Kristen came in because she needed a bit of orientation on how to use her camper's electronics, wanted us to inspect it for safety purposes, and was considering upgrading a few things. Her Armadillo travel trailer came from the factory with a very small (50W) solar panel and a 1000W inverter. Everything was in good working order aside from one wire that was missing a breaker - easy fix.

After discussing the options and pricing of different upgrades, we started by replacing her battery with a 280Ah SOK. This, like any battery, will still run out eventually considering the small solar panel is not enough to replenish it while camping, but it now allowed her family to last over 4 days camping without a generator. Keep in mind, the air conditioner does not run on inverter/battery power in this trailer, however, everything else works while off-grid, including the fridge, lights, outlets, propane furnace, and more.

She enjoyed that for a few trips and then came back for a DC-DC charger, which we installed between the Armadillo travel trailer and Subaru. We usually work on much larger rigs, so this was not the typical vehicle we work on, but hey, why not! After adding the 50A Orion XS with an automatic fan to cool it, Kristen can camp endlessly without shore power. Her water tanks will run out prior to energy running out, as she can simply start her car to recharge whenever is needed. This simple upgrade really freed her family to travel when and where they want (so long as they don't need air conditioning).

It's always rewarding to see our work put to use. To Kristen and to all of our customers who send in stories and pictures, thank you, thank you, thank you!