RaceItAgain, I would be happy to provide schematics, parts lists, etc. I have been trying to do so for general viewing on this site, but for some reason the photo gallery refuses to let me log in. I am trying to get that fixed through the normal channels, but in the mean time, if you want to PM me with your E-mail address I will send you the info that way.

BOb86ZZ4, The cheap LCD readout in the cigarette lighter is a fine idea. I don't know how accurate it is, but it is probably accurate enough. 11V is a little low. It depends on the exact battery type, but in general 11V is probably about 90% discharged. I know they are called "deep cycle" batteries, but for maximum life you should never go below about 40% of full charge.

The 9V regulator is needed because the so called 12V batteries can easily reach 14V when charging, and that is more than the specifications for the LED readout allow. The LED readout might tolerate it anyway, but as a conservitave design engineer I don't like to push specifications.

BOb86ZZ4,

I just checked the specifications on my batteries. Your batteries are probably similar, but you should trust data from the manufacturer before believing this...

These voltage readings are for no load applied for at least 4 hours. The 4 hours part is a bit impractical, so lets at least specify no load.

Fully Charged - 12.8V or more.
75% Charged - 12.5V
50% Charged - 12.2V
25% Charged - 11.9V
Fully Discharged - 11.6V

Like I said, 11V is too low. You are killing your batteries a little bit every time you do that. Better to top them off every day if you can.

....one of these days I'm going to understand batteries-inverters-generation and alike....but i think it will be in my next life. Meanwhile I'll push that button and all things electrical come to life-no matter where/when or under what conditions...heat or cold....rain or snow...summer or winter.....I'm set! Even at $2.869 a gallon I can't even use all the electricity that the battery bank-inverter-and all the rest of the stuff electrical would cost me over the 7 year life span of my RV....much less thinking if there is enough juice to do whatever/whenever......I'm just not good at planning electrical usage.....I want it when I want it....dam I'm getting old. Ran D. you have given me a new perspective about things electrical.....maybe in the next life I will be more excited about those things....but I want to thank you for leading me through the maze.....your ability to teach/explain things electrical is most appreciated. thank you again for taking the time. Geof Kaye and the Rivercity Girls....

Oh my, I'm sure I've never run my batteries down that low. I was just guessing that would be a good time to charge them up. But, you've convinced me not to. I'll make sure to charge them up before 12.2v. The hard part is testing them with no load on them. The best way might be to wire a cigarette plug directly to the batteries. Then when I want to test the voltage switch off the main power to the house while testing. I'm not going to do that for 4 hours tho. Not worth rotting the food in the fridge just to see what the batteries are. I'm closer to GeofK on this. I've not done very much boondocking at all. I'm more of a K.O.A. guy than a state parks guy. Love the hookups and the wi-fi. My coach is also stored inside, climate controlled too. And always plugged in so the Iota charger/converter keeps all the batteries perfectly floating all winter. I've got a rotary switch to tie all 5 batteries together for that.

Geofkaye, Thank you for your kind words. I seem to recall you have done more than your share to provide usefull information on this forum as well.

All, The good folks who provide this forum (free of charge I might add) have fixed my access to the photo gallery, so I have added a number of new pictures related to the electrical monitoring system, propane distribution system, and Platinum Cat heater. As always, you can find them under keyword "Stealth".

quote:

Posts: 86 | Registered: April 03, 2009

Wow! its coming along! I just checked out all your pictures, they really show the amount of thought you put into each and every component. very nice work. Thanks for sharing the photos with us.
-blizz

...rand d and blizz have gone to extremes to show/explain to us their work and solutions to problems.....thank you guys-you make this forum the leading forum for TRUCK CONVERSIONS and all the spin offs that people think about when "the building bites"... after a person reads the forum and looks at the pix they have a good background or let me say the best background to start a build project.....geofkaye and the Rivercity Girls in rainy Cincinshitty Ohio....

quote:

Originally posted by Ran D. St. Clair:

"Finally, we come back to the incinerating toilets, of which I found two. They may be similar in terms of their ultimate goal but there are lots of differences, and only one of them could work for me, the ECOJOHN. I expect that most others, however, would be better off with the INCINOLET",

"To be Continued…

".

Hi!
Could you please write some about how the ECOJOHN incinerating toilet worked,both good and bad things.Was it worth the money?/Gunilla

Yes RanD, please tell us more about how you got the toilet set up in the driveway and got a turd in it and ran it through the cycle. That was a fun story. Hahahhahahaahah.

Gun, it's in one of the previous 17 pages of this thread. You've gotta scan back looking for it.

Gunilla, you want pages 12 and 13 for toilet info. I think you will find I shared both the good and the bad.

As for your question, "Was it worth it?", only time will tell. It was the only game in town as far as meeting my design requirements. Anything with a holding tank would not have worked for me, and the other good option, the Incinolet, requires way too much electrical energy. I have yet to live with the toilet for an extended period so I honestly can't say. I will have to finish the entire truck and live in it for a while first. That is still at least a year away. In the mean time $5K is a heck of a lot of money for a toilet. If it ultimately works as advertised, reliable with no smell, then it will have been worth it to me. I strongly suspect that the vast majority with different needs would find $5K too much to be worth it, though the Incinolet, at less than half the price is much more reasonable, if you have plenty of AC power.