Solar Help!

[Jschefcick]

I have a 2018 keystone Cougar 29 bhswe. I recently bought a solar panel and furion plug adapter. Has anyone had issues with these? My panel is the 100 w power eco and when I put the alligator clips on the battery it shows them charging just fine. But when I plug it into the solar ready plug it doesn’t recognize or charge the batteries. Not a super huge deal as I don’t mind alligator clipping them when we dry camp, it would just be a lot easier to just go right into the plug. I’m using the ACO power adapter to hook into the furion port from the solar by the way. Am I doing something wrong?

[Customer1]

Check to see if the solar receptacle is actually connected to the batteries.

Check the polarity.

[meaz93*]

First make sure the solar power wire from the port plug that runs down along the frame towards the tongue is actually connected to the trailer battery. Sometimes (most) it leaves the Dealership unconnected.
I actually had a bad Zamp plug adapter. Thankfully it was replaced under their warranty.28486

[coop341]

I have a 2018 keystone Cougar 29 bhswe. I recently bought a solar panel and furion plug adapter. Has anyone had issues with these? My panel is the 100 w power eco and when I put the alligator clips on the battery it shows them charging just fine. But when I plug it into the solar ready plug it doesn’t recognize or charge the batteries. Not a super huge deal as I don’t mind alligator clipping them when we dry camp, it would just be a lot easier to just go right into the plug. I’m using the ACO power adapter to hook into the furion port from the solar by the way. Am I doing something wrong?

What’s important to know is, the connector on the side of your trailer connects directly to the battery. It may or may not have a fuse.
Between your solar panel and that connector needs to be a charge controller.
The “solar ready” is meant for a packaged system that has a panel, charge controller and the mating connector pre wired.
You are 2/3 of the way there, you just need the charge controller (and probably also an in-line fuse just to be safe). When you are shopping charge controllers, look for a MPPT controller, these are most efficient controllers.
To check to see If you haven’t damaged anything, without anything plugged into the trailer side connector, put a volt meter on the 2 pins on that connector. If you see 12-13ish Volts DC on those 2 pins, that connection is still good. If not, look for a fuse somewhere inline. Then check the panel. You will need to find the spec sheet for the panel (might be a label on the back side) to find the “open circuit voltage”. With the panel right side up in the sun, measure the voltage out of the panel. It should be close to the open circuit voltage on the specs. If it’s not, there could be a fuse in the black box that the wires come out of on the panel.
If every thing checks out, just follow wire instructions that come with the charge controller you purchase.

[chuckster57]

Most “portable” solar chargers will have a built in controller. OP: you need to test the plug to see if it’s connected and also the polarity. Just use a volt/ohm meter set to DC volts. It’s quite possible the leads aren’t attached to the battery, the positive lead should have a fuse and you need to see if there is in fact a fuse in the holder and check the polarity of the plug.

[Sarge2]

My "solar ready" TT did not have those connectors even attached to the battery... just lying in the battery box... with an in line fuse...

[Khorsam]

My 2018 was solar-ready, complete with plug connection on the trailer. The problem was the plug had been bent out of shape so I could not get a standard two prong plug to fit. Dealer could care less, so I replaced it myself.

I was wondering if my panel was actually charging the batteries. The controler indicated the panel was charging, but the charged indicator light was also on. And the battery level indicator in the trailer kept going down.

Checked the panel (Coleman 100w system) and made sure all the connections were good and it was putting out what it was supposed to according to the manual.

Checked the batteries (2 deep 6V) and got a reading of 12.3. It has been sitting for a few days.

Checked the plug and got a reading of 33.5 v. Checked it a few times... same reading. That might explain why the controller was saying it was charged, when in fact the batteries were not, but should this not also be reading 12.3?

Any thoughts as to what the issue might be?

Thanks in advance.
Robert

[coop341]

My 2018 was solar-ready, complete with plug connection on the trailer. The problem was the plug had been bent out of shape so I could not get a standard two prong plug to fit. Dealer could care less, so I replaced it myself.

I was wondering if my panel was actually charging the batteries. The controler indicated the panel was charging, but the charged indicator light was also on. And the battery level indicator in the trailer kept going down.

Checked the panel (Coleman 100w system) and made sure all the connections were good and it was putting out what it was supposed to according to the manual.

Checked the batteries (2 deep 6V) and got a reading of 12.3. It has been sitting for a few days.

Checked the plug and got a reading of 33.5 v. Checked it a few times... same reading. That might explain why the controller was saying it was charged, when in fact the batteries were not, but should this not also be reading 12.3?

Any thoughts as to what the issue might be?

Thanks in advance.
Robert

Either your panel does not have a charge controller on it or the charge controller is bad or mis-wired.
The “solar ready” connectors on the trailers are expecting an integrated solar panel with a built in charge controller. The trailer connector is wired directly to the battery (may and should have fuse in between). Solar panel generate a much higher voltage than the batteries in your trailer so the Voltage needs to be stepped down and the current regulated to prevent damaging the batteries.

[Khorsam]

Let me clarify...

The solar panel and all connections, including the plug are showing the correct voltage and polarity.

It was the plug on the trailer that showed the higher voltage. In my limited knowledge, should the voltage from the trailer plug not be the same as the batteries? Nothing else is attached. I'm just taking the readings from the mulitmeter.

Robert

[coop341]

Let me clarify...

The solar panel and all connections, including the plug are showing the correct voltage and polarity.

It was the plug on the trailer that showed the higher voltage. In my limited knowledge, should the voltage from the trailer plug not be the same as the batteries? Nothing else is attached. I'm just taking the readings from the mulitmeter.

Robert

33V at the connector on the Side of the trailer without the paneL connected? The only place I can think that could put that kind of voltage on the 12v rail is if the converter is bad.
I don’t know how “electrical” you are so don’t take this as putting you down (I have made this mistake too), make sure the cables for the multimeter are plugged into the correct jacks, and the the meter is set to read DC voltage.

[Khorsam]

UPDATE

So I did a bunch of testing and I still don't know what the issue is.

I still get 33.5V at the plug on the trailer.
The panel is putting out 21.7 in full sun.

Connected the panel directly to the battery, I can watch the charge in the battery go up. I'm not that electrical, but I'm pretty sure that someone screwed up in wiring the solar plug to the wiring harness. Anyway, I know the panel works, and that I have a reliable power source. Maybe one day I'll have someone look at the wiring and see what they can find.