc181]

You're the 2nd person to mention a 4 week trial. The other person mentioned they had had one & that it was free Nothing about that has been said to me. How do you access it?

75.4 AHI is high. Under 5 is normal & over 30 is considered 'Severe'. Mine was 43.1 with the longest apnea lasting 81 seconds. That's a long time to stop breathing for & my overall oxygen saturation levels was 89%, but dropped as low as 78%. This desaturation was described as 'profound'. A couple of people including one who's daughter is a Resmed engineer, tell me I'm well within brain damage territory!
All seems a tad dramatic but I guess it's better to know & have the opportunity to do something about it than to not know.

I'm in the 3rd week of a 4 week trial, it wasn't free though. Cost was $400 for the 4 weeks and they give you an option to buy the machine off them at a supposed discount at the end. I have private health but of course it didn't cover the machine. It did cover the Private hospital and sleep study though. I just thought the 4 week trial was all part of it. The same mob that did the sleep study does the 4 week thing, so this set my scam detector off a bit!
My Oxygen levels dropped to 73% with an AHI of 44 and was diagnosed with asthma also (Been a long term smoker, but quit 4 months ago), so scary stuff. I've been a bit disappointed that I haven't seen instant results from the CPAP, but my AHI has now dropped to 0.9 so I guess its working? This getting older sucks knobs! The power use doesn't concern me a lot as we rarely camp more than one night in the same place. if need be, I'll throw another battery in to cover the use.

[threedogs]

@Cuppa yes it was directed to "Prez"@DXgrunt only as a suggestion.
DXgrunt knows where and what type of driving he intends to do so
mounting them on the pod doors could work for "him". I did not suggest
every Pod owner to mount them on their doors.

[GQtdauto]

They actually make flat , flexible panels these days which I'm assuming can be mounted without the airgap needed for others .
I have had people ask me if I'm worried about the solar panel getting hit by a stone on the front of the GQ , lucky for me god put a stone magnet in the form of a Windshield in front and so far this has been 100% effective .

[Cuppa]

They actually make flat , flexible panels these days which I'm assuming can be mounted without the airgap needed for others .
I have had people ask me if I'm worried about the solar panel getting hit by a stone on the front of the GQ , lucky for me god put a stone magnet in the form of a Windshield in front and so far this has been 100% effective .

Ha ha, very good!

Based on what I’ve been told by others you need to be careful with what ‘flexible' panels you buy if intending on mounting them to a rigid structure. There have been numerous failures with the ’semi flexible’ thin panels which have an aluminium backing - avoid them like the plague. When they get hot the backing expands at a different rate to the cells mounted on it & destroys the panel’s functionality. Those with a plastic back are reported to be better, although it may still be advisable to mount them onto a layer of corflute or similar rather than direct onto a metal surface.
Fully flexible panels (designed to be unrolled for each use ) are a different product.

[threedogs]

Im thinking the "good" flexible panels are better suited to a marine enviroment

[threedogs]

Does anyone know the correct way to fit these connectors.
Some Ive fully soldered but that doesn't seem right.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5-x-MC4-S...gAAOSw-zxWnC3A