Solar charging

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Originally Posted by threedogs

where is the Engel if in the Patrol? I would suggest either parking in the shade and running a lead to your Panel,
or darken the cargo area with either that silver foil sheet, or black perforated stick on.
Out of interest how many AH does the 150 panel produce on a sunny day.
You may have been better with two 80 Watt panels, I'll wait
Edit its 8.5 AH ,You might get 9AH running a twin 80 panel marginal

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Thanks for the input.
engel sat under vans annex in the shade, in its genuine transport cover.
it was that humid/warm condensation was forming under the cover.
did take it with us a few times, mav's cargo area is well shaded, and aircon was running.
settled on larger 150w single panel as dc/dc reg max's out at 300w.
so 2x 150w panels suit nicely if 2nd is required.
otherwise 3x100w getting bulky etc, did consider smaller but that falls short etc so I thought.
this reg can be upgraded to 80 amps charging for over 400ah and then max out 800ah.
I'm very new at solar, so hope I'm getting it right hate wasten time and $$.
my only regret so far is reg has no status gauge, bat level ah etc, but is mppt.
may have to get a monitor of sorts later down the track.
or put dc/dc reg in car for dual bats, and a different reg in van.
will see.
Boss wants larger van, and looking at weights I may have to step up to GU towing capacitys.
GQ Hayman bar 120 kg ball weight falls short on vans we have looked at so far.
I've spent a small ship load of time/money on GQ mav and now short capacity wise.
any improvements are on hold till I sort vehicles now.
always something.
cheers

120kg sounds very low.
Are you sure that's not the rating when the car is at max gvm??

I've seen that a lot here where ppl buy a Van that Max's out their GVM
only looking for trouble Imo, Try and leave a bit of lee way to play with,
Other wise your at MAX every time you hitch up, but no doubt you have done the figures

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Originally Posted by Robo

Thanks for the input.
engel sat under vans annex in the shade, in its genuine transport cover.
it was that humid/warm condensation was forming under the cover.
cheers

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I'm going ti throw the cat amongst the pigeons , when I got my fridge years ago a old time fridge mechanic gave me some advice , don't use a cover in hot conditions , as the fridge produces heat through the sides that cannot be disapaited if a cover is over it , feel the side of your home fridge on a hot day , makes a lot of sense when you think about it , just my 2 cents

Steve

Yeah there is actually a name for that too. But can't remember what its called. But I do believe the Engels work differently though.
I have a cover on my 75l combi with cover and when we used it before Christmas we had a few 35c days and I found even laying a folded tarp over the top the Engel it ran a couple of degrees cooler.

I have a engal, give it a try it might surprise you, would you wear a jumper on hot day?

Yeah I will try it for sure. As you will know if there is a change as the temps will alter pretty quick.

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Originally Posted by gaddy

I'm going ti throw the cat amongst the pigeons , when I got my fridge years ago a old time fridge mechanic gave me some advice , don't use a cover in hot conditions , as the fridge produces heat through the sides that cannot be disapaited if a cover is over it , feel the side of your home fridge on a hot day , makes a lot of sense when you think about it , just my 2 cents

Steve

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humm
sounds ok !.
condensation from warm air is forming externally on the cold surfaces.
so the outside of the engel must be cold to cause moisture to form on it.
only prob there is rust might form.
If it were hot externally as I think your trying to point out,
water would not be there, water would evaporate away wouldn't it.
Reading in a van mag the other day.
to help your fridge work less and better you can install a trap or similar like an awning on the out side of van to cool external wall where fridge is located against.
however your mechanic is correct about not covering the hot parts.
this engel has vents for the hot bits, it even has an inbuilt fan assist to cool the comp and evaporator.
I see your point and agree don't cover the hot bits.

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Originally Posted by Westy's Accessories

120kg sounds very low.
Are you sure that's not the rating when the car is at max gvm??

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yep 93 mavs hayman bar,
2500kg foe and arft weights,
& downward ball weight 120kg max.
and if ya use extended tongues that figure falls lower.

outlaws 93 troopy gen bar is 110kg, full leaf suspension and all, go figure that out.
"Sorry for the hijack"

Yeah I know it sounds all wrong , I have the first model to come out with the fan and on a hot day the sides still get warm , and had a travel cover as well , found when it was in the back of the ute we had in the sun it ran better without the cover , although ended up looking like this Attachment 39635
I also use it in the boat , as a bit of an experiment one trip without the travel cover I switched over to 1 battery to see how long it would take before I could not start without switching to second battery and not useing any other charging sorce then the outboard adout 25 amps and only for about half hour a day I was using 960 cca calcium battery I have no led lights on the boat kids using dvd player . Charging phones and running my electrinics , 6 days before I ran out of umph to start . The fridge was only opened a few times a day and only had food no drinks , when in the boat it is in the sun a lot as well . 13 years old now and still runs like a dream
This ijust my own experience and works for me

I also have a jayco with 3 way fridge freezer I put a hinge on the top vent near the chimney on the fridge , 2 seconds to open up and fridge runs brilliantly