New 2022 Jayco 166FBS: Solar will NOT charge

[mini4mw]

The RV should have a PWM or MPPT controller in it. If it is charging the batteries, it will show you the rate (amps) that it is charging. That is the first thing I'd check; verify the solar is producing power and charging the battery.

If the controller is charging the battery, then you need to determine what is pulling power. The fridge shouldn't kill the battery in 3hrs. However, if you have brought the battery below 50% charge (applies to deep cycle only) you damage the battery. The lower you go and more often you hit below 50% the less and less charge the battery will hold until it holds almost nothing. Depending on how many times this has happened to you, the fridge could kill the battery in 3hrs if the battery doesn't hold a charge anymore. Unless you are somewhere super warm, I'd think the solar could provide enough power to cycle the fridge during the day. If you are fine in daylight and you only lose power at night this would lead me to believe the battery is damaged from discharge and the solar is able to keep enough power going during the day but the battery can't handle it without supplemental power.

Once you figure out if solar is working and if the battery is good anymore, then you need to figure out what is drawing power and how much. Inverter on - draws power with nothing on. carbon monoxide pulls power. phone, lights, etc. The suggestions above on what is pulling power all work, just depends on skill level and how much effort you want to put in. Victron is your gold standard, fairly easy to install and understand.

[Comanche_Moon]

Update: Took it back to the dealer.

They said AGAIN it was working fine. I had to convince them to keep it for the day and see if it charged.

They finally said I was right and the solar while hooked up properly was not charging the battery. They will diagnose the problem today.

Stay tuned! Hopefully this information will help others in the future.

[JayLo]

I swear, It’s the wiring under the Jack in the roof. This is exactly my story.

[JayLo]

If they don’t fix it, I can walk you through it, it was very easy (if you are a little handy) and increased my confidence in dealing with roof stuff. I recommend you send them my post about “what lies beneath”.

[Comanche_Moon]

JayLo. THANK YOU. I bet it is the same issue you have. If they cannot fix I would love to follow your walkthrough!

[JayLo]

As annoying as it was, it was simple and it was a good exposure to my roof and what a penetration looks like, etc. De-mystified it a bit.

[Comanche_Moon]

Diagnosis and fix:

Roof solar connection was not installed correctly and the nut had corroded and prevented proper charging. They will replace the connection and will be available for pick up tomorrow.

Thanks everyone, seems to be common.

[JayLo]

Bam!!!

[mini4mw]

Should have them discount or give you a new battery as well as if the one you had went below 50% charge a few times its damaged and won't hold near 100% charge or any charge too long. Whole reason it went below 50% as solar was supposed to be charging.

[1911Garand]

Coming in late to the thread here, just got back from deer hunting - I'm glad you found the issue!!!!

I have a 2022 Jayco 264BH with the Solar Power Package (100W roof solar panel & 30-amp digital controller). It came with a nice big Interstate deep cycle battery and the 12 volt only 8 cu. ft. fridge.

Deer hunting Boondocking with a generator at night. During the day when I am gone, I put the 12V fridge on settings 2 for the freezer and 2 for the fridge. Zero issues. Battery never dead, heater running, fridge running.

[Eric H.]

Originally Posted by Comanche_Moon

Thank you everyone this is great info.

I took the unit into the dealer (RV one) and they said the Solar was good to go... I took it home and it was dead in 3 hours.

So Recomendations:

* Get Victron Smart Shunt


*Lithium batteries
-Should I get 2 6v Lithium?

* Another solar panel
-Would another 190w panel do?

Thanks!

This time of year the sun is not high in the sky so with flat mounted panels I usually see about half of my max output. My house has tilted panels and can see almost 75% of the summer sun but for a much shorter day.

[Comanche_Moon]

Just to update everyone:

It is charging nicely now and has been since Saturday. We had clouds and rain all evening (Florida) last night and I got up this morning and still had a full battery.

All seems to be working.

Thanks everyone for the responses.

FYI: They did provide a new battery after fixing the bad connection in the roof.

[jrobb911]

Originally Posted by JayLo

I swear, It’s the wiring under the Jack in the roof. This is exactly my story.

Yep, my 2021 22rb is supposed to have 8gauge wire running from the roof port to the batteries. I took it off because they only got one wire through the ceiling during install and I needed both obviously. They used 8gauge for about 4 inches and swapped to 12 gauge using the cheapest spring connectors meant for 12 gauge wires only. Like a carpenter was doing the electrical work.

[Comanche_Moon]

I am going to get a hold of them about the battery. It did go completely dead so it had to have damaged the capacity.

We did run out of battery power one night after a full day of sun and 1 hour on a genny. We got strategic the final night of our trip to keep the furnace on (22° Exterior) It worked, but we were cold.

[EJH]

Originally Posted by Comanche_Moon

I am going to get a hold of them about the battery. It did go completely dead so it had to have damaged the capacity.

We did run out of battery power one night after a full day of sun and 1 hour on a genny. We got strategic the final night of our trip to keep the furnace on (22° Exterior) It worked, but we were cold.

IMHO, I think you are asking too much out of a 190W panel and the stock battery, with a 12v fridge and those temps. Although if you battery is damaged, that doesn't help.

My guess is to boondock with a 12v fridge you need about double the solar and 200AH of usable battery. My rough calculation show that should keep you going more or less indefinitely, given decent sun.

[Comanche_Moon]

Originally Posted by EJH

IMHO, I think you are asking too much out of a 190W panel and the stock battery, with a 12v fridge and those temps. Although if you battery is damaged, that doesn't help.

My guess is to boondock with a 12v fridge you need about double the solar and 200AH of usable battery. My rough calculation show that should keep you going more or less indefinitely, given decent sun.

Well that is pretty fantastic news. Another panel and 200ah of battery shouldn't be expensive or hard to come by.

This will be my next project/upgrade. Many Thanks!

[EJH]

I appear to have the same problem with my new trailer (similar to a Micro 166FBS).

My Go Power solar charge controller has the indicators lit for battery and panel being present/detected. However, the display only show a charge of 0.3-0.9 Amps being pushed to the battery.

I was unable to test this at the dealership during PDI, as the batteries (my trailer has 2x ~60AH batteries) were fully charged.

I ran the batteries down from 12.7V to 12.4V overnight. This morning in the cold sun, I expect to see more amperage being pushed to bulk charge the batteries, but it is less than 1A. I did check the voltage on the panels, prior to the wires entering the roof box. The panels report 22V.

Comanche_Moon. What did your Go Power controller display before the diagnosis? After the roof wiring was fixed, what kind of current does the display show is being sent to the battery?

[Comanche_Moon]

Originally Posted by EJH

I appear to have the same problem with my new trailer (similar to a Micro 166FBS).

My Go Power solar charge controller has the indicators lit for battery and panel being present/detected. However, the display only show a charge of 0.3-0.9 Amps being pushed to the battery.

I was unable to test this at the dealership during PDI, as the batteries (my trailer has 2x ~60AH batteries) were fully charged.

I ran the batteries down from 12.7V to 12.4V overnight. This morning in the cold sun, I expect to see more amperage being pushed to bulk charge the batteries, but it is less than 1A. I did check the voltage on the panels, prior to the wires entering the roof box. The panels report 22V.

Comanche_Moon. What did your Go Power controller display before the diagnosis? After the roof wiring was fixed, what kind of current does the display show is being sent to the battery?

- My Solar controller appeared as normal. I recall it showing 12v when that was not the case and no light on the battery level. RV ONE (dealer) told me it was working correctly... Couldn't convince them to correct it until I forced them to watch it charge for a day; then when they saw it wouldn't charge they took to fixing it.