2009 Journey solar panel?

[HollywoodGT]

I have a 2009 Winnebago Journey 39Z. It has a solar panel from the factory. The panel in the coach has a Solar red light on all the time. However my coach batteries don't seem to keep a charge after maybe a month. Sometimes I have to jump start it with the emergency house batteries.

Anyone experience this? I guess I could take a DVOM meter and check for ohms/voltage output

Thank you in advance

[Morich]

Some difference in what we are calling things or maybe difference in how we think of things working?
I think of the solar as connected to the coach batteries and I think of them as used for the inside RV items, not the starting.
The start or chassis battery is not connected to the coach EXCEPT when ignition is on or we push the dash switch for a boost.

That leaves me thinking there is not charging done on the start battery which slowly runs down due to small drains.
Then when you push the switch, the two battery groups are connected and that gives power to crank and start the engine.

A few RV came with something like the Trik-L-Start onboard and some people have added it as a way to move some of the power from the coach battery to the start .

If you have one, it doesn't seem to be working or if none onboard, some way to keep the start charged sounds needed.

[creativepart]

You have the somewhat gimmicky “solar” panel on your 13-year old Journey. It’s a tiny 10-15 watt panel that is so small that it doesn’t even need a solar charge controller. It’s just directly connected to a battery to act as a trickle charger. Back in the early 2000s manufacturers added these and then promoted the product as having SOLAR!

I and many others describe these as worthless devices. They provide next to no power and they are not the least bit upgradable. Yet, I do read of a few that find them helpful in storage situations.

Confusingly, some are connected to the chassis battery and others are connected to the house batteries. Usually your Operator’s Manual would mention which you have.

The long and short of it is that I would not expect to see anything meaningful in charging from that panel. It is likely that your chassis batteries are older and just not holding a charge all that well in storage. In fact, if the solar charge light is on all the time then your batteries may be powering that light as it’s directly connected to your battery.

[BobC]

The original, small panel on my 2002 Suncruiser worked up until a couple of years ago, keeping my house and starting batteries charged while in storage. Originally it only charged my house batteries but I installed an Amp-L-Start between my house batteries and my starting battery. It allowed the starting battery to charge once the house batteries were charged to a set level.

Since your current panel isn't even keeping your house batteries charged, it's probably not putting out enough watts. When that happened for me, I attached a 50W panel I had to my ladder and connected it to my house batteries with a small, inexpensive controller. It works fine and keeps both my house and charging batteries charged via the Amp-L-Start. I didn't roof mount it since I have plans for 300+ watts on the roof and didn't want to do extra work. The downside is that the panel is exposed to theft and needs to be secured for travel. My wiring is also external so I have to disconnect and stow it.

You'll need a controller for anything larger than a small 15W panel like you have. Here's an article on the topic:

https://www.renogy.com/blog/solar-ch...o-choose-one-/

This is what I used for my panel. Although it's a 15W- 45W controller and my panel is 50W, its sun exposure is less than optimal and, under the best of circumstances it wouldn't put out anything close to 45W:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The manufacturer of the Amp-L-Start (LSL.com) says they're "no longer accepting orders". There are other options under the category "battery isolation manager". Some are two-way devices that manage charging in both directions. You should already have a unidirectional device (possibly just a relay) that allows your alternator to charge your house batteries. It could easily be changed to a bidirectional device such as a B.I.R.D.

https://intellitec.com/bi%E2%80%90di...delay-b-i-r-d/

A 25W to 50W panel should be more than adequate.

Alternatively you could replace your current 15W panel with another panel of similar wattage and avoid the need of a controller. Keep in mind that the existing wiring probably won't handle a larger panel and you'd still need to add a controller for anything larger. In order to charge both battery banks, you'll still need the bidirectional isolator.

[Morich]

For the basic idea of what the OEM was expected to do, this info from the owners manual may be a big clue as it is NOT expected to do much!

As stated it is 10 watt and that is not enough to offset the normal drains from safety equipment, only to slow down the fully draining and it is recommended to plug in to top off.

Click to view better.



But that is still a different issue than the lack of starting from the start/ chassis batteries.

[bobmac]

The OEM "solar panel" is a 5 watt piece of junk the is best thrown out. It will really do nothing on your battery bank.
I also have a 2009 Journey that you do and have had it since 2010. I installed 4-100watt solar panels on the roof and removed the useless 10 watt unit. There is no value in a 10 watt unit ...... there is more loss reaching the battery banks than will be supplied to your system.
My recommendation is to get rid of the 10 watt unit and replace it with atleast 2 .....preferably 4 plus 100 watt units connected to the house and chassis battery banks by a splitter. I am an electrical engineer and did just that in 2010. I store my coach outdoors and never have had battery issues with the system I described. Good luck with your new coach .... it's a solid performer!
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