Solar ready love it

[wwalker2984]

I have a 2015 wildcat maxx 262RGX and is was solar ready wow it was perfect bought my charger and two 100 amp solar panels and I had them installed and working in less than one hour had solar panels on my old RV and it's the only way to go when your dry camping headed out on our first trip to bodega Bay on December 5 I can't wait

[wlofton]

Watching this post.

[offroad]

I'm interested to hear more.
Can you post a link to the components you used?

Thanks

[wlofton]

Yes second that.

[wwalker2984]

Ok my fifth wheel was wired from FR . I got every thing from eBay the panel are http://m.ebay.com/itm/141374996655?txnId=1044362593004 the panels are 100 w semi flexible they fit flat on the roof I used the lap sealant to glue them down don't know how that will do but it looks like it will work all the edges are covered and the sealant is stuck good I will know better after dec 5 taking our FRIST tripe then. The charger was Also on eBay 30 amp put it in the wall were it said there were wires and I modified my battery compartment to take 4 80 ah batteries so I should be ok when dry camping witch I do a lot

[wwalker2984]

Oh here is the charger http://m.ebay.com/itm/251658027768?txnId=1521419758015

[offroad]

Thanks for the links.

Question about Solar Ready on FR trailers my 8329 is as well, and there is a charging port on the awning side near the tongue. Is this anything more than a port with a direct connection to the battery?

Is 200w enough to re-charge 2x Deep Cycle 12v or 6V batteries after quite a bit of evening use? Obviously you couldn't run AC, but for battery charging could this replace a generator completely?

[wwalker2984]

Well on my old fifth wheel I had 200 W of panels and only two batteries and it would charge my batteries back up to full within about two hours after the sun came up I also changed all my interior lights to LED lights the only big heavy drain was the heater it worked great. On my new fifth wheel I have four batteries and only 200 W I am going to assume that it's going to work great but I might need more solar panels with four batteries it also already came with all LED lighting

[ZampSolar]

Hey Offroad,

It's likely that you have one of our Zamp Solar, solar ports on the outside of your RV. That solar port is directly connected to the battery and ready for one of our portable solar charging systems. Our portable solar charging systems already have the panels, wires and solar charge controller and carrying case as a complete unit. The battery clamp disconnect to show a male end of the plug to fit into the plug on your RV.

200 Watt of solar is enough for most users with a two battery system. Use this chart

I believe the 8329 is a 35' trailer and it's likely your consumption is about 40 or 50 amps a day - if your an average power user. 200 watts of solar will kick out over 11 amps an hour and on a typical 7 hour sunny day that's around 77 amps. With 200 watts you would have more than enough power if you live in a sunny location without many clouds or trees. In locations with clouds and trees you'll likely still have enough power unless it's really dark and stormy. The good thing with this much power is that if you do experience a few days of little solar power then the days that it is bright it will charge your batteries back up quickly.

It's likely you could replace your generator for the majority of your usage, not counting the AC unit. You could also likely run larger power items like a microwave off the battery for short periods of time too.

-Jeff
Contact me if you have more questions.

[wwalker2984]

Jeff

I Have a question for you . I have added more load to my RV my wife and I both have sleep apnea and now were going to be running our sleep apnea machines all night that's why I added four 80 amp he gel batteries do you think only 200 A panels is enough to recharge my batteries during the day I think my charger said I could have up to 400 W of solar panels it is a 30 amp charger

[ZampSolar]

Hey Wwalker,

Sleep apnea machines can be configured in different ways. Some machines have a humidifier that can be turned off and different pressure settings. Using a lower pressure setting or turning off the humidifier can cut your power consumption in half - this is huge when you have two.

With that said I'd like to know if you know how many watts your particular machine uses. If you can get me that I can calculate an average usage per night and then can calculate how the solar will do.

Typically if someone cannot get me the wattage I use an average of 45 watts per machine per hour - this is a high estimate for most high quality CPAPS. I have seen watts as low as 30 and 35 per hour.

For a cpap that uses an average of 45 watt over an 8 hour period the amperes would be 30 Amps - again I think this is high. But sometimes in very dry areas and long night sleepers this can be an average.

This 30 amp figure is the amount of power your battery needs to deliver per 8 hour period. This is just for the CPAP and doesn't include any other devices. For two CPAPs we can calculate 60 amps a night, then we would want to calculate your normal electrical usage from your RV for lights, fans and other - I use an average of 40 to 50 amps for a 30 to 35 foot trailer.

Total amps in this calculation is between 100 and 110 amps per 24 hours. This is the figure we have to match using solar.

Your 200 watts should be kicking out a little over 11 amperes (per hour) and for a full 7 hour day that should be around 75 amps. In this estimate you would be putting in the majority charge back into your battery but still be short by 25 amps. If you were to add another 100 watts you would be at over 16 amperes and near 115 amperes for the day. A better situation for this estimation.

I would recommend 300 watt or better for the majority of the US. If you lived in frequently cloudy or shaded areas I would suggest 450 watts of solar.

Now lets assume the average is 30 watts instead of 40. In an 8 hour time, amperes consumption 20.

20 x 2 = 40 (2 CPAPs)
40 plus your regular usage and it's between 80 and 90. Could be the difference of over 20 amps per 24 hour period.

A small change can make a larger difference.

Let me know if this makes sense or not. If you want a personalized average I can calculate it for you with the wattage your machine draws and what you use normally per day.

-Jeff
Zamp Solar

[wwalker2984]

Yes that helps a lot I live in Northern California and we do a lot of beach camping sometimes not a lot of sun. my wife's CPAP has a humidifier so it would be on the higher amperage side .so I have room for two more panels at 100 W each that's what I think I'm going to do Dan I should have a total of 400 W of solar panel thank you for your help Jeff