2024 Wolf Pup 16fq solar panel upgrade

Beaker319

New Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2024
Messages
8
Can I simply replace the 50 watt panel with a 200 watt panel? I plan to swap the charge controller to a 40 amp BougeRV MPPT. Ultimately I intend to swap the batteries to 2 100ah lithium batteries. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sounds like a good plan.
Please investigate wire size used in your trailer for solar. This can have some effect if you want to add more panels. Using panels in series allows you to use thinner wires at higher voltage, MPPT controllers allow you to use higher voltages and the series reaches operating voltages sooner and stay longer in poor sun.
I’m somewhat of a Victron fan boy, love the Bluetooth control.
If you can afford it & have the space, consider getting a single higher capacity LiFePO4, like the new over 400AH Epoch. Saves on $$ heavy wiring, less exposed connectors. Even a 200AH would do this. The higher capacity batteries take up less overall space than multiple batteries.
 
put the new charge controller near battery ....
wire size from panels to the controller is easy to work with as you can go series connection for more voltage

the wire from controller to battery
is best to be as short as possible cause you can't change the VOLTAGE from controller to battery

with a 40 amp controller you can have around 600w of solar panels

I would look at the roof and work out what panels you can put up there
I was able to use residential size 2 x 370w panels and a 50amp controller
residential panels are much cheaper than so called designed for RV 200w
mine cost 150 each

and I still have room to put smaller 200w panels up front if i ever want to
work out panels you want to put up there and then decide on the controller you need for the panels

If the existing wiring not good enough.... new wires is not that hard to run


panels and controller depends on what model RV you got!
 
Just saw your Title is a wolf pup 16
you not goint to have a lot of room

but the front of your trailer looks like will have no obstructions
see what you can fit up there and don't mix panel sizes unless you know how
 
Thank you both for your quick reply. Do I have to do anything to the electronics of my Pup to change the led acid batteries to Lipo? I would think there would be a switch or some sort of adapter or something. I just don't want to fry something in the electronics.
 
No change of converter is likely necessary.

The older converters get a bit confused as set up. Sometimes it will charge 100%. Sometimes. 80% or more. However, the solar panel will finish it off.

Unless you live in a good solar area I prefer the BIG battery deal. We have 412 ah and no solar. In Ohio it is often cloudy and parks have lots of trees.

Flat installed panels typically supply 25 amps of charging per 100 watt panel per day. So you really need a bunch.

A standard 50 panel with a compressor fridge is borderline worthless! A marketing ploy to convince you the compressor fridge will work with the free car battery. Which it will not really.

200 watt gets you 50 amps on its best days. Likely half your daily consumption. No furnace.

Buy 400 amps of battery. Think about solar.
 
Well I stopped by Camping World. Apparently I have to remove the fuse box cover to expose the charge controller. If there is a battery select switch then I should be able to switch it to Lipo and change the batteries. If the switch does not exist then I would have to change the charge controller for a new one. Now why would a 2024 camper not have the option for Lipo batteries? I will keep you posted on my investigation.
 
If it doesn’t support LiFePO4, no big deal. My “old” converter along with my solar keep my batteries at 100%+. If you go LiFePO4 without solar, you can get a stand-alone charger to occasionally top off and equalize the LiFePO4. That’s what I did before mounting solar panels.
 
you more than likely have a WFCO converter look for the model number that has AD at the end
(WFCO 8955 AD) the 55 means 55amps Yours may be different amps 8935 8945 8955 8960
they switched over in 2022 to have Lifepo4 capable charging

The only thing you really need to do is check that the trailer manufacturer wired in the converter better
my wiring in 2022 sucked and would not allow fast charging 55amps
due to poor connections for the NEGATIVE wires to the frame
cost nothing but some time to fix ... made sure the connections were good metal to metal contact on the frames to cable lugs... -

WFCO auto detect Lifepo4 ..... no switch it will automatically detect
take the plastic cover off the front of the power center/fuse panel (4 screws)
you can see the converter

There will be a green LED ..... look for green GLOW down the side of the converter .... while shorepower is ON
IT will change to a BLUE glow... if you put lifepo4 battery
Blue glow only happens after one or two charging cycles... be patient

----------------------------------------------------
Lifepo4 I got 200ah installed it will last a weekend trip if there is little/no charging from your existing solar
I got 12v fridge and used the furnace overnight .... used 30% of the battery

-------------------------------------------------------------
solar
increase it as much as you can aim for 400-600w
 
We own a Victron battery charger to supplement the old converter we have. However in 1 year it has not been necessary. Recently We used it to balance cells.

That battery charger is a good plan. It will awaken a sleeping lithium batttery. Most will not. It also restores old wet cell batteries. Will get you another year or more out of that tractor battery.

You do not need a new converter.
 
Just saw your Title is a wolf pup 16
you not goint to have a lot of room

but the front of your trailer looks like will have no obstructions
see what you can fit up there and don't mix panel sizes unless you know how
Plenty of room. In my pup I have 500ah under the rear banquette, 3000w inverter under the vanity and 800w of solar on the roof. Granted I took off the rooftop a/c and replaced it with a residential mini split on the tongue. Runs all day off the panels.
 
Plenty of room. In my pup I have 500ah under the rear banquette, 3000w inverter under the vanity and 800w of solar on the roof. Granted I took off the rooftop a/c and replaced it with a residential mini split on the tongue. Runs all day off the panels.
What mini split did you buy and install?
 
I bought a pioneer 9000 BTU 110 V and run it off a 3000 W inverter. If I did it over, I would probably either buy a Mr. cool or a senville. Mr Cool has a better warranty and Senvile has a smaller outside unit. It’s 9° outside here in North Carolina and the heat pump is keeping the inside toasty warm. I am plugged in to shore power, however. No way the batteries will hold overnight at these temperatures
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1223.jpeg
    IMG_1223.jpeg
    152.9 KB · Views: 16
  • IMG_1222.jpeg
    IMG_1222.jpeg
    200.2 KB · Views: 16
Can I simply replace the 50 watt panel with a 200 watt panel? I plan to swap the charge controller to a 40 amp BougeRV MPPT. Ultimately I intend to swap the batteries to 2 100ah lithium batteries. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
I did ours 2018 WP 16' bhs. Added 2x 100 watt panels on the opposite side of the door on the roof. Ran the wires down through the upper cabinet, into the wall and down to the Kitchen seat and front storage area. This allowed me to install the 700w invertor and breaker etc under the seat, then installed 2 LiPo batteries under the bed storage near the front with a complete power kill switch. Installed battery monitor in the wall near the bed with invertor on/off sw. Ran a 12v accessories plug to the table to plug in random devices. I used 5 gauge main wire from batteries. Left the OEM converter.
 
Can I simply replace the 50 watt panel with a 200 watt panel? I plan to swap the charge controller to a 40 amp BougeRV MPPT. Ultimately I intend to swap the batteries to 2 100ah lithium batteries. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.
We had a 2022 Wolfpup 16PF. We swapped the existing panel for two Renogy 100watt panels in series. In series was important because I could use the existing wiring since voltage increases but amperage stays the same. The factory wiring was 10AWG. The factory panel that we were told was 50 watt was in fact 100 watt.

The charge controller was swapped out to Renogy Rover 30AMP MPPT.

We could run the refrigerator for a month in May 2024 without connecting to shore power. However we were not opening and closing the refrigerator door much as the camper was sitting in the yard at home.

We were very pleased with the upgrade. It was scary to contemplate but in the end quite simple

Mike Hoyt
2022 Wolf Pup 16PF
 
Best thing to do is get a Victron shunt and you can monitor your lithium battery to know exactly where you are and make sure wire sizes are proper.
 
I would get batteries with bluetooth ,
better than a shunt for determining battery health

shunt can't tell you if the cells are balanced
can't tell you if one battery is pulling more amps than the other (bad parallel connections)


look for batteries that allow user settings adjustment
 

Try RV LIFE Pro Free for 7 Days

  • New Ad-Free experience on this RV LIFE Community.
  • Plan the best RV Safe travel with RV LIFE Trip Wizard.
  • Navigate with our RV Safe GPS mobile app.
  • and much more...
Try RV LIFE Pro Today
Back
Top Bottom