Everybody loves an Airstream, but let's face it, there's nothing to love about their off grid capabilities from the factory. This aluminum beauty is now the absolute exception!
A couple years after getting the pleasure of meeting Dave in Florida to talk power systems and travels, he found himself owning a new to him Airstream flying cloud him and his wife lovingly named Greta. When they found themselves getting ready to plan some big Alaskan adventures they were ready to make the plunge into some serious electronics.
Dave is already pretty tech savvy and new exactly what he wanted installed. So this install was more about me making it happen than planning it out. So after some coordination we managed to cross paths in Texas for this install.
Being that Greta already had a solar system on the roof, we just set about upgrading the battery and inverter systems. Ditching the factory battery location on the tongue, we put 600ah's of self heating lithium batteries under the couch with prebuilt cables and space for an additional 300ah's in the future.
Sitting opposite of the battery system we put in the large Multiplus 3kVA inverter/charger from Victron, installed so that it sends power directly to the main breaker panel. Gone are the days of having two working outlets while off grid, now you can't find a plug or outlet that DOESN'T function.
To keep with the upgrades that were already installed, the solar controller output wiring was upgraded, and the Cerbo GX with touchscreen was integrated and programmed for our new electronics.
There was definitely a lot of time spent crawling under a couch to finish this one up, but it ended up being a super fun install that turned out extra clean. I can't wait to hear what adventures this system unlocks for the Monsours! I'm sure we'll catch you guys down the road sometime soon!
BUILD DETAILS:
600ah’s of Lifeblue lithium Batteries, low temp/self heating models
Victron BMV-712 battery monitor
400 Watts of Zamp obsidian solar panels
3000VA Victron Hybrid inverter
Victron bluetooth solar controller, MPPT 100/50
Cerbo GX with Touch 50 screen
