In Search of 'Our Waddi Tree' – Surviving ‘Off-Grid’
Road Tech Marine
The experts at Road Tech Marine ‘RTM’ assisted us greatly with advice and reliable products not only to get us ‘off-grid’ but to keep us there.
Our adventure to find 'The Waddi Tree' took us to some of the most remote places in Australia. Powered sites were not an option for most of the trip and a reliable off grid power supply was essential to fully enjoy day to day living in the ‘Outback’.
After rigorous trials we found some of our equipment in the van was just not cutting it. The solar panels and the battery bank were failing and struggled to keep the 110-litre fridge cold in extreme heat. The 240-volt inverter would not charge ‘intelligent batteries’ or run the important equipment that we required.
We turned to the professionals at RTM for recommendations in regard to upgrading the pertinent equipment we needed.
The Power Pack
We fitted 3 x12V 100Ah AGM Deep Cycle Batteries. The DiaMec batteries have absorbent glass mat embedded in the structure, essentially helping make the innards of the battery virtually solid, so the cells don’t shake to bits, particularly necessary when traversing jaw breaking corrugated roads and they don’t buckle under high discharge current.
Charging
The primary charging came from 2 x Powertech 12V 150W Monocrystalline Solar Panels. With our original panels failing after just a few years we chose these solidly constructed panels primarily because all Powertech Monocrystalline Solar Panels are covered by a 25-year warranty. This warranty covers the panels for defects in construction and manufacturing for a period of 5 years, and warrants that the electrical output will remain above 80% of its original rated output for a period of 25 years.
We used an ‘off roof’ mounting system that substantially prevents overheating (a major cause of failure). The panels also effectually act as sunshade consequentially assisting in insulating and cooling the van.
The power pack can also be charged via the vehicle through an isolated Anderson Plug whilst driving. It should be noted that between the 2 vehicles on ‘The Waddi Expedition’ we lost 5 Anderson plugs on separate occasions when traversing numerous mud and sand bogs and appalling corrugations, so we relied more heavily on the solar which I am pleased to say did not let us down. We will be remounting the Anderson plugs to avoid this problem in the future.
We also have the option of 240 volt charging when at a powered site or if we are running our RTM Powertech Generator.
240 Volt Inverter.
We upgraded the standard ‘modified sine wave’ inverter to the RTM Powertech 1000W ‘Pure Sine Wave’ Inverter with Solar Regulator. The ‘pure sine wave’ technology allowed us to charge power tools, drone batteries and importantly run the lap top, all of which we could not do with the old ‘modified sine wave’ unit even though it had the same power output.
As we only have a small RC air-conditioner the inverter will run it if needed.
The built-in solar charge controller means you can connect solar panels (without a regulator) directly to the inverter to recharge suited batteries or battery banks. If you don’t have the USB ports in your van there are two conveniently located on the Powertech Inverter.
We are very pleased to say the new gear did not fail us through out some of the most extreme conditions. It kept our equipment charged and running with plenty of light and warmth at night, kept our food frozen or fresh and our beer and champagne nicely chilled.
