kenryan

Sounds like it is operating normally.

Check out the Costco auto buying program.

There is no way to diagnose this over the intertubes. You, or somebody else, has to get in there and test the electrical system. The first thing I would want to know (for certain) is whether or not the battery is being drained when the vehicle is off. If it is, then you have to find out why. Other things to look at are every electrical connection in the starter circuit, take them apart, clean them and put them back together. If, as Mike Chell suggests, if you got (too) great of a deal on it, it could be for a reason, like maybe it's a flood vehicle.

All vehicles have a gross weight rating. It is one of the specifications you need to consider when deciding, for example, between a small van and a full sized van. Seven fatties might weigh close to 1600 pounds. On the other hand, a petite soccer mom hauling 6 little kids might only weigh 500-600 pounds. Different missions may require different vehicles.

I can see a possible problem with using a 30 amp solar charge controller. If you have a big house battery and it is low, it could easily call for more than 30 amps of charging power (remember the alternator is 150 amps). It would be like hooking the charge controller to a large solar array, much larger than it is rated for. Maybe the controller would not be harmed, I don't know. But certainly your charging current would be limited to 30 amps. I have had good luck using a simple battery combiner like this: http://www.colehersee.com/home/item/cat/211/48530/ This simple device is just a relay (switch) with voltage sensing circuitry that is used to connect the batteries together in parallel. The way it works is when the relay senses charging voltage (usually around 14 volts) the relay closes and the two batteries are connected in parallel, and both batteries are charged as needed. On the other side, when there is no charge current, the relay opens and the batteries are no longer connected, protecting the vehicle battery from being run down. In addition there is a manual override switch. You would use this if for some reason the vehicle battery was drained and you wanted to use the house battery to either bring the voltage up on the vehicle battery, or even to start the vehicle, if the wiring is large enough.

I installed a Ventline on a wall of a previous camper. It worked okay but too noisy for me. I would not trust this not to leak if mounted on roof.

Thanks Booner.

Thanks for the input GBL. I plan to use a 1000 watt inverter and will keep the wire run as short as possible. I will use the largest wire that is practical to run. I figured 10 will probably be minimum, but can't calculate that until I know the length of the run. Good advice to have protection on both sides, especially as there is a battery on both ends!

Again, thanks!

Great, thanks! Will there be room for a 10 gauge wire along with the tow harness wires?

Bumping this thread. Wondering is it really that difficult to get a wire from the positive battery terminal to the cargo area? I plan to install an aux. battery and need to charge it from the vehicle alternator.

Anybody know where I could buy just the pop top unit?