Solar equipped

[Therealdiehl]

I have a 2021 Jay flight SLX that is "Solar Equipped". I understand that wires are located in the wall behind the Solar Equipped sticker. I have located the 30 amp breaker on the frame rail and the solar plug on the roof. There is no continuity between the roof plug and the wires at the breaker or battery.
Are the wires behind the wall not continuous from the factory?

I am conflicted about putting the panels on the roof. If we park in the shade the panels are useless. I'm currently putting panels on the ground , in the sun, when I need them. I'm attaching the the wires at the circuit breaker and frame with gator clamps. That works fine, but not using a controller. Just monitoring the battery voltage. I'm getting about 4.5 amps in direct sunlight. When my battery gets to about 2/3 I can recharge in about 4 hours.

[DonBr]

Generally the ports on top should have continuity to both the wires in the wall, and then on to the circuit breaker; they are then cut to install a controller. It could be in your case that they are already separated from the factory. Really, though, you should ever attach panels to batteries without a controller, including the way you are doing it. Most panels are capable of around 18-20 volts. When your battery is way down it may have enough resistance to impede that, but as it "fills up" if you are not diligent in watching the voltage you may have some real trouble.

[ARoamer]

"""Are the wires behind the wall not continuous from the factory?"""


Some are, some aren't, it seems there's no standardized factory solar prep install. Ours were cut and capped behind the sticker. Good to start with portable panels, but I'd still get and use a decent controller. If you need more capacity, put a few on your roof.

[Therealdiehl]

That's good to know. I have a controller. I was using the panels with out temporarily for this last trip.
I have a 30 watt panel that charges the battery in my gate opener. It has a small controller in the system. The voltage will reach 18 volts when not connected to battery, and drop to the accepted level of 13.8 to 14.2 when hooked up. So far the panels work about the same with out a controller, but I know if left unattended they would cook the battery.

I'm glad to know your wires were cut. That's A simple explanation. Thanks for your reply.

[FISTEP]

The wires behind my sticker were not cut. For some reason, a 120W panel came installed on my trailer. No one including the dealership even knew it was there until I got it home and looked out the window at the roof. The wires were not cut and were connected directly to the battery. Fortunately, the battery was installed just before delivery so it wasn't fried from the uncontrolled panel.
There was no loop or extra wire so it made for a difficult controller installation.
I have also used a portable panel with a separate controller clipped to the batteries when needed. The efficiency is much better when the panel is positioned in direct sun as close to perpendicular to the sun as possible.
I added Ys to the roof connector so that I can now plug in and add a 100W portable panel in parallel to the rooftop installed panel. That lets me park in the shade with at least one panel in the sun.
I made an adapter from the MC4 solar connectors to a subsea EO connector to make it easier to connect. I had these cable connectors from my work and they are rated at 10 amps in air. They are waterproof to 6000 m depth. I usually don't camp underwater but they are certainly waterproof in a rainstorm. I have a dummy plug when the panel is not being used.
The output from the portable was less than 6 amps in full sun and combined with the rooftop panel I measured about 10 amps total.
I also have an extension for the portable and I can reach about 50 feet total. The power loss in the portable panel cables is quite low since the current is low.