Battery powered rooftop AC installed in my sleeper.

A thought came to mind after my last post. I ran into this with finditparts when trying to buy oem Stemco seal drivers and adapters I needed. I'm fairly sure they don't actually stock anything that isn't a fast moving consumable. They list a ton of hard to find items, then when an order comes in they drop ship from the manufacturer. The telltale is in the listing: if the shipping ETA is 2+ weeks instead of days, it's a drop ship item. It takes a day or two for the manufacturer to reject an order they can't fill, so you get what you got: a canceled order a day later that doesn't have a rational explanation behind it. I only found out by calling their toll free number and asking about my Stemco order. Once the guy figured out I wasn't mad at him about it, he was forthcoming about how things worked behind the scenes.

All that said, I've ordered mainly Hendrickson and some other random parts from them. Good prices and prompt shipping. So they aren't all that bad to deal with.

 

I had my son go to the address they have listed. I wanted him to pick up some parts for me and ship them.
They have NO parts at all. They are simply a broker who locates the parts and have everything drop shipped from the actual parts source to the customer.
They add about 10% to the transaction for their part of the bargain
The parts vendor is happy, he gets a sale at his normal price, doesn't have to maintain a website.
Find-it-Parts is happy, they just have to maintain a website that is plugged into the inventory databases of all sorts of dealers and suppliers.
Customer is happy because he finds the parts pretty quickly, seamless purchase and shipping.

Like you noticed, the database is not always correct or up to date.

 

Red, you just did an excellent job of explaining why I won't bother with solar on my truck. I'm a believer in solar and I've done it on a bunch of campers, RVs, etc. My wife's Jeep even has a Cascadia Vehicle Systems solar panel on her Jeep hood with a lithium setup running a fridge in the back. For that system I use a Renogy DC/DC and only an 80ah battery bank but it's a daily driver and is plenty.

Anyway, the problem is the parking. It's hard enough to find a spot to park with a truck. Adding in looking for the right angle/sun coverage for solar, problems in cloudy weather or winter, etc. just make it not worth it to me. Quality panels are affordable but good MPPT controllers have gone up. I'm just going with more batteries.

I have not done a lithium system in my truck since it came with a TriPac but I do want to try a battery powered mini split in my truck or a camper soon.

I'd love it if you'd do a write up on yours and post some pics. Sounds like others would too.

 

I will eventually in a separate thread. To be honest there isn't much more to show than what I've shared here and there. I'll sketch a diagram and try to get some better photos this weekend. I kind of slipped and fell into a decent round trip deal, so been hustling more than usual to keep it going. Consequently I don't have the 2-3 days in a row at home lately to get chores done and more detailed posts like that.

Also some lessons learned that might be good for others to learn at my expense. The trouble is like everything else in this business, always not knowing what you don't know until you do it wrong two or three times. Also, that there isn't a universal kit to meet all use cases and expectations. What works for me might be all wrong for half the folks reading it. At least the basics are there, and the math I did with respect to battery demand when putting together has proven out ok. Getting out on the road for a dozen or so trips gives me the hands on experience to make some more informed decisions when I get time/money to improve on what I've got.

 

I dont need an essay, just want to see pics of your solar mounting setup (sidenote, not seeing 480 watt kit at rich solar, was that a previous thing they offered?)

 

Unfortunately it's difficult to abbreviate this stuff without leaving out key information. I went and created this thread to continue blabbering about my own stuff and avoid sidetracking @trukitt 's most excellent rooftop and house battery power setup any further. I posted a reply to you in there to get it started.

 

Great thread, guys.
Keep up the good work and the shiny side up.