April 25, 2015 at 07:19PM by advodna_dave

So yes, in the end, it was #TeamSolarAndGenerator for the win. Yes, of course it's possible to be 100% solar. Heck it's possible to have neither solar or a generator, but it just means having to make choices of campsites and schedules based on your power needs. We could have easily grabbed a site at a nearby RV park and had the batteries fully charged in about three hours, but we were more interested in staying in the beautifully wooded (shady) Provincial Parks. We just finally decided we wanted total control of the options, the ability to extend a stay in a pristine location or to head straight towards the weather to experience a wild storm in the Pacific Rim National Park. A couple interesting follow ups. First, the 1000W Yamaha fits in our Thule rooftop box! Space had been a concern and we weren't super excited about keeping it in the SUV. We're very happy with it up there. Second, apparently generators do something weird with open grounds which our recently installed surge protector and voltage regulator didn't like. A quick search suggested either making some little adapter that somehow makes the ground look good or just bypassing the protector since you are pretty sure the generator power is good. I chose the second solution and feel fine about it (suggested by the manufacturer!). Lastly, the first time we ran it, the generator kept overloading and shutting itself down. Makes sense since the upgraded 50 amp charger on our Magnum MMS1012 would be maxing it out already before adding any AC load like the fridge or outlets. A quick call to Magnum who have always been super knowledgeable and helpful, and I found the settings on the Magnum remote control panel to adjust the max charge rate down to around 30 amps, still enough to top off our batteries in two hours of running. #Airstream #liveriveted #vancouverisland #canada #provincialpark #rathstrevor #generator #yamaha