observation: early morning alternator blast

{note: this was started on Nov 21 and held in Drafts while I tried to massage it into something readable} Woke up this morning and the sky was clear blue; the sun was fully over the low hills to the east. Should be a good day for solar harvest as soon as the sun gets

backchannel: DC-DC charging myths

Outbackjoe’s info is excellent.  Here I will address some of his points about what he calls DC-DC charging myths.  The most commonly reported myth is that your alternator cannot fully charge a battery. It can, given enough voltage and enough time, as on a powered cruiser (boat), that spends many hours a day running the

backchannel: solar is a luxury

I generally don’t look at the username or other details of a poster’s presence when replying;  I stick to the “content of their [text] character[s]”, to paraphrase MLKjr.  This can cause me to waste time casting pearls before known swine. So I didn’t realize that the post was by a daydreaming pothead who frequently bombs

backchannel: solar generators, charging AGM from alternator

OP is running a Yeti-style battery pack. I charge a 20,000mAh external battery Onlookers: 20,000mAh = 20Ah. I’m out of the Van most of the day and charge that battery while I’m working That is a perfect use case for such devices.  [not joking] I do not yet own a refrigerator, but do plan to

backchannel: Lifeline batts and alternator charging

I follow the on Meryl and Me Hit the Road blog.  I read an article there today and thought some of the tech details would be worth talking about.  The article discusses the charging system[s] for the RoadTrek’s new house battery bank. the isolator [the battery seperator] is a “smart” switch – when the engine

on the CTEK D250S charger and smartpass

The CTEK D250S-series charger is probably the most popular DC-DC (boosting) charger for vandwellers.  There are several reasons for this, I think: it is a clean looking and simply labeled. it really does do DC-DC charging from the alternator it supports 12v nominal solar panels In practice there are a few issues with this. 

Side effect of solar + alternator charging

A few months I noticed something odd about my isolator charging system.    Then started to see a pattern.  Finally figured it out and wanted to share since this issue could affect others.

another newbie perfect storm

AGM batteries?  check massive inverter?  check wants to run A/C off grid? check wants to charge batteries from idling vehicle?  check I’m going to get some of the Renogy AGM deep cycle batteries. Yes, I know wet cells will give me more bang for the buck, but my situation does not allow for them. At