GoPower PWM upgrade question

[Rob_CO]

I ordered the Victron 150/60. It is supposed to have two PV inputs. So I can connect the roof array to one and the exterior array to the other one. I am planning to move all of my solar equipment to the space under the dinette in my 2020 ePro 19BH. I am thinking of taking out the bottom drawer there and installing the LifePO4 battery, SCC and inverter there. Not sure it will all fit but I would like it all inside and all together. Not sure how I will get the PV wires from the wall by the bathroom to under the dinette. My trailer is in storage so I can't get to it to figure it out for awhile. Code do you know where in the trailer the wires run from the GoPower to the battery?

 

[codefoster]

I'll tell you how it was on my 16BH. Hopefully it's somewhat similar. The PV wires come through the roof down that wall to the bathroom to the PWM controller. Then the red and black OUT wires come out of the controller, down that wall bay, under the tub (there's a little access panel at the bottom of the tub that gives pretty good access to them), then to the storage area where the little beer fridge was installed. I removed the beer fridge, so I can access them there. Then they go forward along the floor and over the wheel well along the wall to behind the WFCO panel. They dive through the floor there and the black goes to the frame. The red goes across the trailer over the black water tank to the port side where it joins up with a number of other red wires in a plastic conduit (wire wrap really), forward to where the 7-way breaks out inside a junction box, straight through that junction box (without any junctions in that wire) and finally to the battery.

I had a little trouble identifying at first so I ended up running my own wires and I'm glad I did because I like my route better given the new placement of my battery bank. It was pretty easy. I connected the PV wires to my new red/black wires behind where the PWM controller was and just plugged that hole. Then I ran my wires down that wall, under the tub, along the floor to the same hole the other wires went out but then straight forward to come up under the dinette where my new MPPT controller will be.

I hope that helps. Feel free to ask follow-on questions.

 

[UT_Vol]

My post may be of help to y’all. I went the Renogy route.

EPro Battery relocation and MPPT solar upgrade

Hello All. I have made some changes to my new EPro E20FBS Battery and Solar systems. As I dd not find a lot online and it was hard to chase down some wires I figured I would post up my work and findings here so that others may comment and or benefit from my sleuthing. First off This is the...

www.forestriverforums.com

 

[jsk125]

Greetings ... I had continuing errors with GoPower and my Lithium battery. I went to my dealer, and they installed a Victron 75/15 under the kitchen sink. I can get to it fairly easily. He wrapped the hot an cold connectors in case the water leaks, but I plan to get a small piece of fiberglass so any leaks won't hit it. Perhaps not ideal, but it works. I also previously installed a Victron shunt at the battery level. So far so good. The Victron Apps work very well. Later I'll remove the GoPower controller from above the sink (I have a 2511s) and we will put in a mirror or something else over the hole.

 

[henrypretz]

I realized I never followed up on this topic (I'm the OP)
I ended up bypassing the GoPower pwm controller by removing the input and output lines and butt splicing them. I then removed the panel under the bathroom sink that hides the water pump. There was a decent amount of slack in the lines. I cut them and installed a solar disconnect then a Victron 100/50 MPPT controller. I only had to fabricate the lines from the disconnect to the MPPT. Then connected the output lines to the MPPT and called it good. I left the non functional GoPower PWM in the wall for now.
I know that there are plenty of "power user" methods of doing this that involve relocating the controller up front and running bigger cable etc, but most of that is stuff I didn't want to mess with to realize what I consider marginal gains. Not ruling it out in the future though.
I didn't document the install very well, but will share the pictures I did take.

Controller in bath/living area common wall

Removed the GoPower controller and butt spliced the lines to bypass

Reinstalled disabled controller. Will eventually cover the hole with something decorative.

This is the other side of that wall

Water pump hidden by this panel. Solar lines were accessible at the base of the wall.

Panel removed

Controller and disconnect switch installed.

 

[Aussieguy]

the new 100/50 will support another 2 x 200w panels

if ever you decide you need more charging power and that the roof can handle another 2 panels
you could then connect the 4 panels 2s x 2p will increase the voltage and keep the amps low enough for the wiring

depends on your wire gauge and length ... from roof to controller

 

[JimM2109S]

Nice upgrade on that 100/50. Just watch that the MPPT output amps do not exceed the capabilities of the wire between the MPPT and the batteries. The factory wiring was for 30a and the upgrade is capable of pushing 50a.

 

[henrypretz]

Nice upgrade on that 100/50. Just watch that the MPPT output amps do not exceed the capabilities of the wire between the MPPT and the batteries. The factory wiring was for 30a and the upgrade is capable of pushing 50a.

Thanks. The camper is 50 amp service, and I *think* the wires to the batteries are 8 awg. The 2 x 200 watt panels were installed at the factory, so one would hope that they designed the system to be capable of handling them. In the real world we know that is not always the case. In any event, I put a 60 amp circuit breaker in the + line to the batteries.

 

[Aussieguy]

The factory wiring was for 30a and the upgrade is capable of pushing 50a.

50 amp is for OUTPUT on the controller
MPPT can increase the amps it sends to battery, I added new wire from controller OUTPUT to battery
that wire is sized to max the MPPT could produce (50a)

The factory installed panel wire 30 amp... to controller
I wired my panels in parallel so only they can only do 20amps max

the wire has no problem with the higher voltage my panels produce about 33-34v
used a calculator to confirm voltage and amps and wire length

 

[JimM2109S]

50 amp is for OUTPUT on the controller
MPPT can increase the amps it sends to battery, I added new wire from controller OUTPUT to battery
that wire is sized to max the MPPT could produce (50a)

The factory installed panel wire 30 amp... to controller
I wired my panels in parallel so only they can only do 20amps max

the wire has no problem with the higher voltage my panels produce about 33-34v
used a calculator to confirm voltage and amps and wire length

Aussie, that is correct. Henry is OK with the two panels he now has on the roof. He needs to be aware that the factory wiring that was installed for carrying 30a from the Go Power SCC to the batteries may not be heavy enough to safely carry 50a from the new MPPT controller. He is fine with the wiring from the two panels to the MPPT controller, whether in parallel or series. If he adds panels to the roof, he should wire them in a 2p2s configuration as you stated to use the existing wiring from panels to the MPPT controller, and would then need to run heavier wire capable of handling up to 50a from the MPPT controller to the batteries (depending upon wire run distance).

 

[henrypretz]

Aussie, that is correct. Henry is OK with the two panels he now has on the roof. He needs to be aware that the factory wiring that was installed for carrying 30a from the Go Power SCC to the batteries may not be heavy enough to safely carry 50a from the new MPPT controller. He is fine with the wiring from the two panels to the MPPT controller, whether in parallel or series. If he adds panels to the roof, he should wire them in a 2p2s configuration as you stated to use the existing wiring from panels to the MPPT controller, and would then need to run heavier wire capable of handling up to 50a from the MPPT controller to the batteries (depending upon wire run distance).

Thanks again for your input. As it stands, we're going to run the system as is and I am guessing that it will stay that way. If I were to add more panels I would most likely then rewire to accommodate the added output. I really appreciate hearing from you both.
Cheers!

 

[jimmoore13]

This is a long thread with many comments. I don't know if this will be a meaningful contribution, but here goes:

1) Typical charge controllers have 4 wires attached. Two in from the panels and two out to connect to the "converter to battery bank" connection. The old controller will be wired correctly, so the gozinta and gozouta wires simply move from one charge controller to the other.
2) If you can't get an exact match for a recessed/flush mount, consider adding a simple plastic wall mount panel to cover the hole, cut a new custom fit hole for the new controller, and you're back in business.
3) Virtually all factory solar-ready systems are wired with #10 AWG wire...rated at 30 amps. On your best day, if you're lucky, 400 watts of solar is likely to put out about 20+ amps. So, with 400 watts of solar, parallel is just fine. And the advantage of parallel is that each panel performs at its best despite shading and other issues that might degrade one panel's performance. Panels in series only perform in total as well as the poorest performing panel.
4) If you think you'll ever upgrade your solar to more watts, get an MPPT charge controller rated for more amps. Later you can decide if you want to wire in series parallel or upgrade your wiring so you can run more panels in parallel.

But the real challenge you mentioned can be resolved with a decorative plastic planel to scab over the open hole and cut to fit your new charge controller. It will look just fine and keep your MPPT controller right where it belongs.

That link to the wall repair panel is just an illustration after a very quick search. You can probably find something more elegant.

 

[Colorado-A-Frame]

I had a similar issue and went with the Victron controller…I chose to make a back plate that would cover the hole left behind…in that plate I mounted the Victron BM and the Victron Solar controller display…I’ve attached pictures to reference. The nice thing is that you can remotely mount the controller anywhere that suits your application and monitor the system with these 2 units.

They flush mount and are not very deep and work well replacing the GoPower controller.