I honestly knew it would happen sooner or later. I’ve heard horror stories of friends forgetting they had bikes mounted to the top of the car when they pulled into their garage. Since we are frequently carrying all 5 bikes around on the back of our truck, I kind of forget they are there sometimes…
Many of you may not have even heard of Golden Spike Historic Site outside of Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s actually located west of Brigham City (which is north of Salt Lake City) and there’s really no seeing it on the way to somewhere else. I’m pretty sure its out in the middle of nowhere , but…
We rarely have campfires, but when we do my kids love to roast S’mores. After seeing the “So Much S’More to Do” book in a half dozen National Park visitor centers, we decided to buy one. We loved it so much that we gave a book, plus a dozen or so S’more fixings to all…
We knew Cara was in the market for a new bike, but we kept putting it off. With how much we ride bikes (including the crazy mountain biking she’s done on her strider- see our YouTube video here), we also knew that a cheap bike from Wal-Mart was just not going to cut it. Since…
With the solar mounted on top (part 1, part 2) and the wires run to the forward compartment (part 3), there was only one thing left to do. The next step in my project was to connect it all up! Underneath Cara’s bed is the wiring panel where the battery is connected to the rest of…
Alright! Now I know that I can do this myself. Nice series of articles. Really liked the pictures.
I do have a portable 200w fold out that I charge with and a know that the angle of the panels and the declination makes a big difference as well, but we can’t keep moving our Airstream around to follow the sun. Do you believe you will ever add the tilt up brackets? I know Rich Luhr and he just has 2 panels (flat mounted) on his 31 footer and has never had to use a generator (or carry one). So, it is a detail and I’m not sure that I’ll consider it either. We are not big consumers of Amp hour.
Actually, our Zamp Solar 200w fold out charges our two stock 27 batteries up after a night of use. I know I’ll go over-kill on as many panels as I can fit on our 2015 27ft Serenity… so I’ll probably just run with them flat. Not even sure how I’d tilt them as we don’t carry a ladder.
Great article. Please f/u with an article on how the user interface works in real life, the amount of Ah you collect, your storage capacity as you use it with your particular habits, what you might have done differently or options for others, etc…
Thanks for spending the time reporting,
Agreed, great group of articles. We are considering going full time out onto the road and this would be a huge consideration. Like the previous comment stated if you could document actual usage and storage that would be great. I work online and have need for electricity. I would like to do some boondocking and this would help make that happen.ReplyCancel
Yikes! I am glad you worked it out. I probably would not have handled it well. Making quick decisions or changing plans fast is one of my stress triggers while when traveling!
Ugh, I can just feel the panic. Glad you got it worked out.
[…] the bike fiasco in Minneapolis, we ended up at a local bike shop where I found a flier for the local 4th of July Watermelon Ride. […]
[…] twice and loved it both times. The first was a quick spin around one of the loops on the day of the great bike fiasco. The second time was after we had left Minneapolis only to return for a family event and a meet up […]
You guys have an awesome blog! Thank God the damage wasn’t too bad.
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