TrailManor Owner's Forum - View Single Post

RockyMtnRay · 07-25-2003, 04:13 PM

Thanks muchly for the suggestions...I just checked the 3 on line marine stores and 'twould appear the strongest adhesive they're offering is an epoxy. Suspect I could find something at least that good locally so tomorrow will be a day to prowl the hardware stores.

As for mounting the panels toward the side (vs the center of the roof), I don't think that will be a problem as the weight of the awning (which is about twice as heavy as these solar panels) is totally on the curb side of the front shell yet there is no torqueing or twisting of the shell as it is raised and lowered. I'll certainly keep your caution in mind before I permanently glue the mounting pads to the roof & am planning to temporarily mount them with duct tape and do a bit of experimentation to make sure the shell raises and lowers properly. I'm sure I'll have to adjust the torsion bars a bit anyway and if there is some twisting, will see if preloading the curb side a bit more takes care of it. Also, I'm quite fortunate in that The Car Show (my TM dealer) is only a 20-30 minute cross-town drive away and has been more than happy to capably answer questions over the phone.

As for heat & sunlight issues, my situation is quite a bit different than most folk's. About 99% of my camping is done at elevations above 8000 feet and probably 60% of it is at elevations above 10,000 feet...so the temperature even in direct sunlight is seldomly much over 75 degrees. And since the forests at those elevations are almost entirely skinny/scrawny pine trees (largely lodgepole pine)...or equally scrawny aspen trees, there's effectively zero shade over the trailer in any campground that I've been in between roughly 9 am and 3 pm...even in the campsites that are labeled as "shady". Soooo I"m really not concerned about positioning panels (or even the trailer) with regard to shade from trees. However, because the mornings in Colorado's mountains are almost 100% likely to be clear and the afternoons are almost as likely to be cloudy (because of the almost daily thunderstorm formations), I sorta pay attention to whether or not the campground as a whole will get morning sunshine.

07-25-2003, 04:13 PM	#3
RockyMtnRay TrailManor Master Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Colorado Springs, CO Posts: 816	Re:Adding Solar Panels Thanks muchly for the suggestions...I just checked the 3 on line marine stores and 'twould appear the strongest adhesive they're offering is an epoxy. Suspect I could find something at least that good locally so tomorrow will be a day to prowl the hardware stores. As for mounting the panels toward the side (vs the center of the roof), I don't think that will be a problem as the weight of the awning (which is about twice as heavy as these solar panels) is totally on the curb side of the front shell yet there is no torqueing or twisting of the shell as it is raised and lowered. I'll certainly keep your caution in mind before I permanently glue the mounting pads to the roof & am planning to temporarily mount them with duct tape and do a bit of experimentation to make sure the shell raises and lowers properly. I'm sure I'll have to adjust the torsion bars a bit anyway and if there is some twisting, will see if preloading the curb side a bit more takes care of it. Also, I'm quite fortunate in that The Car Show (my TM dealer) is only a 20-30 minute cross-town drive away and has been more than happy to capably answer questions over the phone. As for heat & sunlight issues, my situation is quite a bit different than most folk's. About 99% of my camping is done at elevations above 8000 feet and probably 60% of it is at elevations above 10,000 feet...so the temperature even in direct sunlight is seldomly much over 75 degrees. And since the forests at those elevations are almost entirely skinny/scrawny pine trees (largely lodgepole pine)...or equally scrawny aspen trees, there's effectively zero shade over the trailer in any campground that I've been in between roughly 9 am and 3 pm...even in the campsites that are labeled as "shady". Soooo I"m really not concerned about positioning panels (or even the trailer) with regard to shade from trees. However, because the mornings in Colorado's mountains are almost 100% likely to be clear and the afternoons are almost as likely to be cloudy (because of the almost daily thunderstorm formations), I sorta pay attention to whether or not the campground as a whole will get morning sunshine.