MTMan's 2022 F-150 Lariat Adventure Truck

[MTMan]

Will do! Headed down the Bitterroot Valley toward Idaho and camped out at Lower O’Brien on the river outside of Stanley. The solar/lithium combo is doing great running the fridge freezer.

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[moonlanderadventures]

Will do! Headed down the Bitterroot Valley toward Idaho and camped out at Lower O’Brien on the river outside of Stanley. The solar/lithium combo is doing great running the fridge freezer.

What ecosystem are you rocking with for the solar and fridge? Also do you use a DC-to-DC charger to top off your battery from alternator? I was considering getting one of those but it does prematurely kill your alt. I run a pair of Bluetti PV350s along with two Bluetti AC180s for solar and my fridge is Iceco APL55. I run my fridge at 35F/0F. It will draw as high as 45W on ECO and its duty cycle is around 70% in the summer so 45X24=1080 and 75% of that is 756Wh per day, meaning if I average 150 watts, I can top off the fridge in 5 hours. What really helps is running two panels in parallel when its cloudy out because you draw very low amps. Around 0.7-1 when its about to rain, and maybe 3-5 or so when its just mostly cloudy, so doubling it effectively gets you as close as possible to the 10A limit on the AC180 power station. Sometimes its also a pain to have to tilt them and stake them to the ground, so you can just run 2 in parallel and lay them flat on the ground, saving you time. I have two for more battery storage potential. Even then its still very difficult to 100% rely on solar when you have 3-4 days in a row without Sun, so fast car charging is a nice thing to have.

 

[Snakebitten]

Love that Bitterroot Pass!

Been quite a while since we have been through there though.

 

[MTMan]

See page 4 for the solar pics details. Panels are Eco worthy. Fridge is an Ironman 4 x 4 freezer combo. Not sure the specs on that. I’m still learning about the details on all of this and I haven’t connected it to the alternator. Haven’t had a need to yet. When I get my battery box, some of this is gonna be set up so I can put it in more than one vehicle so don’t know that I ever will hook it up to the Ford alternator.

 

[MTMan]

 

[MTMan]

Another update…

 

[MTMan]

That morning, enjoyed a nice hearty breakfast at the local hotel restaurant having a great view.

 

[MTMan]

Headed south down hwy 93 through northeast Nevada. Never saw a Nevada state line sign. Pretty desolate for a little bit but then turned into some nice landscape with mountains all around and the rural backroads of America I was going for.

 

[MTMan]

Headed on down to McGill to get some groceries and check out the drug store museum that has its late 70’s inventory.

 

[MTMan]

Installed a WeBoost Overland kit prior to the trip. I was burning the midnight oil with work and trying to get ready. I didn’t have time to post about it. It’s plugged in the dash with the module under the passenger seat, the internal antenna in the middle of the console and I used their mini antenna to get it done in time. Turns out with all the spotty reception on this trip especially in Nevada it’s been well worth it.

 

[MTMan]

Made it down the road to Ely, NV to a nice campsite. Beautiful evening. Perfect camping weather.

 

[MTMan]

Best charging yet so far…

 

[MTMan]

Also do you use a DC-to-DC charger to top off your battery from alternator? I was considering getting one of those but it does prematurely kill your alt.

Can you tell me about that?

I’m assuming that the F150 alternator is a smart alternator. If so, there is a lead from the Renogy solar controller mppt charger for it but I don’t know where it connects. If I decide to hook it up I’ll probably make a cable harness using Anderson plugs to disconnect.

 

[MTMan]

Woke up and enjoyed breakfast and coffee at the campsite with the new coffee maker pulling a little over 600 watts.

Then headed back into town to check out the railroad museum. If you’re ever in Ely you gotta check it out.

 

[MTMan]

Headed south to the Hoover Dam. Landscape looks pretty much the same until you get past Caliente.

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