Solar question

[Grumpy Grampa]

Is it ok to start the engine of the the motor home a four batteries bank hooked up to a solar controller and solar panel?

Or should you disconnect the solar monitor before starting engine?

Thank you

[16ACE27]

Start the engine. The solar charger will see the increased voltage on the batteries and "control" the solar charging accordingly. There will be no "backfeeding" into the controller.

[williamprunty]

I just start my unit, the controller and inverter should handle the rest.

[Chateau_Nomad]

It's a "charge controller" just like an intelligent battery charger. The solar charge controller will "control" the amount of voltage going to the batteries - possibly even going to zero volts even with full sun on the solar panels and the engine running.

So no worries - provided everything else is setup properly (converter, etc.) you should have no problem.

[Grumpy Grampa]

Thanks everyone. I was just concerned the controller went bad. The reason I heard one of the four flood batteries gurgling a little.

Thoughts

Thank you

[Chateau_Nomad]

This document will give you a good understanding of how to manage charging of your batteries:

https://www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/Iota-charging-deep-cycle-batteries.pdf

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

This document will give you a good understanding of how to manage charging of your batteries:

https://www.solar-electric.com/lib/wind-sun/Iota-charging-deep-cycle-batteries.pdf

Thx informative..
Wow.. AGM for me

[Chateau_Nomad]

Originally Posted by Scubawise

Thx informative..
Wow.. AGM for me

Different battery types for different requirements. With some careful research there's something for every type of motorhome user.

For those who rarely boondock and always have shore power, they may get by with a couple 6v flooded batteries. The advantage is price. Disadvantages are maintenance and weight.

For a good blend of boondocking and full hookups, AGM are a good choice. You can achieve a workable blend of amp hours vs weight. But there's diminishing returns. You soon reach a tipping point between power reserve, weight and price.

For heavy duty boondockers, LiFePO4 is the best choice. The best weight vs amp hour ratio... but at a steep price penalty. To get 600+ amp hours in a light weight setup (vs lead acid) this is about the only choice.