Factory solar systems - Page 3 - Montana Owners Club

66 Galaxie · 12-15-2020, 04:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Speck56

I have a solar story. 2020 3761FL. Solar has never worked. Jaboni disply only shows battery voltage. zeros on the panel side. Tech looked at it and says the MPPT Charger controller is defective. Long story short, I personnally took the basement walls down found the controller. 4 wires in. Simple. Flashing blue status light, should be solid in Arizona sun. Scratched my head and looked a little closer and reversed the panel wires. Neg to pos and back. Bingo. All good, works great. Factory solar. Does that mean at the factory or at the dealer? Should have caught it at the walk thru, but....

The upper left should only show zeros in the dark or if the panel is dionnected. Even inside a panel will put out voltage if there's a light on.

It shouldn't have left the factory that way and the dealer shouldn't have sold it that way.

Rollinspo · 12-18-2020, 11:47 AM

Sorry to jump in with a related but different question. I removed the Jobani panel and have added 4 panels that give me 915 watts and 2 Renogy batteries 200AH. I have been told that the factory set up will only charge them to about 80%. Also told that I should probably by a DC to DC charge limiter to protect my truck. I have a 2020 GMC dually with 220 amp alternator & 170 Amp secondary alternator. Looking ad the DC to DC they have 20A, 40A, and 60A. SO - do I need the DC to DC and if so what amp? Then does it mount in the truck or trailer. Also I'm considering upgrading my factory Converter Charger.
hope these aren't to crazy of questions... I'm trying to learn to use my set up to its fullest.

**AZ Traveler** · 12-18-2020, 12:30 PM

Rodney,

Unless you plan to significantly increase your battery bank past 200 AH i don't see a need to add DD to DC. Your factory converter on a 2019 can be set for lithium batteries - why do you want to change it? Not sure what charge controller you have for your solar but it should also be adjustable to support lithium to fully charge your batteries.

Rollinspo · 12-18-2020, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZ Traveler

Rodney,

Unless you plan to significantly increase your battery bank past 200 AH i don't see a need to add DD to DC. Your factory converter on a 2019 can be set for lithium batteries - why do you want to change it? Not sure what charge controller you have for your solar but it should also be adjustable to support lithium to fully charge your batteries.

Zack - Thanks for the information. I don't want to add things just to add them. People just had me worried saying it would blow fuses in my truck saying I need the DC to DC. If not I'm good. I would like to maybe add a one or two more batteries if the 2 don't cut it. How many would be to much for my system?
I'm not sure what charge controller I have but am taking it out on the road for a week after Christmas so will dig in and check.

**AZ Traveler** · 12-18-2020, 01:01 PM

Rodney,

I generally encourage folks to start with their battery bank and build out from there. You need to do a power analysis to sort our how big you want to go. Assuming you are building the system to boondock part of the time, I would consider adding 2 more batteries.

Your furnace blower motor is a power hog. A long cold night running the furnace 30-40% of the time would deplete a good percentage of the 200 AH you have.

BeagleMan · 12-18-2020, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AZ Traveler

Rodney,

I generally encourage folks to start with their battery bank and build out from there. You need to do a power analysis to sort our how big you want to go. Assuming you are building the system to boondock part of the time, I would consider adding 2 more batteries.

Your furnace blower motor is a power hog. A long cold night running the furnace 30-40% of the time would deplete a good percentage of the 200 AH you have.

Thats some good stuff to know right there.