Hello,
Bought a camper earlier this year and it came with a duff flexi solar panel - it had been perimeter sealed so likely overheated within its first summer.
Last weekend I bit the bullet and worked/prized it off...
And sat the new 200w fixed frames in place. I didn't like how they looked so sprayed up the edges...
Much better!
Not too bothered about the roof... the paint that came off was on the pop top so it wont rust but one thing on my mind is whether I should at least seal the edges of where the paint broke to prevent ingress or flaking? Feel free to chime in if you have any advice!
But back to the matter at hand... After reading about MTTP controllers as a massive upgrade I immediately went on Facebook marketplace and got myself a Victron 100v/30a. It's quite a lot bigger than my weeny 10a controller and the Renogy Wanderer that came with the fixed frame solar kit, but it's almost a straight swap in.
One point where it differs is that the heatsink on the controller needs to have an earth wire connected to a common earth/ground on the van's electric system. I'm not seeing any obvious opportunities to do this and would rather not need to disassemble all the cabinets if possible. I managed to route the new solar wires without too much hassle and simply snipped the old ones and left them in place. I'm a DIYer muddling my way through this but keen to do it in the proper way. I've got a 30a breaker/fuse on the way to go between the + solar cable and the controller which I've read is a good idea, I'm just stumped on this controller earthing situation.
So, if anyone can look at the below images and offer any advice on where I might be able to connect it, I'd be super grateful. Cheers.
Here's the battery and inverter
Bought a camper earlier this year and it came with a duff flexi solar panel - it had been perimeter sealed so likely overheated within its first summer.
Last weekend I bit the bullet and worked/prized it off...
And sat the new 200w fixed frames in place. I didn't like how they looked so sprayed up the edges...
Much better!
Not too bothered about the roof... the paint that came off was on the pop top so it wont rust but one thing on my mind is whether I should at least seal the edges of where the paint broke to prevent ingress or flaking? Feel free to chime in if you have any advice!
But back to the matter at hand... After reading about MTTP controllers as a massive upgrade I immediately went on Facebook marketplace and got myself a Victron 100v/30a. It's quite a lot bigger than my weeny 10a controller and the Renogy Wanderer that came with the fixed frame solar kit, but it's almost a straight swap in.
One point where it differs is that the heatsink on the controller needs to have an earth wire connected to a common earth/ground on the van's electric system. I'm not seeing any obvious opportunities to do this and would rather not need to disassemble all the cabinets if possible. I managed to route the new solar wires without too much hassle and simply snipped the old ones and left them in place. I'm a DIYer muddling my way through this but keen to do it in the proper way. I've got a 30a breaker/fuse on the way to go between the + solar cable and the controller which I've read is a good idea, I'm just stumped on this controller earthing situation.
So, if anyone can look at the below images and offer any advice on where I might be able to connect it, I'd be super grateful. Cheers.
Here's the battery and inverter
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