solar panel hookup flagstaff 205

[holzknecht]

i have a flagstaff 205 with solar ready wiring. Zamp Solar is the company that forest river hi lights but i was wondering if any other portable solar panels will work for it without any other connections...

[brwarrior]

It is literally just some wire between the port and battery. Zamp is reverse polarity from the standard SAE connection. Adapters are plentiful online. The prep package is designed for a solar suitcase with charge controller in the suitcase.

[Myron625]

I bought a ZAmp adapter online with bare wires. I then wired that to a solar charge controller, and that to a solar panel. Only the adapter is from ZAmp. It works just fine on my camper.

One word of caution. From what I understand, the ZAmp wiring is pretty small, you might want to direct-wire to the battery if installing more than a 200 watt panel. My panel is 100 and is fine but the wiring won’t handle high amperage.

[Mkeele]

I have heard that the preinstalled Zamp wiring is reversed. If it's just direct cabling to the battery, can you simply swap the cables at the battery? Seems that would be easier and quicker than buying an adapter. If the colors are then backward, the wires can be labeled so you don't forget during future maintenance.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Mkeele

I have heard that the preinstalled Zamp wiring is reversed. If it's just direct cabling to the battery, can you simply swap the cables at the battery? Seems that would be easier and quicker than buying an adapter. If the colors are then backward, the wires can be labeled so you don't forget during future maintenance.

I just tape up the wire ends (a good 6") with the proper colored tape. Lasts longer than most labels.

Lots of times the pre-wire isn't connected at the battery but rather in a J-Box or elsewhere. This is why the simple polarity reversing adapter is so handy.

[Myron625]

This is what i meant. It is difficult to get the wiring wrong when it already has the correct colors on the plug.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Campworthy]

I have a Flagstaff HW27KS with the pre-wired Zamp port. I have recently bought a Renogy 100w Solar Suitcase. The link below is the adapter I needed to plug my Renogy into the Zamp port. It's an adapter to reverse the polarity.
https://www.amazon.com/iGreely-Adapt...%2C235&sr=1-13

[Tundra 2014]

Very happy w/ Renergy 100 watt foldable suitcase w/ 20' extra length charge cables. Mine came w/ a 25 amp waterproof charge controller, so I can add another 100 watt panel to it. Allows me to move panel to where the sun is at and keep TT in the shade. Son-in-law does solar powered bluetooth security camera installations. Renergy panels and charge controllers is all he is using now due to their efficiency and quality. When done camping, we fold panel up in its padded case. We store on our bed in the trailer. If I was using more than a 100 panel, I would wire directly to the battery due to small wire from the ZOAR plug.

[worp]

Did you need to run any additional wires or did you just hook up that reverse adapter and it worked? How do you tell if it is charging the battery or not?

[2thxtrm]

I also run the renogy solar suitcase via the Zamp port on my 2280bhesp. You can get a polarity adapter for the port OR simply reverse the wires from the port as it's wired to the trailer, super simple which is what I did. Third option being using the supplied alligator clamps hooked directly to the battery.

The controller tells you everything that's going on, amp's being sent to the battery, battery voltage, amp hours generated etc. Typically I will see 5-6 amps in perfect sun via 25ft cables but have seen as high as 7 amps on a really dead battery.