Solar panel charging the battery with the battery disconnect off?

MarkEHansen · 12-11-2022, 12:22 PM

We have a new 2022 Cedar Creek Champagne 38EL 5th-wheel trailer and it came standard with a solar panel on the roof and a Go Power GP-PWM-30-SQ charge controller.

I'm wondering if I need to have the battery disconnect on (battery connected) for the charge controller to charge the battery. I can't get to the interior of the trailer right now, so I can't test it in person. During the walk-through, the dealer said there was no way to stop the charge controller from charging the battery, but I don't know if he considered the battery disconnect switch.

I did notice that the rear observation camera is powered when the battery disconnect is on, so I don't want to leave it on unless needed to keep the batteries charged.

Thanks for any insight.

jannjim · 12-11-2022, 03:00 PM

Check the voltage on the batteries...if around 12.6 vdc then probably not charging. If 12.8 vdc or more then it is. On the camera being on all the time, it's good if you want a security camera. On ours, I cut into the cabinet at the rear of the unit and connected the camera to the hot wire going to the running lights...I didn't want/need the camera on all the time especially dry camping.

MarkEHansen · 12-11-2022, 03:32 PM

On the camera, I don't mind it being on while were camping, but I don't want it on while the trailer is in storage.

MarkEHansen · 12-11-2022, 03:34 PM

How did you know where in the cabinet to cut? Did you just guestimate where the camera was mounted on the outside?

Aussieguy · 12-11-2022, 03:34 PM

get switch for the camera

leave the solar connected won't hurt

Here is the manual for your charge controller
https://gopowersolar.com/files/gpele..._GP_PWM_30.pdf

IF you decide to add more panels... I would upgrade the controller to MTTP
more panels will be a benefit if you camp UP north a lot

OR you have a 12v only fridge

before upgrading decide if OFF GRID boondocking is your style of camping
if you always have 120v at campsites and only spend a night or so without
NOT worth upgrading leave as is

Aussieguy · 12-11-2022, 03:38 PM

for camera... look to see if they added a fuse inside your main panel
if there is a fuse .... add a switch near the panel

read owners manual for camera to see how it is wired for security

can't see them simply just using the rear running light wire?

MarkEHansen · 12-11-2022, 03:46 PM

There's no fuse in the power center for the camera. It's definitely not wired to the running lights as it on all the time (99% sure only when the battery disconnect is on, but I will have to double check that).

Will the camera's owner's manual say how the camera is wired in this trailer? I doubt that. I would expect it will say something like "If you want it on all the time, make sure it is powered all the time"...

jannjim · 12-11-2022, 04:10 PM

yep...just guestimated on wire location for rear clearance lights.

Aussieguy · 12-11-2022, 04:17 PM

correct... should not be wired running lights.
---------------------------------------------

if you can unscrew the camera and look at the pigtail for the wiring colors and gauge might help you find where it is hooked into

you can try a 12v circuit tracer

or pay a kid / wife / neighbor to watch the screen and tell you when camera goes off......... as you pull fuses or disconnect wires.

When I was looking at cameras I did read in some of their install manuals on how to typically hook it up for security ...

can't remember which camera that had those instructions.

Aussieguy · 12-11-2022, 04:19 PM

may have piggy backed off a fuse already in place ... didn't change the labels

5picker · 12-12-2022, 12:37 PM

On my 2022 345IK the solar charges the battery regardless of the disconnect position.

The wires from the controller come directly to the battery and do not go through the disconnect. You could remove the wire(s) from the battery if you wanted to completely turn off the solar charging and the camera(s)

Do you have the FireFly display?
If so your camera(s) are not powered in the conventional manner of older R/Vs so many of the comments about pulling a fuse or adding a switch are a bit misguided. My preliminary diagnosing of this circuitry indicates they are powered via the FireFly sub-circuitry or other supply circuits I've not been able to trace as of yet.

I have 4 cameras and am wanting to power them off too. They DO NOT go through the battery disconnect and there are no fuses in the distribution box for them either.
Forest River won't tell me how to do so (stating warranty concerns if a customer modifies the wiring) and Orvan was not able to get me a schematic or a wire to disable.

Right now the only option to power the camera(s) off is to disconnect the battery(ies) at the battery(ies).

My plan is over the winter while we winter in the south, is to figure out how to disable the camera(s) but be able to leave other 12v items on. It's nice to have the security/observation option when connected to shore power but they will be a battery drainer when boondocking.

MarkEHansen · 12-12-2022, 12:59 PM

We have the Vegatouch system (from Firefly). I thought the camera was off when we turned off the battery disconnect switch, but I'm no longer sure about that. I will have to test again.

If the Solar will charge the batteries with the battery disconnect off, and that turns off the camera, I will be happy with that. I'll test when I can get back to the trailer this weekend.

I'm not too concerned with power use while boon docking (yet), but am concerned about the camera being power-on 24x7x365.

5picker · 12-12-2022, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkEHansen

We have the Vegatouch system (from Firefly). I thought the camera was off when we turned off the battery disconnect switch, but I'm no longer sure about that. I will have to test again.

If the Solar will charge the batteries with the battery disconnect off, and that turns off the camera, I will be happy with that. I'll test when I can get back to the trailer this weekend.

I'm not too concerned with power use while boon docking (yet), but am concerned about the camera being power-on 24x7x365.

I maybe could live with that too but ours isn't that way. And it won't help to have the battery disconnected when boondocking anyway.
I'll be interested to know how yours is.
They wire these things up in so many different configurations one never knows what they are getting.

MarkEHansen · 12-19-2022, 07:54 AM

I was able to confirm that the solar panel does in fact charge the batteries while the battery disconnect is off. Also, the rear view camera gets power only while the battery disconnect is on.

This weekend, I installed the Victron BMV-712 Smart battery monitor as well as dual Duracell GC2 6V batteries and confirmed that when the battery disconnect is off, there was around 2A going into the batteries (during the day, but it was cloudy).

I was very disappointed to find that the battery trays are not wide enough to support dual GC2 batteries - I had to put each battery on a separate shelf. What were they thinking? I would expect GC2s to be very popular coach batteries. I was hoping to be able to run 4 batteries, but I'm going to be limited to 2.

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