Solar Panel on My 1999 Vectra 37B;

[rogerm52]

Today, I discovered that my solar panel was broken when I got on top to clean the roof. I removed the panel and then started looking at the wiring diagrams at Winnebago for my coach and I don't see the solar panel. It is a 10 watt Solar Baby model TJN-2S. Looking for replacements, I see the 10 watt units are smaller and most run direct to the battery. I may contact the dealer in Forrest City to see what they have to say. I did not want to have to run new wires if I could help it. I have a small red indicator light that is on showing the battery's are being charged, not sure what else would be in that circuit. If you have run into this situation and have a similar coach let me know, Thanks.

 

[Morich]

I was able to find some info on the solar but it does look like it might be severely limited due to the OEM wiring as it is only on a 6 amp fuse and 16 gauge wires.
Due to newer, bigger, solar being the standard now, I might doubt being able to get the original? But that is pure guessing!
I can point you to some of the wiring info if that would help?
Meets batteries on mode solenoid connection! Sheet 1 of the drawing set:

https://www.winnebago.com/Files/Files/Winnebago/Resources/Diagram/1999/128552.pdf

Sheet 5 at H-1 is the connection to the panel after it goes through a number of other plugs along the way.

For ID of small wires, on drawings or stamped on wires, we can use this chart:

https://www.winnebago.com/Files/Files/Winnebago/Resources/Diagram/electrical_guide.pdf

That gets you a start on what they had built, but now the big question may be what to replace it with? The 16 gauge wire is a real question if wanting to move to any much larger!
A very basic circuit with none showing other than the panel and connect for the indicator light. But it does wander all around the RV to get there!

Seems nothing is simple but always decisions to sweat over!
Best of luck on the trek!

 

[creativepart]

Today, I discovered that my solar panel was broken when I got on top to clean the roof.

The truth is… you did not have a “Solar Panel” in the sense we understand them today. You had a tiny 10-15 watt trickle charger directly wired to your battery.

Todays solar panels are 100-400 watt items each vastly more powerful that, connected to a solar charge controller are actual battery chargers capable of recharging house battery banks to power inverters to create 110 vac.

Your device is so weak it didn’t need a charge controller and was directly connected to your chassis battery (a few manufacturers connected them to house batteries but that was rare)

It’s no surprise you didn’t know it was broken because it really did very little when it was brand new. Most treat them like worthless gimmicks and certainly don’t replace or try to fix them.

They were installed in the late 90s- early 2000s for marketing purposes to advertise the latest new technology.

If you are planning to add solar to your coach just remove the old panel and ignore those wires (remove them on the battery!) they would never be adequate for todays solar panels and you must use a solar charge controller between your new panels and your house batteries. Plan on a minimum 10 ga wire for every 30 amps in solar output (about 500w of panels).

Keep in mind that a 1999 coach was designed in 1997 and has last century technology for things like solar panels and inverters, etc. Modern devices will be vastly more capable and practical than anything “high tech” from 25-yrs ago.

 

[rogerm52]

I was able to find some info on the solar but it does look like it might be severely limited due to the OEM wiring as it is only on a 6 amp fuse and 16 gauge wires.
Due to newer, bigger, solar being the standard now, I might doubt being able to get the original? But that is pure guessing!
I can point you to some of the wiring info if that would help?
Meets batteries on mode solenoid connection! Sheet 1 of the drawing set:

https://www.winnebago.com/Files/Files/Winnebago/Resources/Diagram/1999/128552.pdf

View attachment 1068440
Sheet 5 at H-1 is the connection to the panel after it goes through a number of other plugs along the way.
View attachment 1068439
For ID of small wires, on drawings or stamped on wires, we can use this chart:

https://www.winnebago.com/Files/Files/Winnebago/Resources/Diagram/electrical_guide.pdf

View attachment 1068441
That gets you a start on what they had built, but now the big question may be what to replace it with? The 16 gauge wire is a real question if wanting to move to any much larger!
A very basic circuit with none showing other than the panel and connect for the indicator light. But it does wander all around the RV to get there!

Seems nothing is simple but always decisions to sweat over!
Best of luck on the trek!

Thanks, not sure how I missed the wiring. I did realize that the unit that was installed at the factory was a 10 watt unit and mainly to help the batteries. I also noticed the 16 gauge wires. After looking last night I can get a 10 watt panel, but it is smaller because of the upgraded technology. I can make that work. They also have the regulator built in so I would not have to worry about that and maybe be able to use the wiring that is there. Did not plan on going to an upgraded system since we plug in most of the time.

 

[rogerm52]

The truth is… you did not have a “Solar Panel” in the sense we understand them today. You had a tiny 10-15 watt trickle charger directly wired to your battery.

Todays solar panels are 100-400 watt items each vastly more powerful that, connected to a solar charge controller are actual battery chargers capable of recharging house battery banks to power inverters to create 110 vac.

Your device is so weak it didn’t need a charge controller and was directly connected to your chassis battery (a few manufacturers connected them to house batteries but that was rare)

It’s no surprise you didn’t know it was broken because it really did very little when it was brand new. Most treat them like worthless gimmicks and certainly don’t replace or try to fix them.

They were installed in the late 90s- early 2000s for marketing purposes to advertise the latest new technology.

If you are planning to add solar to your coach just remove the old panel and ignore those wires (remove them on the battery!) they would never be adequate for todays solar panels and you must use a solar charge controller between your new panels and your house batteries. Plan on a minimum 10 ga wire for every 30 amps in solar output (about 500w of panels).

Keep in mind that a 1999 coach was designed in 1997 and has last century technology for things like solar panels and inverters, etc. Modern devices will be vastly more capable and practical than anything “high tech” from 25-yrs ago.

Thanks, as soon as I got the old unit off I read the spec. tag and it was a 10 watt unit. After looking last night I can still get a 10 watt unit, but it is smaller because of the upgraded technology and I can make that work. I mainly planned on putting it back as it was from the factory and not upgrading because of the wiring situation and also that we usually plug in and don't do much boon-docking at our age. So, going with the 10 watt unit seems like the easiest way at this time. Thanks again.

 

[Morich]

Okay! I totally agree with the plan as I have never needed solar in any of my RV. Once solar came to the market, it was going to be such an effort and one we would rarely use, that it was never going to be practical for us and the way we had changed in our use.
At one point we would likely have wanted it but that was a different age group!
My main point was to point out to future readers that the wiring does limit how much solar you can put up there!
You likely have looked at what and why you use it. One of my uses for solar might be to have it keep the chassis battery charged while stored, rather than the coach, but since I've been looking deeper at how it needs to work for me, I find just strapping the two together when storing works for us.
Much less complex and that means less work to keep it running!

How to best run things often gets into personal choice on what we do!

 

[rogerm52]

Thanks for the help.