2016 Jayco Eagle HT 26.5 bhs-looking for the solar wire drop

[klassic]

Yours isn't going to the disconnect, it goes from the top breaker to the bottom breaker with the little red wire. Hooked directly to the battery wire. Using the bottom breaker stud as a junction point.
It's not going through the bottom breaker to the disconnect. It is going directly to the battery via the 4 ga black wire.

[lancehead]

Been a busy week! My apologies for the delay in responding.

So, I've been through the the Jayco service/support roundabout via emails and phonecalls, they either don't want to or can't answer the seemingly very simple questions about the rooftop solar wire drop location. I've received all of the same answers that Onefastdaddy and others have in the form of vague responses and marketing PDF attachments. Honestly, I certainly could have been clearer in my inquiries, but this is a simple thing to understand. I'm not done yet, however...

So, I emailed gopower electric and received this response,"The pre-wired solar kit should have two wires behind the cabinet (from the solar panel) and then two wires from the battery bank. I would assume the wiring for the battery bank is not connected in the battery tray. I'm not 100% sure how Jayco does this but that is how it is usually done. It should be distinguishable to know which ones are the solar wires and which ones are the battery wires - same thing with their respective polarities. In general white or red will be positive and black is negative. It is always best to check with a voltmeter so you have the appropriate wires and polarity"

I (stupidly) loosened the nuts holding the rooftop solar entry point wires in place and found the the wires are Red and Black, as in the picture. They drop into my Master Bedroom area near the vent, and using a rifle borescope I have found that the red and black wires are connected to white and black wires of approx. the same gauge that lead to the main/kitchen area. I still need to chase down these wires path... Sorry, no picture of that, the borescope has no camera.

So as it sits now, I have identified 2 wires, white and back that either terminate at the rooftop entry point, or terminate at the battery (currently disconnected). Tomorrow, my task is to identify those wires using a voltmeter.

I am also going to literally ripoff the sticker and look for wires behind, who knows?

[klassic]

Daddy, I just re read your post with the pictures
The schematic you posted IS for the side solar, not for the roof solar.
You say your battery cables are all 8 ga? I was just assuming they were 4ga when I was mentioning your battery cable in my post.
If you have an extra black at the battery, try and follow it. One of them goes to that bottom breaker in your picture, right?? The other one should be going to the roof solar, but there SHOULD be another one of those beakers attached to it. Somewhere.
There is no other need for your rig to have another +12v 8ga constant wire, except for the solar.

[Onefastdaddy]

@lancehead: Keep up the good work. I sometimes get pictures through a microscope just by holding the phone camera to the eyepiece and take a picture. Simple but it works. Maybe the same works for the riflescope? Honestly though no photo of that needed just knowing the wire colors is good enough and location as we seem to have a mystery on our hands where that stuff is Jayco can't even solve.

@klassic: Thank you, again, I need to follow up by using your notes and a voltmeter.

From my limited experience with solar like lancehead says you run from the solar to a controller, then the controller to the battery. To wire direct from the connector to the battery wouldn't make sense. So far I can't confirm either but it may help to locate the wire to know the gauge, the colors, the basic area.

The lack of the guys that made it knowing this is troubling considering it's all over the marketing materials it's pre wired and ready...the missing fine print is: "however we have no idea where we put the wires so don't ask us".

Forums like this are great for a vendor to get an idea where to improve. I hope Jayco monitors these forums and can learn from it and go to the factory and make some improvements. Having been to auto factories to watch BMWs get made I picture at Jayco a build document with a VIN starting the process. All things known in advance and tagged to that VIN. Location where the wires go and all these color changes as things are wired together should be on that build sheet. Today even a photo of those key points during the build would be easy to do and it all could go into a database (I used to build big databases of this scale for a living).

Hoping if it's not done this way someone at the upper management position there would be interested in this. A trailer, like an auto is mostly assembled offsite parts integrated inside a shell made onsite. This sort of documentation is key to safety. If there's a recall or safety issue with one of those parts knowing all the vehicles associated is a huge thing for the manufacturer.

[klassic]

Daddy the side solar is wired direct to the battery after it goes through the top breaker in your picture.
You can verify that with a voltmeter.. Or simply looking at your schematic you posted.
The controller is built into the portable side solar panel that one would purchase if they were going to use the side solar.
The roof solar is split, waiting for you to attach a controller.
The roof solar, right now ISN'T going directly to the battery.

I'm almost positive the "extra" white wire you have at the battery is your chassis ground. You need to connect it.

[Onefastdaddy]

Originally Posted by klassic

Daddy the side solar is wired direct to the battery after it goes through the top breaker in your picture.
You can verify that with a voltmeter.. Or simply looking at your schematic you posted.
The controller is built into the portable side solar panel that one would purchase if they were going to use the side solar.
The roof solar is split, waiting for you to attach a controller.
The roof solar, right now ISN'T going directly to the battery.

I'm almost positive the "extra" white wire you have at the battery is your chassis ground. You need to connect it.

Hello,

@klassic: There are no "extra" unconnected white or any color wires at the battery. None of the wiring there inside that compartment are related to the rooftop solar as they are all connected, terminate, at a + or - on the battery. Bummer as it would be so logical to find that was the case.

Yes, understood, I traced and followed the wires physically from the front "Solar Ready" connector to the battery. No it does not go through any of the things in my photos. The ground from the connector goes to the frame ground (Leg for the right side front jack). The other goes right to the battery. Confirmed for kicks with a voltmeter and battery voltage seen.

Now, back to the mystery. The roof solar where I hope to use the "Wired for Solar" connectors and wiring from the factory to mount roof solar panels. That has zero volts up there (as expected). No details anywhere to be had where the other end is. I would prefer like the OP here, to use that wires but it's going to require me finding the other end.

I do know where it is not at:
1. It's not behind the main switch panel (not fuses, switches) there inside the main entry door. There is a sticker right there saying to mount the solar charger there. This seems to hint, because there's a template sticker saying to put the panel there, there would be wires waiting for me behind the panel but nope, not there. I did dig even further inside the cabinet there for wires and found only the wireless controller.
2. Inside all cabinets I do not see any exposed wires. So they are behind something, ie I will have to remove some paneling to get to it.

Boy, I really wish the OP would come back online here and either say he gave up or found them as mine probably are in the same place.

[klassic]

That's odd Daddy.. I followed my side solar right to a 20a breaker (like in your picture)
And I followed my roof solar wire right to a 30a breaker.

I don't understand why Jayco wouldn't fuse that wire on your rig.
Now if you short out the side solar connector by accident, the 12g wire will burn up and could cause a fire. Not to mention if your roof solar wire isn't on a breaker, that 8ga wire will really heat up.

[Onefastdaddy]

Good news, I am getting closer to making sense of things.

I'm a visual person. I'll post photos as well. Here's a couple with some annotations.

Essentially the text version is:
Red from the front solar ready Zamp connector goes up and to the top most 2 post connector that then eventually goes to the Battery disconnect and the + side of the battery.

The black off that connector is crimped after a short length to a white (8 gauge) short length of wire right to the - side of the battery.

Only fuse I see is a 30A (guessing, too dark to go look now) auto fuse (green wire) from the battery disconnect to a large wire nut that has an orange a few black wires going to it fed also by the lower of the two 2 connector connectors (see right side photo).

Here's the photos. This is of course all up front at the battery location.

[Onefastdaddy]

Ok, now inside the trailer, this is immediately to the left as you enter in the main entrance.
I found something more unpleasant than the rats nest of wires behind the panels....a leak. I think the big cracks in the caulking around the solar connector up top allows water inside as an LED light right under it poured water on my face when I removed the cover.

I'll post the photo. Do you suppose those big cracks and the void underneath (cavity) is allowing water in around the connector? Nothing else up there in that area to leak, well, long like other thing to leak. Maybe the sky light but the LED was really almost right under the solar connector. I removed it to feel around for wires but the hole is too small.

Oh, also, I found a single 8 gauge black wire (see photo). This is from right behind the main panel (see another photo). This is the main panel with all the switches on it and a template saying install the solar control panel here. It's un-powered as I used a volt meter, + on the volt meter to this wire and - on the volt meter to a ground, nothing measured (0.00v). Maybe this is the + from the roof solar connector? If so where's the - ??? There is no white wire the same size to be found here. Maybe they tied it to a trailer/chassis ground already somwhere else? If so they really expect an interesting solar charger connection here. Just the hot with the ground going who knows where. This is the only 8 gauge wire anywhere here and the only unconnected wire.

Also are some photos behind the switch panel and inside the cabinet behind it.


PS: Well, we can learn together here. Just sharing what I'm finding. I hope it's not overkill and is useful to others.

[klassic]

Good news...and bad news.
You had better get that leak back to the dealer ASAP!
That is really unfortunate.
Good thing you were digging into things, it might have been a lot worse if you never went on your hunt

That 8g wire, I bet, is going to the roof. I don't understand why all the wires aren't right there.

[klassic]

I'm responding to your pictures of your battery compartment here.

If I'm reading what you wrote correctly, you are saying you followed the side solar wire to red covered connection post with the short red jumper wire on the opposite post.

Maybe this is where I lost you back on page 2... Those "posts" with the red covers are breakers. Perhaps my ramblings aren't as clear as they are to me in my head
The top breaker , with the red cover, is a 20a breaker. If you take it off to look at the side edge, or if you could get a real good look at it it will say "Bussmann short stop 20amp"
That is the breaker for the side solar. It is an auto reset breaker (maybe I lost you because it doesn't look like a typical breaker)

The breaker with the red cover underneath the top breaker is the main breaker for the battery, if you can read the edge it's a 50a breaker.
The top solar breaker has the short red jumper going to the bottom breaker because it is just a convenient junction point to join the power from the side solar to the battery.
The green wire is the wire from the +12v from your truck..it has a 30a fuse.
If you care to verifying that, take out the fuse, plug your cord into the truck, turn on your truck and put the volt meter into the wire nut. You should have 12 volts. Then unplug the truck and you'll have 0 volts.

What I don't see is your roof solar. It too needs one of those breakers with the red cover....it would be a 30a. There is no reason not to put it with the other two breakers.
I betting that the one black wire that is attached to your + battery post is the roof solar and ends where you can't find it. If it is a 8 guage.
To test this theory disconnect the one that DOESN'T go to the bottom breaker with the red cover. I'm pretty sure nothing will shut off in your trailer.

If this is the case leave it disconnected because it has no breaker on it (that I can see and you can see) and could short out potentially starting a fire.
This is, what I think, the basis of that recall letter in that other thread.
Jayco forgot the breaker on the roof solar connection.

Just my opinion.

[Onefastdaddy]

Originally Posted by klassic

I'm responding to your pictures of your battery compartment here.

[snip]

I betting that the one black wire that is attached to your + battery post is the roof solar and ends where you can't find it. If it is a 8 guage.

[snip]

If this is the case leave it disconnected because it has no breaker on it (that I can see and you can see) and could short out potentially starting a fire.
This is, what I think, the basis of that recall letter in that other thread.
Jayco forgot the breaker on the roof solar connection.

Just my opinion.

Very GTK, thank you, that makes a lot of sense. I think I understand now.

However, on the part above, the black wire on the + side of the battery going right to the lower (50A) breaker. I think that's just as you say the main power line to the trailer for (+) as I measured 2.7A on it just now while the trailer was on DC only with the lights on inside. Maybe the heater fan was also going.

There is good news here though. I found a white and black 8 gauge wire here (photo) that when disconnected did not affect the DC in the trailer at all. The service guy at the dealership connected them when I picked it up. There were two pairs of black and white 8 gauge wires with tape on the ends sitting there at the battery box when we purchased it. I connected 1 pair and nothing worked (DC). He connected the 2nd pair and the DC worked.

BTW, in the photo, I added the green tape after disconnecting these two. I have tried everything in the trailer (DC wise) and all seems to be working still. Also this photo is to the left inside the battery compartment towards the front. These two wires appear to go underneath the front (master bedroom).

So, now, a couple questions unanswered:
1. Verify where these go. Not all the way to the roof as I did not get battery voltage up on the roof at the solar connector when I measured up there with a voltmeter.
2. These two wires route up under the master bedroom because when I pull on it I hear it under there...where is the other end?

Ok, calling the dealer about the water in the ceiling light. I really hope it's a quick thing and doesn't mean we are going to wait a long time.

[klassic]

I hope at least you're finding the hunt for your wires interesting. I did when I looked for mine, but the fun was over after a minute. It took me longer to find the screw diver.

Glad you found a potential major rot problem that you stopped before it got worse.
I would be telling the dealer to guarantee you there is no wet insulation up there that is going to develop mold and have them document this. Maybe even pull down the ceiling panel in that area.

[Onefastdaddy]

Originally Posted by klassic

I hope at least you're finding the hunt for your wires interesting. I did when I looked for mine, but the fun was over after a minute. It took me longer to find the screw diver.

Glad you found a potential major rot problem that you stopped before it got worse.
I would be telling the dealer to guarantee you there is no wet insulation up there that is going to develop mold and have them document this. Maybe even pull down the ceiling panel in that area.

Good idea, they were very accommodating and I have an appointment for Tuesday. I will be sure to mention the wet insulation I felt up in there behind the light.

I will ask them to find the wires as well. I am sure they should make quick work of it.

[klassic]

Do you have an update on your leak?

[Onefastdaddy]

The dealer used 3 tubes of roofing caulk to fill all the voids. They seemed confident that was the source. Its forecast to rain for the next three days so I will find out soon.

[Onefastdaddy]

Hey, Good news, a step closer.
See these two wires (unconnected in foreground)? I found them behind the sticker saying (solar wires behind the sticker...essentially). They are 8 gauge one black one white.
I connected a solar panel on the roof to the roof connected. I expected to read 40v (open current on my panel) on the two wires but didn't. That didnt stop me. I realized maybe they wired it somehow where one of these wires is the solar + and the other is battery + and I'm supposed to use the chassis ground (or some variation of that thought).
Well, sure enough the white wire when I measure the voltage using chassis ground I get 40v ... so, I know that the white wire goes to the roof solar + and that the roof solar - probably goes to chassis ground somewhere.
Now, isn't that interesting how white in this case is + not - ... gotta love that. Thankfully I'm using a multimeter and not assuming anything.
Here's a photo.
Now this is all the more reason why no one should assume anything with a Jayco trailer for wiring. If you don't know what you're doing don't connect anything. If you know enough to use a multi-meter then by all means you can at least try and reverse engineer things.
This is really weird though. If Jayco actually helped the customer to wire up a trailer that has stickers everywhere saying "Wired for Solar" what is the harm? At this point all I get is Jayco essentially wanting nothing to do with actually helping me in any way to understand this stuff and here I am on a forum trying to get help I should be getting from Jayco (yes I emailed Jayco 2x and got two completely unhelpful replies to my question).
The good news for other owners and the OP is that this isn't rocket science and when this is sorted out I'm glad to share that info here.
Anyone have any insights what the black wire is for if white goes to the roof + (Solar connector)?
Oh, and to add to the data here. The 40v is with the open wires at the battery compartment (one white one black) connected with the white on - and the black on the + on the solar breaker (30A) [see a few posts up where I discuss the 30A solar breaker up at the battery compartment. If I disconnect them I get 0.0v again on the white (or black) wires here.
So, my new hypothesis is this. These two 8 gauge wires are from the roof. This explains why the sticker says they are there and I find them there. Now I just need to find the best place to send the output from the charge controller to the batteries.
My thought is to get some 8 gauge wire and run the output from the charge controller (I'll mount it above the cabinets up top) down to the main panel DC side battery + and - connectors. Those are 8 gauge all the way to the battery from there.

[klassic]

Your trailer is very confusing.
Did you look in your converter and see if there are 8ga wires are on the negative bar?

[Subaru297]

Also keep in mind that some solar controllers don't like a common ground from the panels.

[klassic]

Originally Posted by Subaru297

Also keep in mind that some solar controllers don't like a common ground from the panels.

That's what's confusing. Why would they ground the negative from the roof?
How is one suppose to ground the negative from the contoller now if the controller requires it to be wired with the solar panel's +/-

If this is the case and they call this "pre wired" for a GoPower controller, which is what they want you to use, then why is my unit not pre wired the same as Onefastdaddy's
On mine both +/- ends, from the roof and from the battery, are coiled up together waiting for the controller.

They should fix your pre wiring Onefastdaddy.