For those that get a kick out of old fashioned kerosene lamps but don’t want to carry yet another fuel.. 
Walmart has, in their camping/outdoor section, a battery powered led ‘oil lamp’. Lol

Just add rechargeable AA batteries and you have pleasant, safe, ambiance lighting 

I got one that was kinda busted- for a good discount (and fixed it- works fine now)

Ok- dis me all you feel necessary.. for the use of confounded power boxes..  but

I took the (replacement) Bluetti on the trip to Qz.. only to discover that I had (again) no way to charge it.  Tried the 2 prong plug and the barrel plug-  using 12v direct or the ciggy plug- nope.
Much frustration caused by voltage hurdles. 

So- now that I have a lovely 300w inverter (thank you Jessie!) direct off my house battery bank.. I wondered if I could easily charge the Bluetti using the wall-brick.  BUT.. I didn’t know the wattage of said brick.  And because the inverter is direct wired, I can’t just ‘ask’ my Victron load interface..

Came up with the solution- we have a smaller backup power box. So, plugged the brick into that and then into the Bluetti.  LOL.
Answer - 96 watts ish +\- 2
So, Yes- I can charge the Bluetti easily and safely off the inverter.  (not that I NEED the extra power.. but it allows me portable power and to use other 120 devices that are beyond the capacity of my 300w inverter)

Well… laugh..  :dodgy:

Howdy, I'm a musician who has spent the past few years living out in the mountains out of my big truck-uv.

Usually I'm out in Snoqualmie or Steven's pass, sometimes I go to town to perform, and I've lived all across the country.

I'm apolitical, if I'm not making music, I'm meditating or sauntering out in the woods

It would be great to meet more people who live similar lifestyles in the area

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I need to order a battery charger for my 2 230AH Li Time lithium batteries. From the paperwork, it says I need to charge them to 100% before connecting to each other and setting up the solar system. So chances are I will only use this thing twice, once for each battery.

Do I order this (or something like it) 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CF9CNLG1/?co...CYV60VMF8B

or this?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3CV4S2Y/?co...UEM3KX6RRW

I'm having analysis paralysis...

(I'm not sold on this brand, I'm researching still at this point...)

A mini litium battery?

https://www.litime.com/products/litime-1...0wh-energy

smallest, lightest it says?

This is the first I've heard of these. Would this be good? (I'm wanting at least 400AH of batteries) 19 pounds each...

Or would it be better to go with 2 of ... these:

https://www.litime.com/products/litime-1...4wh-energy

I don't see the weight on these.

Below is what the current plan is.  

My current system does not include the solar cutoff, the 2nd battery, the smart shunt, the dc-dc charger or the buss bars.  The current charge controller is an Epever 100|30 and the current inverter is a 1000W.

I'd like to know if there are any glaring mistakes or things I could do differently for higher efficiency etc.  The grey ovals are fuses sized for the wires they are connected to.

I didn't include it in the diagram but I also have one of those big red switches that I want to use as a battery power cutoff switch.  My question on that is it better to add it before or after the fuse between the battery and the buss bar?

Just watched a video where a woman has installed a maxxair fan in her escape hatch. However, it's not complete or wired yet. 

Would that work? It seems like a great space saving solution to me...IF it would work.

Would the wires prevent you from using the escape hatch well? (My thought is that my escape hatch would allow me to clean solar panels easier.)


the video for reference (start at 12:55):

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Last year's van dying/tent dwelling/new (to me, the van is actually pretty old) minivan dwelling nomad here.

  Not exactly sure what to say here as I generally try to keep to myself for the most part (Pirate Camp attendees can attest to this).  Still feel a bit like a greenhorn in the van dwelling community having only been out just over a year, but making the most of it as I can.  Though I do tend to procrastinate a lot (which I'm sure frustrates ABNorm to no end) I do eventually get things accomplished (just don't ask about my van build because even after a year I've barely started...).  I believe it might be what some call 'planning paralyzation'. 

  Anyway, hoping to at the very least not be a negative influence on the forum and will help whenever I am able.

Let's say I'm looking at a small apartment size refrigerator, and the energy guide says that it will use 297 kWh YEARLY 

and I then converted it to 33.9 Watts... (although why I don't know and if that's yearly also...?--or even useful information)

Can someone explain how this would convert into something I can understand? lol

I also already own a bougeRV 12v refrigerator that says it's operating power is less than 45W and that is uses less than 1kw hour a day on MAX mode.

So...the apartment refrigerator that claims to use 297 kWh yearly also uses less than 1kWh per day as well?

So both refrigerators would be equally efficient (or not?)

So as a few already know, I bought a van (shuttle bus). I'll post any progress here, ... and a load of questions (first one coming up soon).

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