New Member with 2016 Adventurer

[amullis]

Good morning gang,

I just joined the group yesterday. My wife and I upgraded our 2015 Forest River Georgetown for a 2016 Adventurer 37F. I can say already the Winnebago Adventurer is a much nicer coach to drive. It doesn't make nearly as much noise as our Forest River did going down the road.

If you are a 2016 Adventurer owner, I would like to hear your stories and advice.

Thanks for adding us to the group!

Art

 

[creativepart]

Welcome!

We own, and love, our 2017 Adventurer 37F. It’s a great motorhome.

We’ve added a steering stabilizer and Sumo Springs and these have made driving much more comfortable. The other upgrades I’ve made are to the Solar panels, adding 2-panels for 300 watts total. I also upgraded the inverter monitor from the ME-MR to the ME-ARC50 which allowed the addition of a Battery Monitor Kit.

I’ve also added a Wilson WeBoost Drive 4G-X cell booster and a WiFiRanger booster/router.

We use ours about 4-mo a year with 3 long trips and then about 5 or 6 shorter trips each year. In fact, we left home in our RV 5-weeks ago today and have been all over Colorado and New Mexico. We arrive back home this afternoon.

Many of us have found there is excessive heat in the cabinets above the windshield. The heat is effecting the electronics up there. Including destroying the HDMI Matrix and the Xite Core Unit on some owners RVs.

We’ve discovered the heat is coming from the black stripe at the top of the windshield. Some of us owners have removed everything up there and stuffed fiberglass insulation between the windshield and the cabinet walls to correct the problem.

There are a number of active Adventurer owners here and you’ll find us a good resource.

 

[amullis]

Thanks! I noticed the heat in the cabinet also. I will leave the cabinet door open when using the electronics to help cool it down.

I do have one 100 watt solar panel on the roof. So, you added two more panels and upgraded your system. I will look into that later. Do you boondock a lot?

I may already have the steering stab and Sum springs installed. The previous owner probably did it.

My coach already has a WiFi Ranger installed with an Omni antenna on the roof. I have a WeBoost 4G.

 

[creativepart]

Yes, I bought 2 100w panels from Renergy on Amazon. So, now I have 300 watts total. The solar controller that comes standard can handle up to 30-amps which is a tad over 400 watts of panels. It is a PWM controller, which is good for smaller systems like this. MMPT controllers are more efficient. If I had used larger wattage panels I would have upgraded the controller, too.

 

[creativepart]

Oh, we also removed the I-Deal Rest air mattress and replaced it with a California King mattress from Leessa and we removed the headboard from the back wall and installed self-stick vinyl wood-look panels.

 

[amullis]

Yes, I bought 2 100w panels from Renergy on Amazon. So, now I have 300 watts total. The solar controller that comes standard can handle up to 30-amps which is a tad over 400 watts of panels. It is a PWM controller, which is good for smaller systems like this. MMPT controllers are more efficient. If I had used larger wattage panels I would have upgraded the controller, too.

I assume the 100 watt solar panel on my roof trickle charges the batteries to keep them topped off while the coach is in storage?

Would it be possible for you to provide a parts list of your solar upgrade? I need to know part number and where you bought it.

 

[creativepart]

Thanks! I noticed the heat in the cabinet also. I will leave the cabinet door open when using the electronics to help cool it down.

We found temps above 130 degrees up there, with the doors open, on 95+ degrees days. Fried my Xite Core Unit the first week we owned the coach. We bought it new in July, 2017.

Living in South Texas the heat up there was unbearable.

The insulation really cured the problem. The upper cabinets stay at room temp now.

 

[creativepart]

I assume the 100 watt solar panel on my roof trickle charges the batteries to keep them topped off while the coach is in storage?

Would it be possible for you to provide a parts list of your solar upgrade? I need to know part number and where you bought it.

Yep. Even after a month or more in storage my batteries are usually full or nearly full.

Using just one panel we found the fridge overnight without power in the winter with the heater also running a little took the batteries pretty low.

We don’t boondock much, but since adding two more panels was so easy-the system is wired for up to 3-panels, I just had to do it anyway. It was pretty much plug and play.

I’m on the road so don’t have access to the parts right now.

 

[amullis]

Yep. Even after a month or more in storage my batteries are usually full or nearly full.

Using just one panel we found the fridge overnight without power in the winter with the heater also running a little took the batteries pretty low.

We don’t boondock much, but since adding two more panels was so easy-the system is wired for up to 3-panels, I just had to do it anyway. It was pretty much plug and play.

I’m on the road so don’t have access to the parts right now.

When you get the chance, send me the parts list. Thanks for the advice too! Enjoy your trip!

 

[creativepart]

When you get the chance, send me the parts list. Thanks for the advice too! Enjoy your trip!

I just searched for a good price on a name brand panel. I did a lot of reading first. Is it the best panel? Did I make a good choice? I have no idea. You really should do some research and choose what you think is best.

Search on Amazon for "Renergy 100w Solar Panel" and you'll see what I bought.

The panel that came on the RV is a Zamp panel. https://www.zampsolar.com/
Zamp makes all the items in fact that WBGO installed - the 3-port portal on the roof and the PWM Solar Controler in the basement cab immediately in front of your steps/door (where the Inverter lives too).

Check the controller display - make sure it doesn't say "P-01" - that means it was wired backward at the factory. Mine had that reading so I reversed the wires. I thought it was just mine. But I saw a video on YouTube from a dealer showing off the Adventurer and when the camera showed the controller on the dealer's video sure enough, it read P-01.

You might prefer to just buy two more ZAMP panels. Then you'll have identical panels to the OEM. They make great solar panels, but they cost 3 times as much.

For these kinds of items I really recommend you read up on everything and decide what YOU want and not just buy what I thought was best when I bought mine.

 

[747Driver]

Zamp is selling some "B" panels on eBay at a pretty good discount. They have minor superficial issues.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Zamp-Solar...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

They are a little longer than the ones on your RV and 160 Watt. Your controller can handle 450 watts total. Mine came with a 150 Watt panel, vs the 100 you mentioned. With full sun, the DW can be watching TV on inverter and the two panels (I added one last year) keep up. Just ordered one of the above to make it three. You will need to order mounting brackets, but the panels are PnP to your plugs on the roof.

 

[amullis]

I just searched for a good price on a name brand panel. I did a lot of reading first. Is it the best panel? Did I make a good choice? I have no idea. You really should do some research and choose what you think is best.

Search on Amazon for "Renergy 100w Solar Panel" and you'll see what I bought.

The panel that came on the RV is a Zamp panel. https://www.zampsolar.com/
Zamp makes all the items in fact that WBGO installed - the 3-port portal on the roof and the PWM Solar Controler in the basement cab immediately in front of your steps/door (where the Inverter lives too).

Check the controller display - make sure it doesn't say "P-01" - that means it was wired backward at the factory. Mine had that reading so I reversed the wires. I thought it was just mine. But I saw a video on YouTube from a dealer showing off the Adventurer and when the camera showed the controller on the dealer's video sure enough, it read P-01.

You might prefer to just buy two more ZAMP panels. Then you'll have identical panels to the OEM. They make great solar panels, but they cost 3 times as much.

For these kinds of items I really recommend you read up on everything and decide what YOU want and not just buy what I thought was best when I bought mine.

Thanks. Found the Renergy panels on Amazon. Do they come with mounting hardware? How did you mount yours?

 

[creativepart]

I ordered mounting hardware on Amazon. You should see Amazon listing the hardware as a suggested other purchase.

Do some searching. Zamp uses SAE electric connectors, but all other manufacturers use MC4 connectors. So you’ll need to change the connectors to SAE if you don’t buy Zamp panels.

You’ll need to understand the wiring and be prepared to make changes like this. It’s not difficult but it’s not totally straightforward either.

 

[amullis]

Thanks again!