224BH Solar Preped

[Bill Johnson]

Hopefully they can get you the diagram call a few times Monday otherwise they will forget. I talked to Camping world and they can't finish my motorhome till they deliver an rv to a new buyer. Like cell phones new people get preferential treatment over existing customers. Good luck

[jrobb911]

This is my biggest gripe with their solar prep. It’s prepped for just one option. From the roof port they run a red and black wire to where they usually put a sticker on the wall for the PWM solar controller. It’s supposed to be 8 gauge but usually not. The throw 10 or 12 in shortly after the roof entry. The PWM controller must be installed where they intend because they cut the wire there so it’s not continuous to the batteries. They do this so people don’t fry the batteries by connecting solar without a controller. I installed a battery monitor where I cut the wall to butt splice the solar wires back together. Then ran 8 gauge wires to the pass through area to install a MPPT controller. Look for smaller gauge wires near the batteries or pass through area after making this butt splice connection in the wall.

[Kay-Jay]

Originally Posted by jrobb911

This is my biggest gripe with their solar prep. It’s prepped for just one option. From the roof port they run a red and black wire to where they usually put a sticker on the wall for the PWM solar controller. It’s supposed to be 8 gauge but usually not. The throw 10 or 12 in shortly after the roof entry. The PWM controller must be installed where they intend because they cut the wire there so it’s not continuous to the batteries. They do this so people don’t fry the batteries by connecting solar without a controller. I installed a battery monitor where I cut the wall to butt splice the solar wires back together. Then ran 8 gauge wires to the pass through area to install a MPPT controller. Look for smaller gauge wires near the batteries or pass through area after making this butt splice connection in the wall.

Thanks for the info. I don't want to cut a hole in the wall where I saw the other PWM controller in the video. My MPPT controller is much larger and I mounted it in the pass thru. I will see if I can pull the wires up from the TV cable hole. If not I may just have Gander (Camping World) do the wiring. I just couldn't wrap my head around the schematic that Jayco (through the dealer) sent me. They show that it's wired from the roof top connectors to the wiring block on the A-Frame wall then to the battery. Where is the controller and cut-off switch? They don't sow that. If there aren't any, then the panels are constantly charging the batteries (Not good). If there is a controller somewhere, where is that? I just wish they would have let me talk to a tech to make some kind of sense out of this mess.

I saw a few wires (2 Red and 2 Black) maybe 8 or 10 gauge coming from the gap between the pass-thru and the outer shell. I checked continuity from where they are mounted on the A-Frame and the roof-top connectors and NOTHING. So what you had said about them just leaving the PWM controller out kinda makes sense. So they should be abled to be pulled up thru the TV cable hole in the ceiling. Not a bad idea to use the hole that would have housed the PWM, for the monitors. I have a inverter as well that has a monitor. It's actually a good spot since it is close to the front pass-thru.

Thanks again for your input.

[jrobb911]

No problem, I cut a hole but the thin wood panels can usually be pulled off and reattached to make the connection especially if yours is in a wardrobe closet. You’ll have to buttsplice those wires they cut, where the PMW controller is supposed to install. I attached pictures of a battery monitor with shunt where I cut a hole to splice. Had to run a control wire back to shunt but worked great. My trailer is a 22rb. The controller is installed on the wood covering a bunch or wiring in the pass through.

[Kay-Jay]

Originally Posted by jrobb911

No problem, I cut a hole but the thin wood panels can usually be pulled off and reattached to make the connection especially if yours is in a wardrobe closet. You’ll have to buttsplice those wires they cut, where the PMW controller is supposed to install. I attached pictures of a battery monitor with shunt where I cut a hole to splice. Had to run a control wire back to shunt but worked great. My trailer is a 22rb. The controller is installed on the wood covering a bunch or wiring in the pass through.

Very nicely done. I think I'm just gonna bite the bullet and make that hole. My better half is gonna kill me..... LOL

I have other problems today. I just setup camp in the Virginia mountains and my line from the water tank froze before I was able to insulate everything. Starting a new job tomorrow so the solar will have to wait a while. I let you know how it turns out. Thanks for the help. It's much appreciated.

[Kay-Jay]

Update: I found the wires inside in front of the wardrobe and identified them outside on the "A" frame wire bank. I have now cut the hole in the pass thru where the wires come thru to the wire bank and pulled the wires in.

Now I need to identify the "LOAD" wires going back into the camper. There were 2 sets of red and black 8 gage wires coming thru into the wiring block. One set I identified as the wires from the solar panels. Can I assume the other pair of 8 gage wires are the load wires going to the master breaker/fuse box inside? See attached image.

[jrobb911]

I forgot whether you butt spliced the wires together where they intended you to install the PWM controller. But if you got a red and black going to the solar panels, the other pair would have to go to the PWM controller or to the batteries. There is no where else 8 gauge wires would be used.

[Kay-Jay]

Originally Posted by jrobb911

I forgot whether you butt spliced the wires together where they intended you to install the PWM controller. But if you got a red and black going to the solar panels, the other pair would have to go to the PWM controller or to the batteries. There is no where else 8 gauge wires would be used.

Thanks for the reply, I will be butt splicing the wires at the wardrobe wall location and I'll be using that location to mount the MPPT monitor and the inverter monitor to cover the holes. Speaking of splicing, is it best to use wire nuts or crimp type butt splice connectors? I'm not sure if I can find the butt splice connectors for 8 gage.

The wires that are coming from the solar panels will be going into the Main cut-off switch first and then into the MPPT controller. So what I am getting from your statement is that the other pair is going to the PWM or batteries. But there isn't (or shouldn't be) a controller onboard. When I bought the trailer (it was solar ready but no solar installed) and I see the other wires, also an 8 gage going to the batteries. I would think that the pair that I see going into the camper would be going to the Main Power Station where the fuses and circuit breakers are on the inside. Mine is under the oven and near the stove and furnace. But as you mentioned, where else would 8 gage wires go, So I guess I could just do a little test and disconnect the other red wire from the wire bank and see if everything shuts down. If it does, it must be going to the power station.

[jrobb911]

Order 8gauge butt connectors from Amazon. Solar prepped means just the wires and ports to plug them in were installed at the factory. There isn’t a factory PWM controller somewhere hidden.
When installing the controller, it’s good to have a disconnect from the panels. You should always power us the controller first with 12v then turn on the panels. You usually only use it for maintenance or end of season if you take out your batteries. They have great wire resettable fuses what work great for this.

RKURCK 40 Amps Audio Inline... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MBXZKKP...p_mob_ap_share

Regarding The 8 gauge wires going back into the trailer toward your power station might need to be bypassed right there. Keep this in mind, 17v+ from your panels needs to go into a controller to come out 12-14v for charging. If you butt splice your factory intended location for the PWM to install a MPPT controller somewhere else, this 17v+ power needs to go through the new controller before getting back into any 12v wiring of the trailer or back to the batteries. That 17+v will fry most 12v system stuff.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Kay-Jay

Update: I found the wires inside in front of the wardrobe and identified them outside on the "A" frame wire bank. I have now cut the hole in the pass thru where the wires come thru to the wire bank and pulled the wires in.

Now I need to identify the "LOAD" wires going back into the camper. There were 2 sets of red and black 8 gage wires coming thru into the wiring block. One set I identified as the wires from the solar panels. Can I assume the other pair of 8 gage wires are the load wires going to the master breaker/fuse box inside? See attached image.

I have a Thor motorhome and I want outside and checked the wires. They are white an orange and the other set is white with a black stripe and orange with a black stripe but without removing the controller I'm not sure which is input and output

[Kay-Jay]

Originally Posted by Bill Johnson

I have a Thor motorhome and I want outside and checked the wires. They are white an orange and the other set is white with a black stripe and orange with a black stripe but without removing the controller I'm not sure which is input and output

I have a few wires with stripes on them as well. I'm quite confident that the red and black wires are the DC circuit but still don't know which ones GoPower would consider the "LOAD" wires.

[Bill Johnson]

Originally Posted by Kay-Jay

I have a few wires with stripes on them as well. I'm quite confident that the red and black wires are the DC circuit but still don't know which ones GoPower would consider the "LOAD" wires.

I went on Thor owners website and it shows two wires going to the battery(one wire is fused) those wires will be the ones leaving the controller. If you have the connection on the roof you should be able to connect to one of the wires and check the wires down below for continuity. You would need to get a piece of like speaker wire or lamp cord and run it down to the bottom where your wires are because the meter wires won't reach the roof down. My son had a house where the 3 way switch wasn't working we had the power off and ran a speaker wire down to the other 3 way so we could tell where each wire went with the meter because the leads are only 12 inches if they were 10 feet I wouldn't need the speaker wire to get down there

[Kay-Jay]

Originally Posted by jrobb911

Order 8gauge butt connectors from Amazon. Solar prepped means just the wires and ports to plug them in were installed at the factory. There isn’t a factory PWM controller somewhere hidden.
When installing the controller, it’s good to have a disconnect from the panels. You should always power us the controller first with 12v then turn on the panels. You usually only use it for maintenance or end of season if you take out your batteries. They have great wire resettable fuses what work great for this.

RKURCK 40 Amps Audio Inline... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MBXZKKP...p_mob_ap_share

Regarding The 8 gauge wires going back into the trailer toward your power station might need to be bypassed right there. Keep this in mind, 17v+ from your panels needs to go into a controller to come out 12-14v for charging. If you butt splice your factory intended location for the PWM to install a MPPT controller somewhere else, this 17v+ power needs to go through the new controller before getting back into any 12v wiring of the trailer or back to the batteries. That 17+v will fry most 12v system stuff.

Yes, I have a main cut-off/disconnect planned before going into the controller. The kit came with one. The kit also came with an 80 Amp circuit breaker that I am supposed to mount just before the batteries. It's supposed to be within 16 inches of the start of the battery string. I'm not too keen on the idea of having this breaker exposed to the elements. I don't have interior battery bank. They are all mounted outside.

I removed the other 8 gauge red wire from the bank and only the radio and refrigerator went off. I still had lights, water pump and gas and electric water heater, so that was not the main power to the Main Power Station. I'm now thinking that the entire wiring bank (in the picture from a previous post) is all the "Load" wires. The only way to disconnect all the power from that block is to remove the red (positive) wire coming from the battery.

How does this sound: Coming out of the controller from the "Battery Out" lines the kit comes with 4 gauge cables. I'll run them to the battery like I'm supposed to and disconnect the battery lines from the wiring block I identified in the picture above. Then from the "Load Out" from the controller run a pair of 8 gauge wires to the wiring bank. I guess I'll hook it up to the terminal from which I removed the "Solar Panel" wires.

[Kay-Jay]

Thanks Bill. I have identified the wires from the solar connector on the roof using a multi meter and long wires like you suggested. I have them planned to go into the controller identified for the solar panels. There are two more pairs of connections on the MPPT controller. Two go to the batteries and two go to the "Load". I now believe that the wiring bank I took a picture of in a previous post are all the wires that are considered "Load" and that the battery wire that goes to this block gives the system the power to run the 12V system.

[Bill Johnson]

I'm glad you're getting the wires sorted out

[Smith_Creek_Crew]

Originally Posted by Kay-Jay

Thanks Bill. I have identified the wires from the solar connector on the roof using a multi meter and long wires like you suggested. I have them planned to go into the controller identified for the solar panels. There are two more pairs of connections on the MPPT controller. Two go to the batteries and two go to the "Load". I now believe that the wiring bank I took a picture of in a previous post are all the wires that are considered "Load" and that the battery wire that goes to this block gives the system the power to run the 12V system.

You are correct. All of those are "load Wires". Do not connect the raw ouput of your solar to them. The raw solar panel output must go through your Solar Controller first.

Also, depending on what you want to use your solar panels for, you may not need to connect anything to the "load" terminals of the controller. If all you want to do is charge your battery, you need only to connect the controller "Battery" output to your main trailer distribution block.

Pulled this from a website:
"...What are the load terminals on a solar charge controller for?
Some controllers also have a "LOAD", or LVD output, which can be used for smaller loads, such as small appliances and lights. The advantage is that the load terminals have a low voltage disconnect, so it will turn off whatever is connected to the load terminals and keep from running the battery down too far...."

And this:
"...The load output on the charge controllers is ideal for putting small lighting circuits on in sheds, garages and outbuildings. We have a similar system set up in one of our workshops powering 3 LED bulbs, this gives us plenty of light for product testing etc. It is possible to put small pumps or motors on to the load output, but you should make sure that the maximum load does not exceed the rating of the charge controller otherwise it will trip the controller on board electronic fuse.

If you are installing your solar kit in a Motorhome or Caravan it is unlikely that you will need to use the load output on the charge controller as your load will be running from the existing system within your Motorhome or Caravan. We do not recommend using this function to power the van as it can be problematic and cause all manner of other issues...."