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I bought a Yeti 3000 for my van and wanted to provide some feedback.
Summary: Convenient, compact, expensive
I bought the Yeti 3000 at REI using the 20% off coupon. At the same time I bought the link module.
Note that you will also need to buy the cable kit to wire it up to the alternator.
It's charged two ways, either using the single 60A CCP via the Link module or, when parked, the ability the charge from shore power. This seems to work well for my situation because I generally move campsites each night and don't like to park and stay at a location.
While the Goal Zero Link cable is quite short (2 feet?), it will reach to the Yeti if you use the CCP on the driver's seat and have the Yeti placed immediately behind the driver seat which isn't a bad location. The CCP is a bit awkward to access but otherwise is a short and easy install.
Note you will need to buy the nuts for the CCP and ground point.
Later, I installed the Yeti in a cabinet, both to clean up the cabling as well as making it harder to steal. I took off the wheels and bolted some 8020 around it so a thief would need to be just slightly more determined than the opportunistic type.
I installed this on the rear bumper as shown by others in the forum.
NOCO power plug inlet and extension cord
It was easy to install and looks good. The extension cable routes up through the van body without any new holes. I plugged it into an octopus to get multiple shore power plugs inside the van.
When shore power is available, I can plug in two wall chargers (both included in the 3000) which will recharge the 3000 if I leave it overnight. If we are on a longer trips, the captain want a hot shower every couple days so we will hit a campground and usually get shore power there.
From an output perspective, you will need to push a button to use the 120V ports, or another button to use the USB ports, or (finally) another button to use the 12V ports. You can easily see the continuous drain from the 120V inverter even if you don't have anything plugged in.
Likewise you see a smaller draw if you open up the USB ports (smaller inverter) even when you don't have anything plugged in.
If you leave the buttons pushed, they will slowly drain the battery due to the inverter load.
There is no draw on the 12V outlets if there is nothing plugged in because there is no inverter used.
In a previous van I had some trouble figuring out what was draining the battery so I like these buttons to effectively disconnect the battery from any loads.
Over the holidays, I parked it for 2+ months, turning off the wifi and lighted panel on the front, and it held its charge without any loss.
I used this cable
Anderson to ring cable
to go to a Blue Sea distribution
and then all my 12V accessories get fed through that.
Super easy and pretty clean.
The iPhone app is convenient since I have it buried in a cabinet.
The 3000 manual is here.
Irritations:
Besides the cost which was known at the start but gets reinforced every time you buy a cable, I was disappointed that you can't install the Link module (alternator charging) at the same time as the MTTP (solar charging) module. While there are two accessory slots in the Yeti 3000, both theses modules need to occupy the right accessory slot. In my perfect world, I'd have both installed so if I decided to park in a field for a week I could charge with solar. Now I just have the MPPT module sitting in a box.
At some point, if I went solar, it would take me ~15 minutes or so to switch the modules.
I can see why they are coming out with a more powerful inverter for the newer version of the 3000. At times, the 3000 won't power some items like an old circular saw due to the peak load on start. We need to be somewhat careful as I add items like a blender, microwave or toaster oven.
Summary: Convenient, compact, expensive
I bought the Yeti 3000 at REI using the 20% off coupon. At the same time I bought the link module.
Note that you will also need to buy the cable kit to wire it up to the alternator.
It's charged two ways, either using the single 60A CCP via the Link module or, when parked, the ability the charge from shore power. This seems to work well for my situation because I generally move campsites each night and don't like to park and stay at a location.
While the Goal Zero Link cable is quite short (2 feet?), it will reach to the Yeti if you use the CCP on the driver's seat and have the Yeti placed immediately behind the driver seat which isn't a bad location. The CCP is a bit awkward to access but otherwise is a short and easy install.
Note you will need to buy the nuts for the CCP and ground point.
Later, I installed the Yeti in a cabinet, both to clean up the cabling as well as making it harder to steal. I took off the wheels and bolted some 8020 around it so a thief would need to be just slightly more determined than the opportunistic type.
I installed this on the rear bumper as shown by others in the forum.
NOCO power plug inlet and extension cord
It was easy to install and looks good. The extension cable routes up through the van body without any new holes. I plugged it into an octopus to get multiple shore power plugs inside the van.
When shore power is available, I can plug in two wall chargers (both included in the 3000) which will recharge the 3000 if I leave it overnight. If we are on a longer trips, the captain want a hot shower every couple days so we will hit a campground and usually get shore power there.
From an output perspective, you will need to push a button to use the 120V ports, or another button to use the USB ports, or (finally) another button to use the 12V ports. You can easily see the continuous drain from the 120V inverter even if you don't have anything plugged in.
Likewise you see a smaller draw if you open up the USB ports (smaller inverter) even when you don't have anything plugged in.
If you leave the buttons pushed, they will slowly drain the battery due to the inverter load.
There is no draw on the 12V outlets if there is nothing plugged in because there is no inverter used.
In a previous van I had some trouble figuring out what was draining the battery so I like these buttons to effectively disconnect the battery from any loads.
Over the holidays, I parked it for 2+ months, turning off the wifi and lighted panel on the front, and it held its charge without any loss.
I used this cable
Anderson to ring cable
to go to a Blue Sea distribution
and then all my 12V accessories get fed through that.
Super easy and pretty clean.
The iPhone app is convenient since I have it buried in a cabinet.
The 3000 manual is here.
Irritations:
Besides the cost which was known at the start but gets reinforced every time you buy a cable, I was disappointed that you can't install the Link module (alternator charging) at the same time as the MTTP (solar charging) module. While there are two accessory slots in the Yeti 3000, both theses modules need to occupy the right accessory slot. In my perfect world, I'd have both installed so if I decided to park in a field for a week I could charge with solar. Now I just have the MPPT module sitting in a box.
At some point, if I went solar, it would take me ~15 minutes or so to switch the modules.
I can see why they are coming out with a more powerful inverter for the newer version of the 3000. At times, the 3000 won't power some items like an old circular saw due to the peak load on start. We need to be somewhat careful as I add items like a blender, microwave or toaster oven.
