Installing Solar on the truck...

[Waterloo]

Now I am glad I went pure sine wave... Spending more time in the truck, and will more than likely be using different appliances in there to find what is best for my situation, fire is not on that list.

[74bassman]

How is the installation going??

[Waterloo]

Got the 2nd panel yesterday, going to get cracking in a few hours, still dark here. Took yesterday off... Was not in the mood.

Right now the plan is to break out the saws and build a base for the new inverter, I am going to suspend that from the underside of the driver side cabinet I built. That will consist of a bottom and two sides, will use wood screws and glue to affix to underside of the cabinet. Building that should only take an hour or so.

Then head up to Home Depot to buy a ladder, they are on sale right now, and I do need one, not only for the truck, but for around the house. One of those Gorilla ladders that break down, 18 foot for $129. I can throw it in the trunk of the car, cannot do that with an extension ladder.

Then we head up to the truck... The panel install is easy, some plastic cardboard under the panels and tape everything down. Crawling around in the interior of the sleeper is the PIA.

I looked at the side box interior, I believe everything will be mounted to the underside of the bunk. The controller, on/off switch and inline fuse. That is the plan as of right now, but could change. Looks to be the best spot as of now. There is very little room in this truck.

[Waterloo]

Well, installed the panels on the roof! Windy, and rained out yesterday... Windy again today, and hot, got to the truck at 0900... I miss my driveway under the trees.

And yes, it is that easy to mount these! Tape them down and run the 10awg cable... A couple of connections and you have power! You need a few other pieces, but nothing that will break the bank.


   


That is roofing tape, waterproof, like they use in the RV industry to patch and seal a rubber roof, the same outfit makes the trailer patch tape we use on the commercial stuff. It is not coming off. I did discover that the Gorilla Tape, 4" waterproof stuff, is the same as far as I can tell, Home Depot sells it, as I came up a little short, wind got me, not fun on the ladder with no trees around... Those panels are not going anywhere.

So, the panels are on, wiring is run, holes in cab, and then the foot gave out... From when I fell down the stairs the other day... I don't know what I did, but I called it a day. Standing on the catwalk installing that damn wire loom, I hate that stuff and it never goes on easy. Foot is burning, either a metatarsal break or tendon, I'm leaning towards a blown tendon.

I'll be out there in the morning and hopefully finish this mess up.

And I did build the box to mount the inverter, just need to get the final run into the cab on the solar and then I will crawl in the sleeper and install the new inverter. I hate working in parking lots.

[Chamberpains]

If you wanted a much cleaner look to hold those down you could use heavy duty adhesive backed Hook and loop (velcro) 10lb rating or better. I used the stuff on my 2 roof mounted strobe lights. Clean the surface with some alcohol. Peal 1 side of the velcro and stick it to what your putting on the truck then peal the other side and stick it to the roof. For an added layer of securement and longevity run a bead of RTV silcon around the entire edge to seal out water and dirt from getting in and under the velcro. Those strobes never came off the roof in 6 years and are still up there.

The bigger strobes I had on the previous truck to this last one I added a bead of 2 part epoxy to the leading and trailing sides. This was waaaay over kill but I was afraid a tree strike would tear them off. I whacked quite a few and they never came off. But I also had a hard time getting them off by breaking the bead of epoxy with a chisel and it left 2 small lines of it on the roof. But it was on the roof. The only people that can see them are the government agency tracking you....

[tree98]

Loo, can you take the truck home just to work on it and then take it back to the storage place in the evening?

[snailexpress]

Mr. Loo with solar power you can run AC now.
I have an idea.
:big_smile2::big_smile2::big_smile2::big_smile2::big_smile2:

   

[tree98]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!

[Mattman]

(09-07-2020 )snailexpress Wrote:  Mr. Loo with solar power you can run AC now.
I have an idea.
:big_smile2::big_smile2::big_smile2::big_smile2::big_smile2:

Poor folks have poor ways