New Patriot Owner

[Piccadilly]

First trip to Rapid Bay SA in our Patriot x1 family edition, cut short by running out of power after 3 days. Justin and Sarah were fantastic and extremely patient despite my wife's incessant harassment. The people at Redarc were also very supportive. The lesson I learned was to check setup before you go on the road. Turns out I had factory setting for type of battery, Gel 40ah instead of AGM 120ah, and solar panel with regulators fixed to the back which don't talk to the BMS. By the way, the do charge the battery directly but the BMS doesn't know about the battery until it's reset by connecting to the car or 240v mains. All's well now, and we're off again to practice getting the tent setup perfected. It's sturdy even in a gale. I've made are metal wind shield to slip down the rhs of the gas cooker. Next decisions are generator 2KvA or 1KvA, or try to find a portable affordable unregulated solar panel min 120W. I also must consider a spare tyre. I bought a compressor and tyre repair kit and hoped that in an emergency I might use the spare off my Prado 120. It would bolt on but they're entirely incompatible. My Patriot will last forever unlike my Prado, so maybe my next vehicle will have compatible wheels. One picky thing, the bottle opener laser cut on the chassis means the opened bottle is horizontal when opened. I'm trying to find an old Coke opener to stick over it to save some beer for me rather than the dog.

[oldmate]

Welcome nice trailer.
So they don't come with a spare to suit? Buggeryou already own a regulated solar panel? By bass the reg on the back and then you have an unregulated panel. Have a search around here there is a few threads on bypassing regs.

Enjoy your trailer and MySwag. 

[KingBilly]

G'day and welcome to myswag.  Congrats on the new Patriot.



Happy camping
KB

[feisty]

First trip to Rapid Bay SA in our Patriot x1 family edition, cut short by running out of power after 3 days. Justin and Sarah were fantastic and extremely patient despite my wife's incessant harassment. The people at Redarc were also very supportive. The lesson I learned was to check setup before you go on the road. Turns out I had factory setting for type of battery, Gel 40ah instead of AGM 120ah, and solar panel with regulators fixed to the back which don't talk to the BMS. By the way, the do charge the battery directly but the BMS doesn't know about the battery until it's reset by connecting to the car or 240v mains. All's well now, and we're off again to practice getting the tent setup perfected. It's sturdy even in a gale. I've made are metal wind shield to slip down the rhs of the gas cooker. Next decisions are generator 2KvA or 1KvA, or try to find a portable affordable unregulated solar panel min 120W. I also must consider a spare tyre. I bought a compressor and tyre repair kit and hoped that in an emergency I might use the spare off my Prado 120. It would bolt on but they're entirely incompatible. My Patriot will last forever unlike my Prado, so maybe my next vehicle will have compatible wheels. One picky thing, the bottle opener laser cut on the chassis means the opened bottle is horizontal when opened. I'm trying to find an old Coke opener to stick over it to save some beer for me rather than the dog.

Welcome!  Old Cole style bottle openers are everywhere on ebay and are inexpensive.  Cheers