Quote:
Originally Posted by SarainNC
Thanks. Our battery sits on the tongue currently but it seems like it might be best to move it to the couch with the water tank if that is possible. How do you then route and plan for the wires from the Solar Panel to where it needs to go inside the rig and to the battery? Do the wires come with it or if not, what needs to be purchased for that?
Thanks -
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Leave AGM and other Lead-Acid batteries on the tongue. The solar wires comer down a street-side lift arm (mine are on the front arm of the front shell), with small bits of extra length above and below for stretching with shell opening and closing. The places where Solar wire could rub against a frame member or lift arm, are taped for extra safety (electrical tape). The tape has never worn through.
From the bottom of the lift arm, the solar wires can go through the large frame holes which allow for torsion bar movement. (The wires may get shoved out of the way when frame arms lift, or they may have no contact at all. The twisting torsion bars have never shown any significant contact on any of my wires.) See Picture. Then, they go through a wire clamp and up, into the cabin, near the solar controller. (You can ignore a battery grounding wire which I have there - just two wires for you.)
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The Solar Controller goes inside, on either the front wall or a panel of a couch/storage box. If attached to a couch/storage panel - add vertical strips of 1x1" or 1x2" reinforcement wood to help support the controller, they're too heavy for the thin panels. Bring the strips all the way down to the bottom wood strips of the couch/storage frame, so that weight is transferred to the TM floor through your vertical strips.
My Solar Controller is on the front 'box' wall, but my position requires that the table be left open at all times - it blocks the table tilt into the wall" feature on my 2619 model.
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With batteries on the front, a similar hole near the Solar Controller will provide for two Controller "output to battery" wires. These can be led along the frame to enter a battery box without an opportunity to "flap in the wind", although they will be mostly concealed by front shell when traveling. The water/dirt protection seal (at the bottom of the "box" front, contacting the shell in lowered position) shell never harmed my wires when I had them simply "flapping" to reach the nearest battery box.
With battery(s) on the front A-frame, I would recommend that the fuse (or circuit breaker) for the Solar Controller "battery +" wire be put inside the battery box, rather than inside the TM near the Controller.