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Victron is a forward-thinking energy company based in The Netherlands. We used Victron components throughout the Design / Build of our "Non-RV". Their devices have communication interfaces with excellent integration, specializing in Off-Grid and Solar. Components have typically robust construction and Smart Design. We used Blue Sea products throughout our "Non-RV" build project. Great company from Bellingham, WA. Top quality, well designed and crafted components, superb customer support. Primarily Designed for the Marine Industry. Suitable for harsh environments and long-term and consistent use. 80-20 is a framing system that was originally designed for the automation and robotics industry. It is strong, lightweight, weatherproof and ultra flexible in its uses. We used it to create a framework for Solar Panels and Propane Tanks. X-Sense WiFi Smoke Alarm...Easy SetUp with X-Sense App...Interfaces with Wifi onboard and notifies via iPhone or any internet connected device when there is smoke. Great small unit for monitoring from any location. CO detector also available. Brahma Wheel Lock, designed in Vancouver, BC. It's simply the best lock we've seen anywhere. Easy to use, very secure, stores flat. We met the Designer...there is plenty of heart and soul that went into the development of this product. Smart engineering, wouldn't be without it. Highly recommended. Classic Industrial Design Ltd. 604-291-7655 We used 3 x 200Ah of the DLB-GC12-12V Lithium Marine Blue from Discover Batteries of Vancouver, BC. These have a smart design with smart component type removable BMS, which has a metal heat sump surface at the top, Gore vents, terminal fuses and covers, carry handles and tabs at the bottom to screw the batteries down, etc... Not the cheapest, but if you look closely, you get what you pay for. They also have clear and concise specification and system setup information in their on-line literature. Discover batteries also have an excellent warranty program. Sonar water level sensor from Mopeka in Texas. Easy to install, easy to use. Interfaces with Victron Remote Monitoring. This little unit is unique, as it does not require intrusion into your tank. It provides real time percentage water level of your tank via a bottom mounted sonar monitor. It does not use those side-mount, unreliable electrical sensors that only give you 1/2 and 1/4 levels. It gives you peace of mind to know that your tank hasn't emptied should you have left your water pump on. It provides with you a readout of your water tank level from a remote location via both Bluetooth to the Mopeka App and through Victron Wifi. We did deal with Mopeka directly, who were mostly slow to respond, and as a result, would recommend AP Products. See Link below: Very Innovative Design, easy to setup, top notch Detail and Machining. Light weight and does the job on compatible trailers. Great company to deal with in Idaho Falls, ID. Rugged and IP certified sensor for Temperature, Humidity and Acceleration monitoring. They have a waterproof version that can be mounted anywhere. Small company from Finland, wonderful Design. Interfaces with Victron Remote Monitoring via Wifi. Also has it's own Bluetooth App. City Fill Water Hydrant and Exterior Shower outlet. Cool company from Port Townsend, WA. Valves work in both directions. Pressure is only engaged when stem is inserted. This is a great idea for keeping your water system free from intrusion. Stainless Steel construction, Flush mount. Power Watchdog 30 Amp Surge protector with EPO (Emergency Power Off) Product No. PWD30-EPO Upon initial inspection, this unit looks and feels very robust and user-friendly. That is to say that the interface is quite simple and easy to read and monitor via Bluetooth via iPhone or Mobile Device. In our trailer / Non-RV with all the Solar equipment, etc., we are used to a complex array of information to absorb on a daily basis. I can imagine for many RV (or even boat) owners, it would be literally a breath of fresh air to have a Power Surge protector that does its job without being too complex on the outside. Kind of like a nice simple but ultra functional dashboard of a modern and well thought out EV vehicle. The Power Watchdog, with its strong and well lit branding icon, seems to do just that. It remains quiet and peaceful, until there is trouble, and then it quickly bounds to alarm its owner that there is trouble. In our case we plugged into some shore power that was untested, and within a few minutes the unit gave an "E7" notification on my smart phone. This indicated that there was a missing, intermittent or weak ground present in the AC source on this particular outlet, and that it could be dangerous and should be checked and repaired. The "Power-Off" function wouldn't let any charging happen until things were good. We immediately switched to another AC outlet and the Dog logo lit up white to indicate all good. He laid down and remained peaceful from then on. In many cases, you could be plugged in to a non-familiar or possibly even a familiar AC Shore power outlet, and have a condition such as this and not be aware of it. You and your loved ones could potentially be subject to dangerous and potentially life-threatening stray electrical current, not to mention your electrical system. The PWD30-EPO does seem very simple on the outside, but don't let that fool you. There is plenty of tech on the inside in order to generate the various error codes (E1 to E9). We will be testing this unit on an ongoing basis to see how it performs over time. Meanwhile, stay tuned for a report on what our electrical technician finds upon closer inspection of the offending shore power outlet... We did discover, (after the Watchdog found it) that the particular AC outlet that our rig was plugged into, had a missing or intermittent ground. We would have never suspected this condition, as our Victron system showed consistent AC current coming in. The only issue that I can see, is that if you need power, even if there is a condition such as an intermittent ground, you have no way of shutting the EPO function off on the Power Watchdog unit. My sense is that this is by design for ultimate safety. So the only way around that would be to unplug the Surge protector unit completely. So far, and given this instance, we would highly recommend the Power Watchdog to use on a regular basis for safety and peace of mind. Installation . . . . . . . . . 4.9 Ease of Use . . . . . . . . . 4.7 Hardware Quality . . . . . . 4.9 Cost Competitiveness . . . . 4.2 Performance . . . . . . . . 4.7 Customer Support. . . . . . 4.9 https://hughesautoformers.com/ Acuva ArrowMAX 2.0 Water Treatment System by Acuva Technologies Inc. Burnaby, Canada Summary Being based in Canada, we were not searching for cleaner water. This topic was never really on our radar until recently. When building out our Non-RV pilot project, off-grid trailer, the factoring in of a water filter, was at the bottom of the priority pile. Upon reading a few posts about bad drinking water in certain areas, even within North America, we thought that this is something we should deal with. I began researching the various in-line filters for the RV industry, those that eliminate bad taste, and some chemicals, and profess clean water without the science, or evident science that goes with it. Lo and behold, I came across Acuva Technologies and found the ArrowMAX 2.0 UV Water Treatment System. It's a single point-of-use system for under the sink. Their website claims "easy installation" and can be powered with either 120-240V AC or 12V DC. It boasts a flow rate of 2 Litres per minute and comes with a range of NSF/ANSI certifications specific to both the UV unit and the Pre-filter that came with our package. Installation The unit came nicely packaged with all the bits required to perform a complete installation, including, hose, connectors, power adapters, wall mounting rail, etc. The instructions were clear and reference diagrams were easy to understand. The Tee ball valve was designed as a push-to-connect fitting to be installed into an existing 1/2" Pex water line. Our specific configuration required a different fitting which needed to connect to 3/8" compression fittings with the same 1/4 fitting going to the unit as supplied with the kit. Lucky for us, the local Home Depot had just the fitting. The rest of the system's water connections supplied were push-to-connect type, of which I am not a fan but elected to use them for this installation. The installation went very smoothly, ample 1/4" tubing was supplied for our use and everything went together like clockwork. It took roughly a couple of hours, taking time to have coffee and ponder the world situation intermittently. I tapped into an existing 12 Volt power circuit that had ample amperage capabilities and could be switched from our 12V distribution panel, back in the garage of our Non-RV. I also added an in-line 3Amp slow blow fuse on the positive side as recommended. The 12V power lead had a quite soft casing on it that was difficult to trim back without cutting into the power leads, which it was designed to protect. Being quite used to heavy duty tinned Boat Wire with flexible and robust casing, I found this to be not up to the electrical standard that I am used to. I was a little concerned when I used heat shrink crimped connections, but it worked fine. That would be the only bit of hardware, I would improve. The only real struggle was getting a wrench onto the threaded stem below the faucet. Ours is an extra deep sink, so the swing room for any open-ended wrench is very limited. After Installation...The unit powered up right away, there were no water leaks...all good. The only adjustment I had to perform was on our ShurFlo water pump. We had to adjust the flow (Allen screw on the pump slightly clockwise) of the water pump so it wouldn't oscillate at the 2L per minute low flow rate. The Verdict We haven't used the ArrowMAX 2.0 for very long at the time of this post, so longevity would not be considered here. The ArrowMAX 2.0 system seems very well thought out, both with its UV purification capabilities and the added pre-filter (our was the Advanced). The Installation was straight forward, and the filtration works smoothly with a 2.0 Litre per minute water flow rate. which is actually quite fast. The blue LED at the base of the beautiful Stainless Smart Faucet glows nicely when the filtration is working. This filter has a NSI/ANSI Certification 55 Class "B", which is specific for UV type filters and is meant for filtration of Municipal water that has been deemed fit for human consumption. In other words, if you are planning to use lake or stream water, then a suitable pre-filtration system would be needed to make your water pure. The UV unit glows Blue when its working fine, Green when it's performing a maintenance cycle, Yellow when there is an electrical fault and Red when there is a system error. All in all quite smart. Here's our take so far. Our ratings: Installation . . . . . . . . . 4.7 Filtration . . . . . . . . . . 4.9 Hardware Quality . . . . . . 4.5 Cost Competitiveness . . . . 4.2 Space requirements . . . . . 4.7 Customer Support. . . . . . 4.9 ![]()
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G. Gregory
Inventor, Designer, Archives
May 2024
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