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  #61  
Old 01-11-2018, 06:09 PM
270person 270person is offline
 
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Location: Edmonton
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Thread still humming along with all kinds of great thoughts and advice. I've learned a lot so thanks to all.
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  #62  
Old 01-12-2018, 10:39 AM
whitefish whitefish is offline
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Okotoks
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Riverboy View Post
Try a search of Handy bob solar. Tons of very good info in layman’s terms.
X2. Helped me with my solar install.
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  #63  
Old 01-12-2018, 01:32 PM
MinMoose MinMoose is offline
 
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x3!

I give full credit to Handybob for explaining how to make RV solar installations really work. Lots of good practical information on batteries too.
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  #64  
Old 01-17-2018, 10:27 AM
NealXu NealXu is offline
 
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Hi...as per my knowledge you have to have 2 to make your 12 volts, I run 4 6 volt with a 150 solar panel to keep them charged up, I dry camp a lot. It all depends where you are camping, if your going to be plugged into power most of the time 1 12 volt is probably all you need, if your dry camping 6 volts will last longer.
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  #65  
Old 02-13-2018, 02:08 PM
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CanadianEh CanadianEh is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Southern Alberta
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So I just found this thread..

I am looing to buy these and went to costco today. Nothing on the shelf at all.. not even a tag. So I went and asked up front and they said "no stores in western Canada show any stock."

So i guess the question is... do they sell them any more, or is it a season item that they will be getting in a few months. she couldn't answer either way.
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  #66  
Old 02-13-2018, 02:34 PM
Johnny G1 Johnny G1 is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Clearwater BC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CanadianEh View Post
So I just found this thread..

I am looing to buy these and went to costco today. Nothing on the shelf at all.. not even a tag. So I went and asked up front and they said "no stores in western Canada show any stock."

So i guess the question is... do they sell them any more, or is it a season item that they will be getting in a few months. she couldn't answer either way.
They are usually seasonable, at least here in Kamloops BC.
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  #67  
Old 02-13-2018, 04:04 PM
250mark1 250mark1 is offline
 
Join Date: May 2015
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costco typical gets the 6 volt batteries in early april from what i have seen
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  #68  
Old 02-13-2018, 08:49 PM
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CanadianEh CanadianEh is offline
 
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Alrighty.. good to know. Otherwise id go buy some others today.
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  #69  
Old 02-16-2018, 05:22 AM
OscarShooter OscarShooter is offline
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Nothing can beat Costco batteries
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  #70  
Old 02-16-2018, 12:18 PM
petew petew is offline
 
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Location: Alberta
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2x 6 volts was the norm before the advent of the deep cycle battery. Now with the deep cycle being cost effective, and the warranty they have it doesn't make sense to go with 6V. Costco is the best for price on deep cycle.

I see lots wanting a gen set to charge the camper , but in reality the truck will recharge the camper faster and cheaper than solar or a generator. I leave the gen set home now.
The camper is wired with welding cable from the battery's to the isolator in the truck, so in a pinch I have 5 battery's available to self boost should I leave lights on in the truck etc. and need a boost, or when running the winch. { Costco 12000# Champion winch can't be beat. } I use a HD quick plug to jump the campers battery's to the truck's battery's bypassing the isolator if needed . Pop the hood and plug it in , 30 second job.


I have a maintainer/charger wired in the camper that keeps my battery's toped up when it is home. On the road the truck charges them when driving. I switched all the lights to LED from Amazon. brighter, and very little drain, and inexpensive.

I put a jumper on a quick connect HD plug on the isolator so in winter when the unit is parked the maintainer charges the trucks 2 batterys and the campers 3 batterys. It is parked till spring, and pluged in on a timer to minimize power to a few hours on a day.

12 V / 120 V inverters are cheap now , and I wired in a 1500 watt permenantly for the few times I need 120 , like to plug in a laptop.

In reality I don't use a lot of elect power. I use propane lamps for most of the light I need , and refill the 1# bottles so they are cheap to run. As soon as I park the fridge gets switched to propane , from 12 volt on the road power.

Unless you use a lot of elect power it isn't worth it adding solar and gen sets. Fortunately my furnace is gravity operated and doesn't use any power other than a computer fan to give some air movement if it's realy cold out.. Those little fans don't use anything, and will even run off a 9V Duracell.

My camper is an older slide in , it does all I need and is warm, dry and permanent on the truck. I think I have the bases covered for economical power/gas consumption in a setup that works and is easy .

The only thing I want to add is a remote start so I don't have to go outside at -20 to start the truck to recharge the camper if I need to . or keep the old diesel warm enough to start when it gets -20 or below. That's coming when the weather warms up. In real cold camping I do bring the old 900 watt Honda gen set just in case I need to have the block heater on for an hour in the morning. It also has a 12 volt connection that can charge too, if things get real bad.
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