Dan, I use a 25-gallon sprayer tank that I bought from Northern and a 12VDC pump from MicroMark. URLs are http://www.northern-online.com and http://www.micromark.com respectively. The tank is about 36" long and 12" diameter, the pump is a tiny submersible outfit, meant to be used in minature fountains, etc. It will pump about 2 or 3 gallons/minute and has a long piece of 3/8" ID tygon tubing attached so the tank can remain in the truck and push water to the trailer's inlet near the back. I attached a couple of "bullet" connectors to the power tounge jack wires, with matching connectors on the pump, using the female bullet on the '+' wire at the jack to prevent shorting. I got the idea from another Listee (Hi, Bill!), who uses a regular Blue Boy tank, clearly labeled so as to not confuse it with the one used for waste water. We often attend engine shows and take the golf cart along, so I made a rig to carry the tank on the cart's seat. I also have an attachment to pick up power from the cart's batteries for the pump. This rig works great for hauling water to the trailer in boondocking situations. The pump and tubing are stored in the trailer in a small TupperWare-type of container, the tank stays in the truck. Originally, I bought one of those 7-gallon water totes, but that thing is HEAVY when lifting it to pour into the trailer. I figure that Ben Franklin invented electricity for good reasons, and this is one of 'em. <<grin>> <<Jim>> Dan Weeks wrote: > > Yes, Jim, tell us about your solution to the water problem. I want to know > even if Brian doesn't! Thanks BTW, for your cogent essay on power usage. > Someday I'll put all of this to use. I think 3 years lurking on this list > should qualify one for a Phd. in Airstream Living, thanks to the likes of > you, Terry Tyler, Doctor Gerald, and so many others. Thanks for sharing your > knowledge. > > Dan Weeks > 75 Argosy 26 > > > From: Jim Dunmyer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2001 09:57:24 -0400 > > To: Multiple recipients of VACList <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Subject: [VAC] Re: DC TV's > > > > Brian, > > Nearly all of the "solar" sites have an AH chart similar to the one you > > found at RVSolar. Pick one and go with it. > > > > Before charting your usage, you need to actually measure the consumption > > of your various appliances and lights, then estimate how many hours/day > > each will operate. Your DVM, set on the 10-amp scale will work fine to > > measure the draw, just be very careful to run only one device at a time. > > Simply disconnect one of your main battery leads and connect the meter > > in series, then turn on each light, the pump, the furnace, your small > > inverter (both loaded and unloaded), etc., ONE AT A TIME, and record the > > number. Round to the nearest .1 amp, closer than that is not necessary. > > This will require no more than 30 minutes of your time, believe it or > > not, and you'll be WAY ahead of the folks who are guessing, discussing, > > rehashing, and so on. > > > > Put your numbers in your chart, just as shown in the examples on the Web > > sites. > > > > Now, put the AH output from your solar panel(s) in the chart. A 100-amp > > panel will have a peak output of slightly more than 5 amps, and you can > > expect to see that much for a maximum of 4 hours per day, plus half that > > for another 4 hours. That's a total of 30 AH/day. Although that's my > > estimate, it's actually pretty close to personal experience. Note that > > we're assuming sunny days, it'll be next to nothing on a dreary day. > > > > If you're exceeding 30 AH/day in usage, your battery has to make up the > > difference. But, let's put that into the chart also. Your 3 batteries > > will give you about 250 AH max, or 125 AH if you try to never draw them > > below 50% charge. Let's say that you're using 60 AH/day, giving you a 30 > > AH/day deficit. You can still operate for 4 days before running your > > battery bank lower than is prudent, twice as long as without the solar > > panel. You might well look at your camping lifestyle and figure out that > > 4 or 5 days is the maximum time you will spend away from shore power and > > realize that you're all set. Of course, an eMeter or equivilant will > > help you track usage and give you a real-time readout on the state of > > your batteries. > > > > You might consider adding a good 3-stage charger/converter to your > > setup, especially if you plan on being out for a long time and using > > your generator to charge the batteries. A regular converter will charge > > the batteries so slowly as to be almost useless in this situation, but a > > 3-stage charger can put a very useful amount of juice into them in 4 or > > 5 hours of run-time. The small 1000-watt Hondas with the inverters are > > very quiet and very fuel-efficient and should do the job nicely. > > > > We use about 30 AH/day, being wastrels next to Sherry, but frugal > > compared to many others. Our 2, 75-watt panels can easily provide that > > amount of power and more. The eMeter has proven out the system, showing > > the batteries as "full" by shortly after noon most days. The one thing > > that could hurt us is if we had to run the furnace very much and the > > days were dreary. The furnace draws over 4 amps and runs quite a bit, so > > it really contributes to the AH consumption. Our TV is tiny, but draws > > only 1 amp. The 9" TV that I'd kinda like to have draws 4 amps, so would > > add at least 9 AH/day to our usage if we watch it for 3 hours/day. > > That's nearly 1/3 more total than at present! > > > > It sounds to me like you're all set in the power department. If you're > > interested, I'll tell you about my solution for the water problem. :-) > > > > <<Jim>> > > > > brian ganoe wrote: > >> > >> Jim, > >> > >> I have used the amp/hours chart at rvsolar. Are here others online that are > >> more useful? I ultimately plan on a 3 battery bank with at least a 100 watt > >> solar panel. This will all be supplimented with a small generator. I now > >> have a 2KW unit but look to get a lightweight 1KW unit in the near future. > >> We have no ac or microwave and I have installed a catalytic heater so the > >> furnace blower will not draw current except when really cold. I have > >> installed some flourescent lighting and am intrigued by the led talk. With > >> the resources we will have and a frugal energy lifestyle it shows we can be > >> out along time. I figure water will be more the limiting factor than power > >> or my wife will want to more civilization. Unfortunately that is not where > >> most of the mineral, fossil and metal deposits are found. Thanks! > >> > >> ..........Brian.......... > >> 1973 Safari > >> > >> At 07:24 PM 4/19/01 -0400, you wrote: > >>> Brian, > >>> If you're going to depend on your battery for power while boondocking, > >>> it cannot be emphasized enough that you should use one of the worksheets > >>> on the solar power sites to chart your usage. You're just guessing > >>> otherwise. > >> <<Jim>> > >> > >> To unsubscribe or to change to a daily Digest, please go to > >> http://www.airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html > >> > >> If replying back to this message, please delete all the unnecessary original > >> text from your reply. > >> > >> > > > > -- > > > > <<http://www.oldengine.org/members/jdunmyer>> > > <<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> > > <<lower SE Michigan, USA>> > > <<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> > > > > > > > > To unsubscribe or to change to a daily Digest, please go to > > http://www.airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html > > > > If replying back to this message, please delete all the unnecessary original > > text from your reply. > > > > > > > > > > To unsubscribe or to change to a daily Digest, please go to > http://www.airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html > > If replying back to this message, please delete all the unnecessary original > text from your reply. > > -- <<http://www.oldengine.org/members/jdunmyer>> <<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> <<lower SE Michigan, USA>> <<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> To unsubscribe or to change to a daily Digest, please go to http://www.airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html If replying back to this message, please delete all the unnecessary original text from your reply.
