Updating The Turtle V’s Camper Charging System
So, what’s going on with The Turtle Expedition? Well, it finally stopped snowing! Three feet in front of our garage slowed us down a little bit.
Lot’s of snow in Nevada City in the winter of 2022/23. Gary is getting his exercise.
The Turtle V is well protected under its custom Covercraft cover.
By this time last year, we thought we’d already be cruising around Argentina and Chile in South America, looking for a small herd of 35,000 sheep waiting to be sheared, so we could camp in the middle of them for a drone shot! The Turtle V was fully packed and ready to roll out of the garage in April 2020. Well, the Pandemic shut all borders so while we were digging out from the winter blizzards, we had a chance to re-evaluate the performance of The Turtle V following our last major adventure, The Trans-Eurasian Odyssey, driving the Silk Road from Portugal to China, ocean to ocean, wheels on the ground, 26 countries/40,000 miles!
Honestly, if we were going to build a new Turtle VI, very little would be changed, but since Land Rover days, we have become accustomed to a few more accessories on the road of adventure. Simple stuff we take for granted today, like computers, digital cameras, 12-V fans, multiple interior lights, water pumps, a compressor refrigerator, hot water heaters, air compressors— the list goes on.
Yes, all these items batteries need to be charged.
Everything on this table requires some kind of 12-V DC or 110 -V AC power. Even anticipating the weather in South America, it’s unlikely we will experience temperatures like we had in Turkmenistan at The Burning Hole, 135°F—–or minus 87°F in Siberia!!
After the expert installation at Zero Declination in Reno, NV, we posed with owner KP Pawley for a memory snapshot.
We decided it was time to do a complete overhaul on our electrical system. We contacted the Zero Declination experts in Reno, NV, not too far from our home. The owner, KP Pawley and his assistant, Zac, had all the answers we were searching for, and to our advantage, they knew how to install the replacement upgrade equipment correctly and how to properly program them.
Our new Go-Power/Dometic 100-watt panels are essentially tripling our solar power.
Turtle V A new Blue Sky 3000i Solar Boost controller was installed.
KP Pawley suggested we replace our aging two BP 85-watt solar panels with three Go-Power/Dometic 100-watt panels, essentially tripling our solar power.
That was just the beginning. A new Blue Sky 3000i Solar Boost controller was installed and our PROsine 2.0 converter/inverter was replaced by a more efficient Victron Energy MultiPlus Compact unit to keep our batteries charged when plugged in and to supply us with a reliable source of 110-V AC power for charging the many batteries that require that today.
The efficient Victron Energy MultiPlus Compact unit will keep our batteries charged when plugged in and supply us with a reliable source of 110-V AC power.
The Victron BMV-712 Smart monitor has built-in Bluetooth capability.
Along with modern technology, the Victron BMV-712 Smart monitor has built-in Bluetooth capabilities that allows us to monitor all important data on our cell phone.
Speaking of batteries, they are basically the heart of our electrical system, the reservoir where power is stored. As we began researching the upgrading of our electrical system, it became obvious that it was time to switch from AGM batteries to Lithium.
The Battle Born Lithium Batteries are rated at 100 Ah each. Our old AGMs were rated only at 68 Ah, (actually 34 Ah because only 50% is usable). By replacing four AGM 68 Ah batteries with three 100 Ah Battle Born Lithium batteries, we doubled the amount of power storage available.
By upgrading the aging Turtle Expedition camper batteries we switched from four AGM to three 100 Ah 12 V LiFePO Battle Born Batteries.
With the three Battle Born batteries we were able to double the amount of power storage available in our camper.
The Battle Born 100 Amp LiFePOs weigh only 31 lbs., compared to over 50 lbs. for our AGMs.
The battery bank supplies 12-V power to our Blue Sea circuit board which contains individual breakers for every electrical outlet in the camper including lights, water pump, heaters, doorstep,12-V plugs and USB plugs. The MultiPlus Compact can supply on-demand 120-V AC power to our multiple outlets for any accessory batteries we might be recharging.
Turtle V The Battle Born battery bank supplies 12-V power to our Blue Sea circuit board which contains individual breakers for every electrical outlet in the camper.
Turtle V Our second alternator is controlled by using a Balmar Remote Marine regulator that charges only the Battle Born camper batteries.
Yes, we are packing now. As we will explore the backroads of South America, we are confident that our electrical system will keep up with us. Even if we run into long days without sun, we had ordered our F-550 7.3L Power Stroke engine with Ford’s “ambulance package” which includes dual alternators.
Gates Green Stripe FLEETRUNNER MICRO-V BELTs have proven themselves reliable for over 100,000 miles.
A single 135-amp alternator with a standard internal regulator charges the starting batteries for the engine and the second alternator, rated at 200 amps, is controlled by using a Balmar Remote Marine regulator that charges only the camper batteries. In preparation for our next adventure both alternators were bench checked and bearings & brushes were replaced.
Gates Green Stripe FLEETRUNNER MICRO-V BELTs with their special compound provide unmatched flexibility, stability, load carrying capacity and belt life. They have proven themselves reliable for over 100,000 miles. I don’t even know why we carry a spare.
For their long-life multi-purpose reliability we have stayed with Odyssey Group 34 in the engine compartment.
Our Odyssey deep cycle batteries not only start the engine, they also operate our Hella driving and fog lights, our Warn 16.5 winch in addition to our Extreme Outback dual compressors.
For their proven reliability during our 40,000 miles, 26 country, two-year expedition, we will keep Odyssey batteries in the engine compartment for starting the engine and operating other important equipment like our WARN winch, our Hella auxiliary driving lights and our Extreme Outback dual air compressors.
Land Rover Days! 1977 What’s for dinner?
Way to go Gary! Not bad for a day’s catch on our last trip into Baja.
We will be updating everyone on our website, Facebook, and Instagram as our progress moves forward to a shipping date from the USA to Montevideo, Uruguay or Zarate, Argentina where we will continue south to the tip in search of a herd of sheep. How long will we be gone? You may recall our guideline from John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charlie. “Don’t Take the Trip. Let the Trip Take You” See you all on the road!
This is one of our favorite campsites in Baja. If you recognize it, please don’t mention the name! Every person is entitled to discover it for him or herself.
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