Indel B + Goal Zero 400 + Overland Solar

jscusmcvet

Adventurist
I just don't know... is the saying "proof is in the putting" or "proof is in the pudding"? I guess it does not matter... to me, the proof is:
  • North Carolina summer = 96 degrees (untold humidity, they do not measure it this high :))
  • Overland Solar 90 Watt panels
  • Goal Zero 400
  • Indel B 50 fridge
  • Cold beer all stinkin day... no change in status on the Goal Zero.
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And perhaps my favorite USMC quote of all time:
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Semper Fi boys, Happy Independence...
 
Actually I spoke too soon. The Yeti did a great job handling the fridge, but it is not accepting power from the panels. I have confirmed that the panels are working (I think) and that the yeti will take power from both 120 and 12v sources. Leads me to believe that the pigtail I had overland solar make up for me to connect the panels to the GZ is not functioning properly... I will have to give Brian a call and see what my next steps should be.
 
Excuse my ignorance, but is the Yeti nothing more than a storage container for a battery with a digital read out?
 
Best way to describe it that it is an all in one system... it has a battery, meter, inverter, usb, 12v and the ability to chain together multiple units. It can charge from solar, household current, or another 12v source, like a car.

http://www.goalzero.com/p/165/goal-...wPGx0gTjvq5ggPJ8RbFCvLccFvWBC_hxoC4AIQAvD_BwE

I needed a new battery since when I sold the T@B the battery went with it.

I have never considered buying one, but Amazon had them on sale a couple weeks back for the same I would have paid for just a battery, so I went for it. That lead to not having the right connector for my solar panels, which led to me calling Brian Wurts from overland solar and asking him to make me a pigtail that would work. He offered to tell me how to do it or make me one for next to nothing, so I asked him to make it. He did but for some reason I can not get it to work with the GZ unit.

The origin of this post, though shows me that the GZ will run my Indel B, full of beer, in the NC summer for at least 24 hours. When I did go ahead and plug it in to household current, it was down to 60% but that has been 24 hours and the GZ can go down to 20% on the meter if I understand correctly.

So I will call Brian back and see what I am doing wrong.
 
What ends is the cord using on the solar panel ends and then to the Goal Zero? Are you using the Anderson port on the Goal Zero or one of the other inputs?

There was a thread on another site discussing when using the Anderson input on the Goal Zero you bypass the protection. This may be fine if you have a solar controller but they were saying you have to turn off the GZ input screen and turn it back on to register the charge as it won't be tracking what is going on. Curious as to what cord you had made...
 
@KTMRIDER - Brian from Overland Solar made a pigtail that had the Andersen connector at the panel side and a Goal Zero plug to fit into the standard charging port on the Yeti 400. It would not charge. Brian responded quickly to my question as usual and explained that I need to bypass the controller on the panels and let the GZ controller do it's thing. I have not tried it yet, but he knows his stuff.
john
 
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