Jayco Pre-wired Solar Wiring

[Townsend]

2020 Jayco North Point 375BHFS

Came from the factory prewired and with a roof panel.

Dealership (petes rv) installed an additional panel.

We have juice at the roof panels and the connections on the roof.

No amps arriving at the solar controller.

The solar controller accurately knows battery voltage and the remaining %.
But has shown 0 amps flowing to the battery since we bought the unit.
Confirmed 1.2 volts and 0 Amps on the solar wires behind the controller.

I would assume this means there is an inline fuse, relay, or connection point somewhere in between. Nothing marked on fuse box or electric panel in the underbelly.

Does anyone know if Jayco has a fuse or something on their prewired solar?

[RetiredOne]

Why not contact Pete's and get them to troubleshoot, since they added the second panel? They might have done something wrong on the roof, plus it's under warranty.

[Townsend]

Originally Posted by RetiredOne

Why not contact Pete's and get them to troubleshoot, since they added the second panel? They might have done something wrong on the roof, plus it's under warranty.

That dealer is in the NorthEast. All operations are shutdown. I haven't heard back from Jayco either.

[Nature Ist]

I assume you have the Go-Power system with the controller factory installed on an inside wall (usually near the stairs)
You indicate the controller is showing a reading of the battery voltage, did you check to see if you have continuity or a battery voltage reading on the output terminals from the controller to the battery?
There are fuses/breakers on the output side of the controller, which are likely to be either at the controller or at the battery compartment.
Have you looked for any literature that may have come with your unit for that controller? If there isn't any, try searching online for installation manual for your controller.
You can take a 12V battery if you have one, and run some jumpers from the output of the controller to that battery, see if it starts to charge. If it does, you then know your problem is after the controller.

[Townsend]

Originally Posted by Nature Ist

I assume you have the Go-Power system with the controller factory installed on an inside wall (usually near the stairs)
You indicate the controller is showing a reading of the battery voltage, did you check to see if you have continuity or a battery voltage reading on the output terminals from the controller to the battery?
There are fuses/breakers on the output side of the controller, which are likely to be either at the controller or at the battery compartment.
Have you looked for any literature that may have come with your unit for that controller? If there isn't any, try searching online for installation manual for your controller.
You can take a 12V battery if you have one, and run some jumpers from the output of the controller to that battery, see if it starts to charge. If it does, you then know your problem is after the controller.

Yes, The factory-installed go power.

I did not check the battery cables behind the controller. Because the display readings were accurate to what our inverter display was reading and our Jayco's touch screen was reading. Since all 3 are identical that told me the battery side is connected with no issues.

I should clarify I took the positive and negative solar cables off the controller and tested the solar cables directly. Still no power. So I would think that means the controller is not getting anything from solar cables. And there must be something disconnected between the panels and the controller.

I wish there was documentation. The only thing I had was basically a brochure. I downloaded the Go power manual. But it basically said the problem is between the working panels and the working controller.

[Nature Ist]

OK..That leads us to believe the issue is between the panels and the controller. If you put a meter on the panels when they are receiving good light, you should be getting much more than 1.2V You should get up to as much as 24V if they are in full sun. You said you never got any power from the panels even before Pete's added the second panel, is that correct? You can unplug the panel cables from the roof connector and test the voltage there, you should get a reading. If not, you need to look at the connections under the panels.
To my knowledge, there are no fuses between the panels and the controller.

[Nature Ist]

I just re-read your first post and realized you did have power at the panels and roof connector...but was that with the controller wires from the panels connected or disconnected?

[Townsend]

Originally Posted by Nature Ist

I just re-read your first post and realized you did have power at the panels and roof connector...but was that with the controller wires from the panels connected or disconnected?

Wires were always connected to the controller when I tested. But I had to disconnect the connection fittings on the roof to find a lead to probe.

[Nature Ist]

It is possible to have a small amount of backfeed voltage from the controller, which if everything was connected could give you a reading at the roof connections. I'm puzzled by the 1.2V reading. If you had output from the panels when disconnected at the roof, you should have gotten a double digit voltage there if in daylight.
Have you checked for continuity between the roof connections and the wires at the back of the controller? You should do that with them disconnected.
By the way, GoPower insists that when plugging in panel connectors, the panels should be covered so they are not producing power...they don't say what happens if you don't cover them.

[Townsend]

I checked continuity by testing the solar wire connections on the controller. It had continuity. I'm going to check by removing the wires from the controller. I wonder if the controller being connected is what gave the continuity. They did not mention covering panels to me. I'll be sure to do that.

[Nature Ist]

There are some good youtube videos for GoPower solar systems, including installation and troubleshooting. You could very well have a simple problem, just hard to identify.
By the way...which Pete's RV dealership did you buy your unit from. I am in CT and bought mine from the Windsor dealership, but used the Burlington, VT facility for my warranty work. I can't say I have been at all impressed with the CT service center. I found many issues that should have been caught before I took delivery, but that's a whole different topic.

[Shokyle1]

Maybe you figured it out by now but if you haven't on my solar connection roof plate jayco did not hook the wires up. Had to remove and hook up reinstall and re seal. May be worth a look.

[Townsend]

I took it to a local jayco dealer and they warrenty fixed it same day. They ended up taking everything off on the roof and found a disconnected wire somewhere up there. I pick it up Monday and will find our exactly where. I'm guessing the same spot as your picture shows.

[USNMA1]

Appears to be an ongoing problem with Jayco in regards to wires. I picked up multiple issues on delivery including forgetting to plug in the tank heaters on the extreme temperature package. 2020 North Point picked up in March and was heading to Montana . Needless to say that could have been ugly and there would have been no way to know.

[Flyn2High]

Originally Posted by Townsend

2020 Jayco North Point 375BHFS

Came from the factory prewired and with a roof panel.

Dealership (petes rv) installed an additional panel.

We have juice at the roof panels and the connections on the roof.

No amps arriving at the solar controller.

The solar controller accurately knows battery voltage and the remaining %.
But has shown 0 amps flowing to the battery since we bought the unit.
Confirmed 1.2 volts and 0 Amps on the solar wires behind the controller.

I would assume this means there is an inline fuse, relay, or connection point somewhere in between. Nothing marked on fuse box or electric panel in the underbelly.

Does anyone know if Jayco has a fuse or something on their prewired solar?

Is it possible that the battery is full. If so the solar controller will stop sending current to the battery.

[Smoky]

I'm not an expert by any means, but is it possible the two cells are wired in series versus parallel and that one of the cells is shaded? If in series (think a string of Christmas lights), and one cell isn't getting light then the system may be degraded a lot or not work at all. There's probable an electronics guru out there that knows a lot more about this stuff than I do.

[Greg58]

Originally Posted by Townsend

I took it to a local jayco dealer and they warrenty fixed it same day. They ended up taking everything off on the roof and found a disconnected wire somewhere up there. I pick it up Monday and will find our exactly where. I'm guessing the same spot as your picture shows.

This happens more than we think, we bought a new Frontier travel trailer in late 2006 that the grey water tank would take forever to drain. The local dealer found that the factory forgot to vent the tank. I have a friend that once built Travel trailers and job site trailers, he said turn over among workers was bad because of the entry level pay, once they learned a little that would be a notch on their resume for a better job.

[MacBean]

There is not a fuse or breaker between the roof and the controller, if they installed it. Check behind the display and confirm the red wire from the roof is connected firmly.

[randelester]

The dealer may have gotten the polarity of the second panel reversed. They would have canceled each other out and the 1.2 volts shown could be the excess from the more powerful panel?

[Townsend]

Originally Posted by Greg58

This happens more than we think, we bought a new Frontier travel trailer in late 2006 that the grey water tank would take forever to drain. The local dealer found that the factory forgot to vent the tank. I have a friend that once built Travel trailers and job site trailers, he said turn over among workers was bad because of the entry level pay, once they learned a little that would be a notch on their resume for a better job.

Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus in RV Service world.