Solar Ready in Pass-Thru 2020 models

[glendar10]

Is there a way gor you to email me abc I will send you a better copy. But it is still hard to read need magnifying glasses readi. But it does show a lot but it still does not tell me where they bring the wire from the roof top down. I still can’t find it and mine is a 2021 5er

[mikec557]

Originally Posted by glendar10

Is there a way gor you to email me abc I will send you a better copy. But it is still hard to read need magnifying glasses readi. But it does show a lot but it still does not tell me where they bring the wire from the roof top down. I still can’t find it and mine is a 2021 5er

Hi

I just sent you a PM, private message, with my email address.

As for where your wire loop for your SCC is located, have you found the loop of Romex wire for the inverter? If so where is it located?

What model 5er do you have?

Mike

[glendar10]

Originally Posted by mikec557

Hi

I just sent you a PM, private message, with my email address.

As for where your wire loop for your SCC is located, have you found the loop of Romex wire for the inverter? If so where is it located?

What model 5er do you have?

Mike

Look for eather the plastic dome like the one that has the Zamp stickerthat one is to be the controller location there might be a second one on ceiling I. The storage or I have seen it in a metal electrical box with a blank off cover on it it I one wire wire two stranded wire. They have a breaker fo it now as the three outlets dhoud be working? After I get home I will send you a better copy in PDFs. There should be 4 wires behind the dome with Zamp main 6 if they were nice and brought the down wires there as they all tie into the controler

[Kevin J]

We are awaiting our 250bhs and in the meantime have been trying to piece to together what solar/inverter prep means. Thanks for all the useful posts/photos.

I asked Zamp for the limits of their solar ready 2-port. Here is their reply which I hope is helpful to everybody.........

Our double and triple port roof caps are wired in parallel, thus increasing the solar panel amperage when two or more panels are used.
The 3-port roof cap is rated for a total of 510-Watts/30-Amps.

I had seen 510W mentioned before but wanted to know the Amps limit.

[joninthout]

Has anyone upgraded their 2021 Bullet 273BHS for solar on the roof and installed an auto switch-over inverter? There is an 8 or 10 awg red and black wire in the basement behind a plastic protective box as well as the 110 white cable ready to be cut for a auto switch-over inverter.

The red and black wires are routed out from the back of plastic protective box to the battery but are not hooked up to the battery (correctly). A 10amp fuse box has been crimped to the red wire (with no fuse in it) not hooked up to the battery but is sitting in the battery box. Plus, the black wire was hooked up to the positive side of the battery (What?).

Next, I want to put solar on the roof but need to know if the dual solar gland on the roof is wired in parallel and where the wires are run so I can hookup a solar controller in the basement.

Thank you for any help as this thread has been very educational for me.

[mikec557]

Originally Posted by joninthout

Has anyone upgraded their 2021 Bullet 273BHS for solar on the roof and installed an auto switch-over inverter? There is an 8 or 10 awg red and black wire in the basement behind a plastic protective box as well as the 110 white cable ready to be cut for a auto switch-over inverter.

The red and black wires are routed out from the back of plastic protective box to the battery but are not hooked up to the battery (correctly). A 10amp fuse box has been crimped to the red wire (with no fuse in it) not hooked up to the battery but is sitting in the battery box. Plus, the black wire was hooked up to the positive side of the battery (What?).

Next, I want to put solar on the roof but need to know if the dual solar gland on the roof is wired in parallel and where the wires are run so I can hookup a solar controller in the basement.

Thank you for any help as this thread has been very educational for me.

Mine is not a Bullet but all the technical information is the same.

10 amp fuse holder crimped to the red/positive wire? It's probably just a flat blade automotive style (atc?) fuse holder. Put the right size fuse in it based on the solar system you install. But look closely, there is usually a "solar port" near the tongue on a TT, or very near the front of a 5er that has a 10 amp limit. That is not part of the rooftop solar system. The red wire from the solar panel -> SCC -> the battery will likely use a larger amp fuse. On our TT Keystone wired a 30a self resetting dc circuit breaker. The kind you usually see with a red plastic cover over it.


If the roof gland is a dual port and there's only one red/black wire in the pass through loop, then the two ports are combined into one wire pair. It's neither series nor parallel. It's more like a Y-connector. That one wire pair will have all the power from your two rooftop panels.

You would likely want to mount your solar charge controller (SCC) in the basement, or pass through, because you're going to cut the red/black loop. The wires from the rooftop go into the SCC marked for the panels and the wires from the battery will go into the SCC on the screws marked battery. If it's in the budget, I'd recommend a SCC with Bluetooth. It's nice using your phone to check what the SCC is doing rather than getting your head in close to the SCC display to read it.

Keep in mind its highly recommended you put a fuse or circuit breaker on the positive wire from the panel before it enters the SCC and one on the positive wire between the battery and SCC. Think of this 2nd one as being in addition to the flat fuse mentioned above. I chose to put both of these right below the SCC.

If you look closely at the rooftop gland it is probably embossed with a maximum wattage. My two port says 500 watts max.

Think of the romex loop the same way. If you cut the loop, one end comes from the breaker panel and is hot when you're plugged into shore power. The other end goes to the 2 or 3 outlets that the inverter/shore power will feed.

Don't just cut these two loops exactly in the middle of the loop. Figure out where you're going to put your SCC and or inverter. They're location may make you want one side of the loop longer or shorter.

How big are the two loops the factory gave you to work with? How about posting a picture of your wiring location.

[Kevin J]

Great info Mike. Thanks.

Jon. See my earlier post quoted again below. The Zamp tech help told me their roof ports are wired in parallel. They suggested 510w and 30A max.

Originally Posted by Kevin J

We are awaiting our 250bhs and in the meantime have been trying to piece to together what solar/inverter prep means. Thanks for all the useful posts/photos.

I asked Zamp for the limits of their solar ready 2-port. Here is their reply which I hope is helpful to everybody.........

Our double and triple port roof caps are wired in parallel, thus increasing the solar panel amperage when two or more panels are used.
The 3-port roof cap is rated for a total of 510-Watts/30-Amps.

I had seen 510W mentioned before but wanted to know the Amps limit.

[joninthout]

Thank you so much for replying. As soon as I can get over to my camper, I'll post some pictures of the various wiring setup the trailer has.

10 amp fuse holder crimped to the red/positive wire? It's probably just a flat blade automotive style (atc?) Yes.

Don't just cut these two loops exactly in the middle of the loop. Figure out where you're going to put your SCC and or inverter. They're location may make you want one side of the loop longer or shorter.

How big are the two loops the factory gave you to work with? How about posting a picture of your wiring location. The white one is a big bundle. The red and black wire I may change out for a lower gauge set since I want to distribute power to the inverter and also send back charge from the SCC. I'll be using the similar setups from this thread. Nice thing is, the red and black wire are already fished through the camper out to the battery. I could do a couple of different wiring since it's already there.

See my earlier post quoted again below. The Zamp tech help told me their roof ports are wired in parallel. They suggested 510w and 30A max. Will do and thanks for posting all this golden info!!

Pictures soon to follow...

[mikec557]

Originally Posted by joninthout

Thank you so much for replying... Will do and thanks for posting all this golden info!!... Pictures soon to follow...

You're welcome. I'm just paying forward for the help and advice I've received from others in various threads. Looking forward to your pictures.

Mike

[joninthout]

Originally Posted by mikec557

You're welcome. I'm just paying forward for the help and advice I've received from others in various threads. Looking forward to your pictures.

Mike

Here are some pictures from the 273BHS basement and tongue.

[joninthout]

Originally Posted by joninthout

Here are some pictures from the 273BHS basement and tongue.

Some more.

So what I have figured out is that the black and red wire coming out of the trailer to the battery is for the lower solar hookup. I tested it by connecting the exposed end to the battery and then put a meter on the Zamp gland by the tongue and got a reading from the battery. I didn't get a reading when I unhooked the wires from the batter.

The Red and Black heavier gauge wire in the basement is probably the solar lead from the roof gland. As you can tell, the wires are colored differenlty than the wires by the tongue. They are not hot when I put a meter on them. Though I didn't test the basement wires when I hooked up the red and black on the battery to check the port by the tongue.

Any ideas from here will help me greatly. Thanks!

[mikec557]

Originally Posted by joninthout

Some more.

So what I have figured out is that the black and red wire coming out of the trailer to the battery is for the lower solar hookup. I tested it by connecting the exposed end to the battery and then put a meter on the Zamp gland by the tongue and got a reading from the battery. I didn't get a reading when I unhooked the wires from the batter.

The Red and Black heavier gauge wire in the basement is probably the solar lead from the roof gland. As you can tell, the wires are colored differenlty than the wires by the tongue. They are not hot when I put a meter on them. Though I didn't test the basement wires when I hooked up the red and black on the battery to check the port by the tongue.

Any ideas from here will help me greatly. Thanks!

On the pair of wires coming out of the front wall of the pass through (the pair that was under the black plastic shell), if I understand right, there's no power coming from them. If that's true, and only if that's true, twist them together. Then go up on the rooftop and check both SAE ports, individually, for continuity. They should both have continuity because you twisted the other ends together. Let us know if this is true. I guess I should have asked, do you know how to use a multi-meter to check for continuity?

I suppose for verification you should untwist the wires and make sure you no longer have continuity on the roof.

If this checks out, this pair of wires connects to the Solar Charge Controller (SCC).

But I'm a little confused on where the wires from the battery go. Where are the two bare ends? In the end, they have to enter into the pass through to connect to the SCC. Is there any kind of conduit or chase you can push them through, from the outside tongue area into the pass through?

Why do you say the two pair of wires are different color? They both look like red and black on my cell phone...

Edit: I just reread your post. The red/black pair going to the Zamp port on the tongue... that's for one of those portable solar panel setups. So that pair is not the one we're looking for.

Is there no other red/black pair running from the batteries on the tongue into the pass through?

[mikec557]

Another thought, the SAE port mounted on the front brace (in the 3rd or 4th picture), it doesn't look factory to me. I can't remember, is this a new trailer or are you the 2nd owner? Do you think there's any chance someone pulled the wires out of the pass through?

[joninthout]

Originally Posted by mikec557

Another thought, the SAE port mounted on the front brace (in the 3rd or 4th picture), it doesn't look factory to me. I can't remember, is this a new trailer or are you the 2nd owner? Do you think there's any chance someone pulled the wires out of the pass through?

I'm glad you brought that up. This is a 2021 273BHS Bullet and we bought it brand new. What I've heard, when we bought the trailer, is that during this pandemic, Keystone was just throwing parts together to get trailers out to be sold. They even had a recall on our trailer b/c they forgot to put the front brace in to keep the nose from pushing in while driving down the road.

The SAE solar port by the tongue does look different than the round back-plated zamp port on our last trailer. But at least we know the red and black wire coming out of the trailer are connected to the front solar SAE port. I have a portable 130 watt solar panel with mounted SCC on the back so I can plug right in once I get the 10amp fuse put on the wire going to the battery.

I'm going to have to do some more digging to see if I can run a wire from the basement to the battery to hookup the inverter and SCC. More to come soon.

[mikec557]

Originally Posted by Kevin J

What I've read elsewhere is the wires in the pass thru are for the SCC but a wire needs to be run from that to the battery. Might fit your description?

Technically that should not be the case for the SCC. That red/black pair should be one piece from rooftop, loop in the pass through, and proceed out to the battery. Cut the loop and install the SCC in the middle of it. Typically this is 8ga wire.

Now the inverter is as you describe. Keystone does not run a red/black pair of wire from the battery to the inside of the pass through for the inverter. That pair is provided by the inverter installer, be that owner or help hired by the owner. UNLESS the RV was ordered with the inverter (and solar panel and SCC) installed at the factory or at the dealer. By the way, I looked at 3 new 2020 units on a Camping World lot that had an inverter installed. I couldn't tell if it was installed by Keystone or Camping World. Each used 2ga wire from battery to 1200 watt Xantrax inverter. Longer cable run or bigger inverter may require larger cable size.

[Kevin J]

Mike.

Your are correct. My confusion. It is the romex loop in the pass thru that requires a wire to be run from the inverter to the battery.

The red/black wire should run continuous from the roof Zamp 2-port to the battery; for the SCC.

Also note that some reports suggest the wiring to the Zamp port is inverse of expected. So check the positive and negative.

Message above with incorrect info deleted.

[mikec557]

Originally Posted by Kevin J

Mike.

Your are correct. My confusion. It is the romex loop in the pass thru that requires a wire to be run from the inverter to the battery.

The red/black wire should run continuous from the roof Zamp 2-port to the battery; for the SCC.

Also note that some reports suggest the wiring to the Zamp port is inverse of expected. So check the positive and negative.

Message above with incorrect info deleted.

No worries Kevin. I was just trying to help clarify.

I was unlucky in that they didn't leave a 12v loop of slack for the SCC for me in the pass through. They pulled the line tight from rooftop to battery. Ugg. It wasn't a complete disaster though because I just ran some 8ga from the SCC to the positive and negative bus bars I installed in the pass through as part of the inverter installation.

[joninthout]

Originally Posted by joninthout

.

I'm going to have to do some more digging to see if I can run a wire from the basement to the battery to hookup the inverter and SCC. More to come soon.

More digging done. I hooked up the Black and Red cable coming out of the camper to the battery and have success in getting a 12v reading from the solar port at the front of the trailer. I also put a 10amp fuse on the end of the Red cable.

Continuity check has confirmed that the roof top solar gland cables are the cables coming into the basement next to the romex cables from my picture. Now, where to run the output from the SCC to the battery?

Instead of fishing a lead though the camper out to the battery, I was thinking I may tap into the battery disconnect located in the water house for SCC and inverter power. It's not too far from where the romex and SCC cable and also all of the leads from the battery run over that way to the battery disconnect area. I will have to remove the wall protecting the water house back to see what's in there. I thought it was kind of weird that the battery disconnect was in the water house.

What do you think of my idea of tapping into the battery disconnect switch?

[mikec557]

Originally Posted by joninthout

What do you think of my idea of tapping into the battery disconnect switch?

Well... It depends. I think my battery disconnect is 6ga wire (and it's on the positive wire), so in theory it would be okay to connect an 8ga wire coming out of the SCC (through a breaker/fuse) to the 6ga. But I have read many opinions that would disagree and say you should run straight to the battery. So this decision may be one you decide how you feel about it. And, it still leaves you looking for a way to run the negative wire out of the SCC to the battery.

In a way it's not too different than what I did. Instead of using a battery disconnect as a junction, I used a 4-post bus bar. And instead of 6ga carrying the load, I used 2ga because I had to run 2ga from the battery to the bus bar anyway because it fed my inverter. You should check out the back of your disconnect switch and see if the post is big enough for you to add a lug and still tighten the nut.

I'm not clear if you meant to feed an inverter from the battery disconnect lug. (if I'm wrong, disregard this paragraph) If you are considering it, it's my opinion you cannot do so. I think any inverter you choose to power those 3 outlets will be a 1000 watt or greater. It's going to require 2ga (or greater) wires from the battery to feed it.

And if you have to route 2ga (or greater) wire from the battery to the inverter, it will probably present you with a better place to land your wires from the SCC. That's how I ended up with the bus bars.

It's not a very good picture, but you can see the positive and negative bus bars in the top left corner of this picture.

[mikec557]

They weren't cheap. They're sold in different stud sizes. I chose 5/16 because that's what most of my other connections needed. About $39.


https://www.amazon.com/Black-Power-Distribution-Block-BUSBAR/dp/B07C6483RC/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=electrical+bus+ba r&qid=1615074862&sprefix=Electrical+bu&sr=8-4