Need Help Pls, on advice re: Parking Rig With Solar on the Roof

[AbleGuy]

This week we picked up our new camper, use the new to us, which has two 125W solar panels on the roof.

In the owners manual, We are strictly warned not to park the vehicle in a covered parking structure or garage without first unplugging, i.e. disconnecting the solar power.

The owners manual does not say why is this must be done.

It also makes no reference to the fact that you don’t seem to need to do that, unplug the solar, when you’re parked outside at night and it’s dark and there’s no sun because it is night time! 🤣

Since we will be keeping the camper parked inside a carport at our house, having to plug and unplug the solar panels every single time we go out grocery shopping, etc., and then come home and park under cover…would seem to be not only a really irritating task but also would seem to wear out the connection plug pretty quickly, since the vehicle also will be a weekly driver.

Our previous camper van had solar on the roof and the owners manual for that camper made no reference to the need for disconnecting the solar in similar situations.

Soooo, do any of you have any ideas about:
…first of all why this requirement would be imposed?
…what damage would occur if one didn’t bother to every time disconnect the solar panels?

And have any of you guys had to follow this procedure?

Pls advise 😬

 

[Moyshe Kapoyer]

I beleive you unolug the panels to stop the back flow of power from the battery to the panel.

 

[Sparse Gray Hackle]

Hey AG, I’ve had at least 6 campers/trailers with solar, and never heard of or seen any suggestion like that. That’s worth a “why” call to the builder to find out if there is a valid reason. Don’t let them off the hook.

 

[AbleGuy]

Hey AG, I’ve had at least 6 campers/trailers with solar, and never heard of or seen any suggestion like that. That’s worth a “why” call to the builder to find out if there is a valid reason. Don’t let them off the hook.

That’s a great Idea but unfortunately the folks making this camper stopped building them in 2021.

But I definitely like your idea and I think I’ll try to look up the manufacture of the sub components and ask them about this weird request.

 

[AbleGuy]

Thats a strange thing and sounds bogus.
It would be interesting to see what they use as a charging controller (if any !) and the asbuilt wiring diagram.

I’ll go out and take a picture of that tomorrow Post the brand if I can get a good picture

 

[86scotty]

This seems like a problem created by reading the owner's manual. I don't recommend doing that until there is a problem, and there won't be.

 

[TwinStick]

I am certainly NOT an expert, and I have no idea why other than safety. IMHO, regardless of why, the easiest thing to do is to buy a Blue Sea on/off switch. That way you just turn it to the off position for storage and to the on position when in use. Just make sure to get one of the proper amp size for your system. Another great bit of advice is to use oversized wire, in everything, if possible.

When it comes to 12v systems, safety is paramount. I would hate to see a $20k+ trailer or a $50k+ truck burn to the ground. Circuit breaker, fuses and manual shut offs are all good.

Years ago when we had a 30' toyhauler and solar was a rarity, we had 2 100w solar panels on the roof. Solar charge controller failed and it boiled the batteries dry. We we super lucky that a fire didn't ensue. Since then I've educated myself and now have circuit breaker, fuses and manual on off switches in my systems.

Right now I am in between systems because we bought a new truck. I am taking a break and deciding what way I want to proceed.

https://www.bluesea.com/products/category/11/Manual_Battery_Switches

 

[AbleGuy]

This seems like a problem created by reading the owner's manual. I don't recommend doing that until there is a problem, and there won't be.

Yeah, I wish I was someone who could turn down the static with things like this that keep me up unnecessarily. But after spending $55k on this, and being a newby with lithium set ups* I do of course want to protect my investment properly!

*The set up is pretty simple….two 125W rooftop panels, a Zamp solar controller, a single lithium battery, and an ABSO dc to dc charger, fwiw.

 

[86scotty]

Yeah, I wish I was someone who could turn down the static with things like this that keep me up unnecessarily. But after spending $55k on this, and being a newby with lithium set ups* I do of course want to protect my investment properly!

*The set up is pretty simple….two 125W rooftop panels, a Zamp solar controller, a single lithium battery, and an ABSO dc to dc charger, fwiw.

I was new to lithium about 2 years ago. I just didn't see the point. AGM had served me well in campers for many years. Then lithium got cheaper. I live by statistics. When I saw thousands and thousands of solid reviews on cheap Amazon lithium I got brave and tried it. I have now built 3 different lithium setups. One in my work rig at 580ah of the finest quality Chinazon lithium powering an entire house and office worth of AC and DC equipment including a 9k btu minisplit. It all runs flawlessly, 24/7, year round, rattling down the road. It stays plugged in when not in use. I have, likely, the same Abso DC2DC you do. I am a strong proponent of quality wiring, connectors, breakers and fuses where necessary. It pays off. I've melted cheap ones.

I also have a 300ah setup in my current camper van, stays plugged in at home 24/7 unless I'm in it. Same Abso charger, some Victron stuff, Chinazon lithium, quality bus bars, breakers and wiring. No problems. It rattles down the roughest trails I can find whenever I can find them. No problems.

I also have a small 80ah lithium setup in my wife's Jeep. Renogy DC2DC (never again), cheap lithium electric scooter battery, quality breakers and switches, hood mounted solar, runs the fridge 24/7 year round. No problems.

And I'm not trying to convince you or anyone to do something they don't feel comfortable with but I'm not much worried about lithium batteries anymore. Due diligence is necessary in any AC/DC setup from vehicles to homes to whatever. 99.9% of people who have solar on a vehicle though never turn it off. It seems very strange to me that the manual would say to do that. I can ONLY imagine that they are covering their own arses legally somehow with such a strange idea.

I have a Vevor diesel heater in one rig these days. It plainly says 'do not run for long periods of time to avoid asphyxia' of some asinine statement like that. Huh? It's a heater. You want it to heat you, ideally while you are sleeping, and not kill you. Why the heck would they say that?

 

[AbleGuy]

…And I'm not trying to convince you or anyone to do something they don't feel comfortable with but I'm not much worried about lithium batteries anymore. Due diligence is necessary in any AC/DC setup from vehicles to homes to whatever. 99.9% of people who have solar on a vehicle though never turn it off. It seems very strange to me that the manual would say to do that. I can ONLY imagine that they are covering their own arses legally somehow with such a strange idea.

Thanks mucho 🙏🏻 for taking time to respond with a well written, informative and helpful post.

 

[dstefan]

Zamp solar controller

Seems like the Zamp folks would be the call. I’m no expert either, and only use portable solar occaisionally, but the National Luna MPPT solar controller I have clearly manages and does control the flow from and prevents flow to the panel.

 

[plh]

wouldn't that be like unplugging the panels at night? Pretty sure they are all equipped with backflow diodes.

 

[AbleGuy]

So here’s the full answer we got back from the techies:

This has to do with the DC charger which handles the solar, not the solar panels.

Artificial light like street lights can create enough voltage for the MPPT solar controller inside the DC charger to try to connect but there will not be enough amps to connect, so it will disconnect.

The connect/disconnect cycling of the DC charger over and over every 20 seconds or so is really bad for it and uses power from the battery while no power is coming in.

We found this out when we were testing all the charging systems in our shop. The shop lights would cycle the DC charger over and over if we accidentally left the solar connected in the shop after doing testing outside.

So we only plug our solar in when we are heading out on a camping trip and unplug it when we get back. But we camp mostly dispersed with no artificial light. If we camp at a rest area or other place we unplug the solar until morning.

It will not hurt the solar port to unplug and plug it in. It is designed for portable solar to be plugged in and out daily.

Also there is no way (otherwise) to turn the charging system off (to protect it) unless you pull the fuse from under the hood of the van. The battery switch just allows power to flow out of the battery. The van will always keep the house battery charged when it is running and the solar will always charge the house battery when it is plugged in.

Well, I guess that it!

Since we do park our camper overnight in our carport, which does have ceiling security lights on all night, it sounds like this advice is something we should take to heart. 🤔

The Takeaway seems to be that parking at night under artificial white is where the problem arises.

But I don’t know if this issue is a problem only with that particular brand of DC to DC charger, or???

I mean, come on! It does seem like lots of you traveling folks have solar set ups on the roof of your trailers, vans and truck campers, and when y’all overnight at a parking lot like a Walmart or a rest stop, you are parked under artificial light, right?

So, how many of you have ever heard of or been warned of this being a problem?

 

[86scotty]

Never, not once have I heard of it. That is some intriguing info you got back though.

Still, I think it's mostly a non issue. I don't think there's risk of damage or fire from the charger cycling, but I'm no electrical engineer.

 

[Peter_n_Margaret]

Choose a different devise. Not fit for purpose.
Cheers,
Peter