2nd converter?

[Tmorgan]

Hi. I have a 2022 Valor with solar plus. It includes a Renology PCL that is an inverter/charger. So it charges the battery. It’s fed ac from the main panel from a breaker marked “inverter”. But my main breaker panel has a second breaker labeled “converter”. Why does that feed? Is there a second converter on board? Is so, how is that configured.

Thanks,
Tm

 

[Oregon_Camper]

The "converter" is taking AC power (while on shore power) and charging the battery bank and supplies 12v power to the 12v devices in your RV.

 

[LuckyDog23]

A follow up question, Jim. In our class A we replaced the factory xantrex unit with a GoPower. The way it’s wired is it takes AC from either the generator or shore power and charges the house battery bank plus rectifies the 110 to 12v dc. One cable of 12v goes to the tiny 350 w pew inverter for the tv. That gave us a small number of 110 outlets in the overhead for tv, Apple TV, directv, and firestick plus a Blu-ray player and a sound bar! I believe this little inverter can be switched off but we rarely do that. When we get the Paradigm I’m assuming that we will have either a separate inverter of a larger size if we get solar plus? But what if we don’t buy the upgraded system? Would we just have a charger for batteries fed either by a single solar or by shore?

The reason I’m trying to figure out all this now is budgetary concerns. I looked at what going all out battle born and victron would cost and it’s not possible until another MRD from iras. I’d rather put available cash into the suspension.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

When we bought our 340RL in May, the option were defaul solar (320w on roof...no inverter.) or Solar plus. I belive the solar plus add 2 more panel (3x320) and adds the inverter. the inverter will power selected outlets, I just don't know which ones. I yanked all the factory solar and controller out and replaced with Victron 3k inverter to power entire RV...added 2000w of solar with 810 amp hours of Lithium batteries (from Battle Born) Hope this helps.

 

[LuckyDog23]

It helps with everything except how to pay for it lol. I took a few minutes yesterday and watched your two YouTube videos about the topic. There is so little like on wiring diagrams etc. I think we got spoiled with our Winnie. We have line drawings of all the circuits plus schematics as well. My understanding is the solar plus system inverter powers all the outlets.This is what Keystone does with their big solar package and they use Dragonfly / BB

So, my question now is, how functional was the basic system before you tore it out? Most places we camp have power except for the long NASCAR weekends where we need ac on all day to keep the dog cool.

 

[Oregon_Camper]

I brought one of my 270 amp hour Battle Born batteries with me to Indiana to bring the RV back to Oregon. The solar kept the battery around 85% while traveling, but we were on a bee-line to get home and were on the road for 7-8 hours each day. Then we stayed at campgrounds with full services, so we were 100% each morning. For our camping adventures, the 320w panel was not enough to cover our needs. ...I have a spare one for sale if you get to Oregon LOL

 

[LuckyDog23]

This was a battery from your previous fiver after you upgraded it? What was in the 340 when you got there? Just the orig panel, I’m guessing with the Renogy charge controller? I’ve my fingers crossed here that we can swing it for one game changer in the budget, and use the provided panel. I get that there’s no inverter with their single panel system. We need to keep cost down as much as possible. I’m thinking Gen prep and the smallest NPS genny they sell. A balance between some solar and some genset power. Dreading a drive across to Indiana. We figured with a fixed amount of add on expenses we’d be best off ordering the independent suspension as an option rather than buying thru a huge amount of diesel to haul it that far not to mention the cost of lodging along the way. I think the closest Bish is either Utah or Idaho. I’m trying to find a dealer in California. Then we could order it from a more local place. All these pieces need to be in place. Selling a primary residence to buy an RV is extremely scary.