Solar panel and RV cover

[Eric Hoffmeyer]

I have a Hideout 253 equipped with a roof mounted solar panel.
I'd like to buy a cover (as we have done with previous RV-s) but am concerned that the sharp corners of the solar panel will simple tear the cover almost immediately.
Any clever solutions out there?
Thank you!
Regards,
Eric

[dutchmensport]

The only solution I can think of is to lay another cover over the panels, like a very heavy quilt blanket, then put the cover over that. The blanket will soften the corners of the panels. Of course, it's another step you have to go through.

You will also have problems with the gutter down-spouts punching holes in the cover too. I had 3 different covers for 2 different campers in the past, and all 3 covers had holes punched where the down spouts were.

After the 3rd cover, I quit covering. It wasn't worth it any more.

[German Shepherd Guy]

Where we live I always worried about mice getting in under the cover and nesting. Any problems there?
It does seem like covering the panel with a heavy blanket would do the trick.

[Eric Hoffmeyer]

Dutch & Shep,
Thanks for the ideas. Something occurred tome is to put foam pipe insulation tubes around it. The tubes come pre split so I can cut and attach. Need to remove before flight however!
Thank you!
Eric

[DonP]

I read this and my 1st thought was "what is the effect of the blanket on the solar panel". If it were me, I'd used the tubes.

[Roper46]

I recently bought a cover for my 5er and put it on by myself. The cover is more heavy duty than I thought. As far as the solar panels I can't offer any other suggestions besides what has been mentioned.

However, reference the gutter spouts. My cover actually came with spout covers. But before I knew that someone on here had mentioned they use pool noodles, so I bought one before my cover arrived.

I cut the pool noodle in four approximately 3.25 to 3.50 inches long and placed them over the spouts. This in my opinion offered more protection for the spouts than the ones that came with the cover.

[Eric Hoffmeyer]

Well now ANOTHER thing occurred to me!
The trailer is parked and there is no shore power to keep the battery charged. I am not running anything else at this time.
Wondering if (most likely) the RV cover will block off the sun light and preclude the battery from keeping a charge.


Eric

[wrvond]

Originally Posted by Eric Hoffmeyer

Well now ANOTHER thing occurred to me!
The trailer is parked and there is no shore power to keep the battery charged. I am not running anything else at this time.
Wondering if (most likely) the RV cover will block off the sun light and preclude the battery from keeping a charge.


Eric

Yes it will.

I used to put tennis balls on the spouts of my TT.

[German Shepherd Guy]

Yes, covering the panel will effectively turn it off.

[dutchmensport]

Another thing to consider if you are wanting to cover, is the television antenna. Depending on what kind of antenna you have, you may want to take a little extra special care to protect it. My previous trailers had the batwing antenna. I always covered the batwing antenna first and then put the cover on top of that. If you have the Razzar, you'll need to protect those little prongs from bending under the weight of the cover.

[KimNTerry]

slits in tennis balls one for each corner?

Install a complete battery shutoff (if you don't have one) alternately disconnect the battery negative to prevent parasitic draw when sitting. If leaving more than a couple of months or there is concern of freezing. Remove the batteries.

Option 2: Skip the cover. I can't tell you how many damaged covers I see in the RV storage lot.