1999 Rialta QD DIY Off Grid Systems Upgrade | Sailing Luna Sea RV Edition | S3E6 | Travel Blog

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[@bigeyejim]

Wow, I googled "re-do a rialta" and you guys came up. Wow. It can be done, in several ways. Not for the faint of heart....

[@SailingLunaSea]

Hey Jim! Thanks for watching. It can DEFINITELY be done 😄

[@Watermark61]

This was really informative. Good stuff.

[@SailingLunaSea]

Thanks Danny!

[@user-ls1it2pj4q]

Great video and thanks for the detailed explanation and the shopping list with all the ingredients at 9:01. Just one question, is there a reason you chose a multicrystalline solar panel over a monocrystalline? I want to do a similar update but from what I read monocrystalline (although a bit more expensive) in combination with an MPPT controller gives a better result? Also as @kingrafferty wrote below - it would be good to see how to insert a second battery into the "port" battery compartment, the "starboard" is a piece of cake 🙂 BTW, this vid is 3 years old, are you still using your Rialta? Best regards from Europe!

[@tonyle1369]

That’s a great upgrade! Do you have a diagram of your wiring? I’m about to do similar upgrade for my Rialta

[@SailingLunaSea]

No, we don’t have a diagram - and we aren’t in the same place as the Rialta right now. Sorry about that 😕

[@kingrafferty]

That is great. Thank you for the info. I really wanted to see you put in the second (and always harder to install) battery. ;). Why no generator? Also do you think that insulating the battery box for the lithium would be a good idea?

[@SailingLunaSea]

We find that we have no need for a generator. Between the solar and dc to dc charger, we have plenty of power. Keep in mind we are not fans of ac and microwave, so that may affect your personal set up. The (dead) generator was a waste of space and very heavy. So we removed it for those reasons. I don’t see any reason to insulate the batteries. I think having air flow is probably a better set up. But that’s something for me to investigate! 😀

[@kingrafferty]

@@SailingLunaSea Yes we travel with animals so A/c at times is a must.

[@anitamcguire3544]

@@SailingLunaSea Just an observation, the underneath of the floor panel is metal, so definatley worth considering some sort of insulation over the top of the batteries or underneath the floor panel? - GREAT Vid, well done.

[@farleycrawford]

Does this system install allow you to run the AC off-grid? Are those Lithium batteries powerful enough to do so?

[@SailingLunaSea]

Hi! 👋 We could probably run the ac briefly, but no. 200 ah is not enough to run such a high power item for any length of time. I hear some people have removed their generators and built larger lithium banks with that space. Perhaps that combined with a more efficient A/C would do the trick? We currently stay in areas that are cooler at night, or where we have a place to plug in and use the A/C in hotter climates. Or we sweat. Let’s face it, a lot of times we just sweat 😅

[@naser41]

Great upgrade. How much upgrade like this will cost?

[@SailingLunaSea]

Completely depends on your rig and power use. It is definitely not a cheap upgrade, but for us it has been worth it.

[@coachmurphybaseball8901]

How much weight did you add to the coach? They are pretty much to capacity already.

[@SailingLunaSea]

Well, we removed the busted generator and the lead acid batteries - which removed a good bit of weight. We have weighed post-mods and she is within safety recommendations. Good question! Thanks for watching.

[@jeromehebert3184]

I've been reading mixed reviews on these RVs from reliability to cost of parts since it is no longer sold, and finding someone to work on engine and transmission can be difficult. From your experience how are these RVs?

[@SailingLunaSea]

Like anything over twenty years old and out of production, there can be challenges. Fortunately, if you are a mechanically inclined person who likes to do your own repairs and can research (helloooo KZbin instructional videos!) it is a great RV. If you can’t diagnose and fix things yourself, finding a VW mechanic in remote areas can make it a pain.

[@jeromehebert3184]

@@SailingLunaSea yea I am good at research lol; saw a real nice 2003 for 25k .. just need to research more

[@coachmurphybaseball8901]

@@jeromehebert3184 As always with 20 year old coaches, you will be working on it all the time, but the Rialtas hold up and really keep their value well. If I had to recommend anything, I would suggest you look underneath and see how the pan and wheel houses look. That is probably the thing that rusts out the most and you will constantly be chasing rust out of your coach.

[@dankappus7004]

Would it have been possible to keep the generator as well?

[@SailingLunaSea]

It would have been possible to replace the generator. But we didn’t have a need for it.

[@dankappus7004]

@@SailingLunaSea what equipment would be necessary to allow the house batteries to charge from any of three sources, to include the alternator, generator, and solar?