flylow4500
Observer
American Force Wheels makes the adapters
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[TD]Last spring I gave in and installed 2x68 watt solar panels. These are very light (7 lbs each?) and attached directly to the roof. I followed the unisolar PVL-68 panel instructions, pretty straight forward. I used 10/2 SEOOW Portable Cord to connect to the CTEK d250s Dual charger (which includes MPPT controller) already installed.[/TD]
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[TD]I punched a hole through the roof (left on picture below) and installed the 10/2 cable. I used painters tape on the ceiling to seal it up then used 3M Marine 5200 Adhesive Sealant in blue package (not the quick cure 5220 stuff in red package) the 5200 sealant 'flows' slowly for about a day into any cracks and crevices. Most of the flow occurs over the first 2 hours, you may have to 'top off' the adhesive or you'll have a depression. If you don't close of the bottom opening thoroughly with tape or something it will flow right out. It takes 7 days to set up but wow it works great.[/TD]
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[TD]What can I say the panels work. But not terribly useful. In Mexico last summer I'd estimate that we got an extra day out of the batteries for every 3-4 that we camped. Since we didn't use A/C, or microwave, or stay in one place longer than 4 days we never needed the generator. With 80 degrees at night and 95 to 105 during the day the fridge ran almost constantly and we kept fans running most of the time too - so we had a pretty good load.[/TD]
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[TD]The panels below might look oddly spaced and we have room for more but we want to be able to walk on the roof and you are not supposed to walk on the panels so that is probably the limit for us.[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 255299[/TD]
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[TD]View attachment 255300[/TD]
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Not surprising that you didn't find solar very useful; 130w of solar is a sneeze in a hurricane for a rig like yours - and you went with less efficient panels. Get your solar kit up to around 500w of free mounted glass panels and you will be seeing well over 30A of charge in good sun. What I am basically trying to say, and not succeeding, is that your solar kit is so small that it is a bit like putting a lawnmower engine on a semi and deciding that internal combustion engines aren't practical.
The one great advantage of solar, even a rig as small as yours, is that it continues charging late in the day, giving you a better absorb/acceptance charge and this will contribute to better battery life in the long run.