New Member with 2022 2108FBS FLX

[The.Savages]

I purchased a brand new 2022 2108FBS FLX last week and did discover all of the cabinets open after the trip home. I'll have to keep an eye on that. No issues with it so far other than learning all of the "FLEX" systems and what buttons do what. The only alterations that I have made is to peal the ridiculous extension cord wrapped around a globe decals off of the outside and add some sash chain to the tilt our drawer. Amazed that Winnebago doesn't put a door stop on that tilt out. I had to replace the hooks on the safety chain as the factory ones didn't fit my truck connections.

[creativepart]

Welcome and Congratulations on the new FLEX model TT!

I know everyone will be anxious to hear about your purchase and your time with the new features of this TT.

Enjoy!

[DaveW]

Originally Posted by The.Savages

I purchased a brand new 2022 2108FBS FLX last week and did discover all of the cabinets open after the trip home. I'll have to keep an eye on that. No issues with it so far other than learning all of the "FLEX" systems and what buttons do what. The only alterations that I have made is to peal the ridiculous extension cord wrapped around a globe decals off of the outside and add some sash chain to the tilt our drawer. Amazed that Winnebago doesn't put a door stop on that tilt out. I had to replace the hooks on the safety chain as the factory ones didn't fit my truck connections.

Strange. I wonder if they used different hardware to secure them, or if I was just lucky? I had a 5 hour trip from the dealership with my 2108FBS 3 weeks ago and not one drawer or door was open when I arrived at my destination. I was travelling at highway speeds most of the trip (faster than some members recommend), and some sections were bumpy.

I did lose one of the bumper caps though. Luckily I have 4. I'll be putting screws through the bumper and into the caps to keep them secured from now on.

[SactoSteve]

Picked up our 2108ds FLX this weekend.
The dealers really don’t know much about these, but that was not a surprise. Still, I was hoping the training session they received the day before from a Winnebago trainer would be helpful. And also hopeful that the Winnebago “pouch” would contain helpful information with regards to Winnebago’s solar implementation (it doesn’t). Regarding the battery, a QR code sticker on the box housing the Xantrex inverter/charger and Lithionics battery was the entirety of the information. After a long afternoon at the dealer we headed home with the trailer and found we could not uncouple because there was not enough power to operate the jack. The Xantrex remote panel was non operational and thats the interface to their App, so that wasn’t helpful. The battery was at 0% charge. I suspect the (very nice, quite) Truma AC being left on was the culprit. This sent us off on a mad scramble to charge the battery. Long story but bottom line is the battery is sitting at 99%.
Some key “take aways”,
- the lithionics site is very helpful
- The lithionics App is the only thing I found that give you the battery state of charge
- The black circuit breaker doesn’t do what I thought it would. I thought it would isolate the loads, but allow charging. It appears not.
- The blue LED button turns off the battery. Only used during <3 mo storage of a fully charged battery. It also has a role in reserve power.
- The black circuit breaker is used for >3 mo storage of a fully charged battery
- The Xantrex inverter/charger charges the battery when attached to “shore power” but they battery still can lose charge if loads are high.
- I see no mechanism to fully isolate loads while charging.
- I don’t know if charge source decision is mutually exclusive.
Caveat Emptor these are just my observations and manual reading. It would be very helpful if Winnebago provided a system description of their solar implementation. I believe there are other Winnebago products which have solar implementations, I would assume they are similar design. Perhaps someone can point me towards additional information.

I suspect we’re all learning. :-)

-Steve

[The.Savages]

Hi.

I too was disappointed by the lack of literature covering the "solar system". My dealer, although very nice, was still in the learning phase too. He told me that I needed to take the cover off of the inverter cubby and reset it because the blue light on the switch was flashing, glad I read the manual first because a steady slow flashing just means it is charging. He also said the Truma system was all controllable via bluetooth. This is true, but only if you live outside of the US Market. Strange that such a feature is available overseas but not here. Winnebago says, it is coming soon.

Another annoying issue I had to track down was why the inverter kept shutting off on its own. I learned that Xantrex ships the inverter with a 25 hour shut off. This is to protect the battery from parasitic load incase the owners don't remember to shut it down. Good news is you may disable this feature from the app on your phone. I have only had the camper 10 days so I am sure other issues may come up. I haven't hooked it up to shore power yet and learned the interaction between hardwired A/C and the inverter.

We purchased a set of Goal Zero briefcase solar panels to connect to the side of the camper in case our parking spot is shady and the rooftop solar panels are covered. They seem to connect fine but I don't see where on the control panel it tells me the charge the remote panels providing to the system. My multimeter tells me the wires are "hot" where they connect to the camper. I would just like to see something on the panel inside.

I connected a KING Connect wifi booster to the camper. The only problem I had there is that the cable was not where it was supposed to be but rather bundled up with the speaker wiring. Annoying but not horrible. I just had to remove a panel to get to the back of the stereo and then snake the cable to the correct switch plate.

Other than those issues we love the camper. We came from a Jayco 36ft bunkhouse so this one is much different, although easier move around. We find that we have to be more selective with what we pack in the camper now but that can be a good thing.

-Scott

[creativepart]

It’s not unusual, but sure is disappointing, that Winnebago comes up with this great new spec for a capable travel trailer and doesn’t document the operation of the features for the owners, nor do the dealers bother to really learn about the product.

Originally Posted by The.Savages

We purchased a set of Goal Zero briefcase solar panels to connect to the side of the camper in case our parking spot is shady and the rooftop solar panels are covered. They seem to connect fine but I don't see where on the control panel it tells me the charge the remote panels providing to the system. My multimeter tells me the wires are "hot" where they connect to the camper. I would just like to see something on the panel inside.

I’m not familiar with the Xantrex remote inside the FLX but it does seem odd that the solar suitcase isn’t being shown. Just to be sure, the portable solar doesn’t have a built in controller does it? Also be sure the Zamp-style plug on the suitcase has the polarity correct. The positive should be the “female” aka shielded side of the plug from the suitcase. Because that’s the way Zamp wires it… which is the opposite of traditional SAE plug wiring.

[The.Savages]

Hi,

I did check the polarity before I plugged it in, luckily I had watched a few YouTube videos about the subject and it alerted me to the potential problem. The panel inside the FLX is a "Go Power". It tells you a lot of information but I would guess that whoever designed it doesn't have my middle-aged eyes. The text is tiny. :-)

[SactoSteve]

Thank you for your reply! More information to add to my exploration.
-steve

[tinglett]

Originally Posted by creativepart

Also be sure the Zamp-style plug on the suitcase has the polarity correct. The positive should be the “female” aka shielded side of the plug from the suitcase. Because that’s the way Zamp wires it… which is the opposite of traditional SAE plug wiring.

The Zamp is actually wired in the traditional way, but you need to consider that the solar panel is acting as the power (battery) source. Therefore, the SAE plug out of the solar panel has the male pin as negative...just as you'd expect from a battery. The confusing bit is that you happen to be plugging it into another battery, but remember that battery is the user of the power, not the producer.

[SactoSteve]

I had been replying to this thread, it was suggested a separate thread might be warranted.

https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...rs-363804.html

[Marine359]

Originally Posted by The.Savages

Hi.
We purchased a set of Goal Zero briefcase solar panels to connect to the side of the camper in case our parking spot is shady and the rooftop solar panels are covered. They seem to connect fine but I don't see where on the control panel it tells me the charge the remote panels providing to the system. My multimeter tells me the wires are "hot" where they connect to the camper. I would just like to see something on the panel inside.
-Scott

Wish I knew more about the FLX setup, but assuming your portable panel cable connection polarity is correct, I’m guessing there are likely two possible causes why your portables are not registering on the control panel. If the sidewall port is wired to a combiner box, it could be that both circuits are not “on” in the box. If there is no combiner box, I would be surprised if the sidewall port is wired somehow to the goPower mppt that services your dual 190w roof panels, as that controller is only rated to 30amps (probably 100v). The Winnie online lit says “sidewall solar prep”. The word “prep” indicates to me that the sidewall port is installed, and there may be wiring, but no charge controller to service the port. Curious to hear from you whether there is a second charge controller installed, or if the port is serviced through a combiner box.

Thinking of trying to upgrade my 2108ds to FLX.

[creativepart]

A volt meter on the portable input might tell if it’s connected to a solar controller or not.

If the port has 12v on it I’d expect there is not a controller present and the aux port is wired directly to the battery. If it’s sitting in direct sunlight and you get ~17-20v on the port then I’d presume it is connect to the controller for the rooftop panels. If it’s dark you would likely see 0v if it’s connected to the controller.

This is just a guess on my part. Don’t hold me to it as something definitive.

[The.Savages]

Hello all,

I just got off the phone with Go Power tech support. The gentleman I spoke with assumed the SAE port was just connected directly to the battery and I was damaging it with my large 180w solar panels I was connecting to the rig. I do not like assumptions, so in my military mind I wanted to get to the bottom of this. I asked the tech support guy to entertain a few more questions and some factual diagnosis. He agreed and had me take my multimeter and get a reading right at the port. He thought it would be 12volts. To his surprise it was 36.5 volts. Which he tells means the SAE port is wired to the controller and is far more useful than a battery tender. Hope this helps the community learn. I'm now off to diagnose why the water pump thumps violently every times it starts to run.

[creativepart]

So, my hypothesis was correct - I had the voltage wrong on the controller-side because I didn't know your panels were wired in SERIES. That's why the voltage is twice what I suggested you would see.

You need to be sure that the suitcase panels do not have their own controller. It's a 50/50 thing. Some do and some don't. It depends on which you purchased.

[The.Savages]

https://www.goalzero.com/shop/solar-...nel-briefcase/

Doesn't seem like they have a controller.

[creativepart]

Based on that 14-21.8v output I'd say that it does not have a charge controller built in.

[The.Savages]

Well, after a 3 week honeymoon period with our new camper I have finally found something that I do not like. I mean, there were a few annoyances but this one is a big annoyance. Because of the solar system I had not plugged the camper into shore power. Yesterday I decided that I should probably check it out as I am going out on a shakedown trip this weekend. When you plug your FLX into shore power, the inverter goes into "bypass mode" which includes a loud fan running. Even though the inverter is in the front basement storage the sound is quite noticeable when sitting in the camper. According to Xantrex this is normal and there is no way to shut the inverter off. Time will tell if I get used to this sound and it just becomes background noise or if it will keep me awake at night.

My wife reminds me that this is a minor inconvenience as compared to some of the folks picking up brand new campers with major issues and Winnebago cannot get parts to fix them. I guess I'm just whining.

[Marine359]

Originally Posted by The.Savages

Well, after a 3 week honeymoon period with our new camper I have finally found something that I do not like. I mean, there were a few annoyances but this one is a big annoyance. Because of the solar system I had not plugged the camper into shore power. Yesterday I decided that I should probably check it out as I am going out on a shakedown trip this weekend. When you plug your FLX into shore power, the inverter goes into "bypass mode" which includes a loud fan running. Even though the inverter is in the front basement storage the sound is quite noticeable when sitting in the camper. According to Xantrex this is normal and there is no way to shut the inverter off. Time will tell if I get used to this sound and it just becomes background noise or if it will keep me awake at night.

My wife reminds me that this is a minor inconvenience as compared to some of the folks picking up brand new campers with major issues and Winnebago cannot get parts to fix them. I guess I'm just whining.

There’s a solution that works for me. Although there are times I do want the Xantrex in either standby or on, there are times when I want it off and disconnected from the circuit. When connected to shore power, I want it to charge my battery, but then I want it completely off, as we normally don’t use any ac power. What has worked for me is installing a cutoff switch dedicated to the inverter. I usually set the switch to off when we are traveling, boondocking, or just don’t want to hear the fan. It also eliminates the inverter parasitic draw. This seems to work on my XC2000, but maybe not on your XC3000.

[SactoSteve]

I couldn’t figure out how to link to my last post in the thread but this link to the thread should work. Bottom line you should call Winnebago Warranty and have them check your VIN to see if your unit is configured properly ours is not. I pasted the text below the link anyway. :-)
https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...rs-363804.html

Here’ the post,…
I spoke with Winnebago Warranty Dept and want to share what I learned,…

Apparently their is a known issue with the Winnebago solar implementation which requires an update to the battery (firmware, I think) and also changes to the configuration settings of the Xantrex inverter/charger and also the Go Power! Solar charger. Apparently these charging components were shipped with their default settings without the factory making the required settings for the Winnebago system.
When I gave the rep I was talking with the VIN she was able to confirm ours is one of the units that needs these configurations made. She requested I schedule a service appt with our dealer and notify Winnebago Warranty when it is scheduled and they would contact the service dept with the needed information

[RovingMedics]

Originally Posted by The.Savages

Which he tells means the SAE port is wired to the controller and is far more useful than a battery tender. Hope this helps the community learn. I'm now off to diagnose why the water pump thumps violently every times it starts to run.

Just for clarification... so we *can* plug in a Goal Zero suitcase kit or one of the Go Power GP-PSK-200 suitcase panel kits into the port on the front of the FLX and it'll utilize the FLX's controller? Just trying to make sure I'm looking at the right product. It seems to indicate that we can just buy one of their solar panels and plug it right in and it'll go through the existing controller, but the GP-PSK-200 has a controller on it as well. Sort of confusing.

Thinking of ways to increase the solar capacity safely.

Also, did you figure out the water pump/water hammer issue? Thanks!