Chuck5395's 2018 28.5RSTS Modifications

chuck5395 · 02-20-2018, 05:15 PM

We took delivery of our trailer in early December 2017. I've decided to post my mods here for two reasons:
1) So that others my see, share, and comment
2) So that I can remember what I did

First mod, mount TV in bedroom. I purchased this mount from Amazon for $9.99. It works perfectly:

link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Untitled by chuck fauser, on Flickr

chuck5395 · 02-20-2018, 05:20 PM

Next up was a much needed coat/hat rack.

Untitled by chuck fauser, on Flickr

chuck5395 · 02-20-2018, 05:22 PM

I also added this digital weather clock with indoor/outdoor temperatures along with a command strip hook to use as a broom holder.

Untitled by chuck fauser, on Flickr

chuck5395 · 03-27-2018, 04:01 PM

I had installed a solar panel on my previous RV, a Class C motor home and when we purchased this new Jayco, I was excited to see that it was "solar ready". We spend a lot of weekends every year out in the high desert of Oregon and usually one weekend a year down at Black Rock in Nevada. Without any utilities nearby, it's important that we can recharge our batteries. While our Class C had a built in generator, our 5er does not. So before I spent money on a generator, I wanted to see if we would be able to survive on using Solar to recharge our batteries.

I started by reaching out to Jayco via email to see what I might learn about the solar prep package. They responded right back to me and included a schematic of the solar prep (see attachment). Unfortunately this is for the "Solar on the Side" charge port and not the roof prep package.

The nice man at Jayco and I then exchanged quite a few emails over the next week or so where I ask for information about the roof wiring and he tells me that my camper didn't come with any. I send him sales brochures, fliers, and photos that say otherwise. In the end he was only able to provide me the following:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The solar roof mounts use MC4 connections.

The vendor part # is GP-CEP-1, JAYCO PART# 0259967.

We do not have a wiring schematic for this and it connects with the solar prep cables prior to the interior wall monitor connection.

https://www.jayco.com/lfw-lp/pdf/solar.pdf
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Long story short, I was on my own....

chuck5395 · 03-27-2018, 04:11 PM

I figured the best way to start was to explore the area around where Jayco had placed the sticker inside. After all, the sticker says "Pre-wired solar cables located behind decal. Use this decal as cut-out template". (spoiler alert.. Don't do that).

Our rig came with the Dry Camping Package. That means it is pre-wired for a generator with the controls on the wall inside. In the photo belowyou can see that I pulled that control panel open to see if I could find the solar cables before cutting into the wall.

chuck5395 · 03-27-2018, 04:18 PM

Above the generator controls is the main control panel. Since it's just held in place with six screws I figured that this would be the next place to look.

Still not finding the solar cables, I found that I could pull the rear panel out of the cabinet to expose what I think is the wireless hub for the remote control. (Please let me know that's not what this is).

The control panel is to the right in this photo. The hole in the back is where I expected to see the solar cables, but they're not here.

On a side note, I think this is where I can splice into the wire to the outside light and install a dimmer.

chuck5395 · 03-27-2018, 04:31 PM

At this point we decided to take another approach. We connected a tone generator from a wire toner kit onto one of the solar ports on the roof. We then used the "wand" to trace the cable through the camper. We finally found it in the wall between the bathroom and the hallway (by the steps). If that wasn't odd enough, we couldn't get the tone below mid way down the wall.

I then took out the outlet box in the bathroom wall (we were unplugged an had no 110v running through the rig) to see what we could find.

I was able to locate the red and black solar cables in this wall cavity just to the left of the outlet whole. We used a new toy (I mean tool) that my friend had recently purchased, a fiber optic inspection camera that hooks into his android phone, to look inside the wall. From that we were able to see that the cables came down in the wall and then looped back up into the ceiling again.

Feeling confident, we cut a whole for the solar control panel in the hallway wall.

Originally the black cable was uncut and both red cables had wire caps on them. Using a multi-meter, we found that one set of cables was connected to the battery, the other to the roof ports. We labeled all cables to prevent future surprises.

Notice how far we are from the "CUT HERE" sticker.

chuck5395 · 03-27-2018, 04:39 PM

Now it was time to install the controller. For this install I was using a Renogy Adventurer controller. It's identical to the one I had in my previous motor home and I was happy with it and it's quite affordable. The manual suggests installing in-line fuses not only between the controller and the batteries, but also between the controller and the panels. In this case we put a 30amp fuse on the battery side and a 20amp fuse on the panel side.

And now I just find out I don't have a photo of the controller mounted.

I won't go into detail on the roof portion because that's covered a thousand times over in the Internet. But here are a couple of photos to show our work.

Next month is our first trip to the high desert in our new rig. I'm excited to see how this new setup performs.

Origjcc · 03-27-2018, 08:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck5395

Now it was time to install the controller. For this install I was using a Renogy Adventurer controller. It's identical to the one I had in my previous motor home and I was happy with it and it's quite affordable. The manual suggests installing in-line fuses not only between the controller and the batteries, but also between the controller and the panels. In this case we put a 30amp fuse on the battery side and a 20amp fuse on the panel side.

And now I just find out I don't have a photo of the controller mounted.

I won't go into detail on the roof portion because that's covered a thousand times over in the Internet. But here are a couple of photos to show our work.

Next month is our first trip to the high desert in our new rig. I'm excited to see how this new setup performs.

Thanks for the details.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Newt · 05-01-2018, 04:03 PM

Chuck, I have the same 5th wheel as you - the 28.5 RSTS 2018. Also, having same luck as you with Jayco response to trying to find the solar port cables. I pulled my bathroom 120 outlet and also found the 2 red and 2 black cables ( wires) in the same place you did, but I couldn't see if they had wire nuts on them or if they were labled as the solar port wires. These wires look like the ones you found - #8 awg wire. Were these actually the roof port solar wires and battery wires you needed? If so, then I'm pretty sure that the ones I found will also be the solar and battery wires. Let me know if in fact those were the ones you needed to install your solar controller. Thank You, Newt

chuck5395 · 05-01-2018, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newt

Chuck, I have the same 5th wheel as you - the 28.5 RSTS 2018. Also, having same luck as you with Jayco response to trying to find the solar port cables. I pulled my bathroom 120 outlet and also found the 2 red and 2 black cables ( wires) in the same place you did, but I couldn't see if they had wire nuts on them or if they were labled as the solar port wires. These wires look like the ones you found - #8 awg wire. Were these actually the roof port solar wires and battery wires you needed? If so, then I'm pretty sure that the ones I found will also be the solar and battery wires. Let me know if in fact those were the ones you needed to install your solar controller. Thank You, Newt

Newt,
Yes, those are indeed the solar wires. If I remember correctly, the red wires were capped with wire nuts but the black wire was folded back on itself and taped. I'm pretty sure they ran the cables in on run from the battery to the roof port and left a slack loop in the wall. They then cut the red wire (since it is connected to the battery and hot) and capped off both ends.

You'll need to be careful when working with the red wire one of them is directly connected to the battery. You may want to take the extra caution of disconnecting the batteries once you've determined which red wire goes to them. After you cut the black wire, you'll need to determine which end goes to the roof and which one goes to the battery. For the red wire we used a volt meter, for the black we used a toner.

I hope this helps.
-Chuck

Badge366 · 05-02-2018, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck5395

I figured the best way to start was to explore the area around where Jayco had placed the sticker inside. After all, the sticker says "Pre-wired solar cables located behind decal. Use this decal as cut-out template". (spoiler alert.. Don't do that).

Our rig came with the Dry Camping Package. That means it is pre-wired for a generator with the controls on the wall inside. In the photo belowyou can see that I pulled that control panel open to see if I could find the solar cables before cutting into the wall.

I wish I would have read this before I cut out the hole for my controller and also couldn’t find the wires. At least I have an idea where they may be hopefully I can run them over to the spot where the controller is.
Thanks for the great pics

John from Central Florida · 05-02-2018, 06:42 AM

Nice work! Looks great!

Newt · 05-04-2018, 04:20 PM

Thanks for your confirmation about the solar wires you found being the solar and battery wires (cables) in the wall over the stairs in the Jayco 28.5 RSTS 5th wheel. I'm confident that the wires I found in the same location are those same wires and I will be installing the solar panel and controller very soon. Again, without your help I would never had found them and would have had to take it to an RV installer and pay big bucks rather that being able to do it myself. Jayco customer service was a big fat ZERO in being able to help with this situation. You Are The Man, Chuck. Thanks, Newt

chuck5395 · 05-04-2018, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newt

You Are The Man, Chuck. Thanks, Newt

Well good golly gosh. I'm glad I could be of help.

chuck5395 · 05-29-2018, 11:54 AM

We had slide toppers installed last week over the three slide outs. This should help keep the water, leaves, pine needles and other debris out of the camper. They did a pretty nice job. I'm not thrilled about the marks left behind from removing the drip rail, but I'll get over it.

kcordell57 · 03-11-2020, 02:05 PM

Chuck, I am assuming by your fantastic operation that the wires are already connected to the battery. So all you have to do is find the wires (I have a 2019 317RLOK and the GoPower sticker is right where you found your wires, but I don't have any other access points around there to check without cutting), find which wires goes to the roof and all that is needed is to wire controller? If that's the case, this really is a pretty easy installation for the prewired, Solar Ready units. (I hear that the stickers for mounting TV's aren't exactly in the right places either).

chuck5395 · 03-11-2020, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcordell57

Chuck, I am assuming by your fantastic operation that the wires are already connected to the battery. So all you have to do is find the wires (I have a 2019 317RLOK and the GoPower sticker is right where you found your wires, but I don't have any other access points around there to check without cutting), find which wires goes to the roof and all that is needed is to wire controller? If that's the case, this really is a pretty easy installation for the prewired, Solar Ready units. (I hear that the stickers for mounting TV's aren't exactly in the right places either).

kcordell57,
You are correct. the wires were already connected to the battery. The black wire is straight through. The red wire was cut and both ends capped and taped together.

I would highly recommend using some sort of wire trace (signal generator) before cutting holes. Or be prepared to put a decorative plaque up to cover the hole if you're wrong.

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