2021 cougar solar and inverter wiring

[mikec557]

Originally Posted by tsce33

... 2021 30 RLS. I found that the invertor plug at the TV is wired through the GFI in the kitchen?

Yes, it is on our 2020 26RBSWE as well. I haven't tested it, but I would figure the inverted outlet on the driver side night stand is as well. Those are the three outlets that are inverted in our TT.

(bedroom driver side night stand, that GFI outlet in the kitchen, and the outlet behind the tv)

[tsce33]

Thanks for the pics they are helpful. Another question, are you using the Wineguard gateway with the Winegard 360?

[Life-in-Him]

Originally Posted by tsce33

Nope, found the vault every thing was there but not the schematics. I think who ever was wiring this coach set on them and they haven't been seen since, problem in a very very dark place:

We've learned over the last 2 years our 2020 cougar built in 2019 suffers from transactional interchange inequality.
Money in supercedes customer needs.
Basically it's a substance shortage.
The toilet paper deficiency @ & near the manufactures was relieved thru alternative use of documentation.

[jxnbbl]

I participated in a thread that is titled SolarFlex (or something like that). The bottom line is that I bought a new trailer in the fall that was the dealer thought was solar ready with the new SolarFlex But it really was zamp ready OTG packaged without the core components. I've worked a deal with the dealer to get all the components and due to a problem scheduling and the need for solar to power the 12Vdc fridge (not propane) I went to work installing most of the components myself. Still have an inverter and one more panel but before our spring trip. Here is one of my responses. In there, there is a wiring diagram for an inverter but it shows the basic components needed and positioning in the system. NOTE, as mentioned before the battery-to-inverter wiring is vastly different gauges depending on the power or the unit.


Cheers


https://www.keystoneforums.com/forum...4&postcount=31

[tsce33]

Originally Posted by jxnbbl

I participated in a thread that is titled SolarFlex (or something like that). The bottom line is that I bought a new trailer in the fall that was the dealer thought was solar ready with the new SolarFlex But it really was zamp ready OTG packaged without the core components. I've worked a deal with the dealer to get all the components and due to a problem scheduling and the need for solar to power the 12Vdc fridge (not propane) I went to work installing most of the components myself. Still have an inverter and one more panel but before our spring trip. Here is one of my responses. In there, there is a wiring diagram for an inverter but it shows the basic components needed and positioning in the system. NOTE, as mentioned before the battery-to-inverter wiring is vastly different gauges depending on the power or the unit.


Cheers


https://www.keystoneforums.com/forum...4&postcount=31

Thank Jay,the schematic will be very helpful. Are you going to bypass the factory converter? Or wire for the 3 receptacles?

[mikec557]

Originally Posted by tsce33

Thank Jay,the schematic will be very helpful. Are you going to bypass the factory converter? Or wire for the 3 receptacles?

FWIW

I think this is the same schematic but maybe a cleaner copy. Ignore yellow highlight.

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by tsce33

Thank Jay,the schematic will be very helpful. Are you going to bypass the factory converter? Or wire for the 3 receptacles?

I should have mentioned that my particular trailer was build in between solar flex and zamp pre-wiring as well as it has the gigi box so some of the wiring/fusing between the battery and the controller I installed was done/handled in the giggy box.



https://www.keystonerv.com/innovations/giggy-box


The current state of my install:


1. the panels->charging system (left side of the schematic) is done which allows complete offgrid use with either no 110v, generator or a "clamp on inverter" to the battery terminals.


2. Sitting in a box are all the components for the inverter (right side of the schematic). I chose the zantrex freedom XC 2000 inverter.


Sometime in early spring I will complete but had to wait a while for some of the correct components to come it (believe it or not the lugs for the cable were the longest lead time....and beyond when I winterized the trailer).


The plan is not to bypass the converter. As with this diagram the inverter has a build in transfer switch. So when the 110V is energized (generator or shore line). The inverter will be bypassed and the plugs wired to that circuit will be powered by the non-battery power source. When the external power is cut AND the inverter is connected (disconnect switch) the internal transfer switch will power the outlets in the circuit. (on the schematic...you cut the romex loop. One side of this goes to the "120v input" and one to the "120V output...the side that goes to the trailer circuit box is the input). The only other item that is different for me is that I have a 2000W inverter instead of the 1000W inverter. So instead of the 2GA wire to between the battery and the inverter, this is replaced with 00GA wire (which is recommended although probably overkill). If you go this route you will want to order "welding wire" since it is more flexible to be fished through holes to the battery.

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by mikec557

FWIW

I think this is the same schematic but maybe a cleaner copy. Ignore yellow highlight.

thanks for the cleaner copy!

[rlh1957]

The problem I had wad the “prewiring” wire gauge only allowed limited amount of panel wattage. Seems what came prewired was for a 200 Watt panel with room to expand to 400 watts. Their prewire was the minimum gauge. They want it to appear plug snd play.
So we ended up pulling heavier gauge wire from roof.
We have 2200 watts of panels on the roof.

[GoNavy]

RLH, Where you able to use the pre wiring to pull the new wires? What wire size did you go to? How many Solar charges?

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by rlh1957

The problem I had wad the “prewiring” wire gauge only allowed limited amount of panel wattage. Seems what came prewired was for a 200 Watt panel with room to expand to 400 watts. Their prewire was the minimum gauge. They want it to appear plug snd play.
So we ended up pulling heavier gauge wire from roof.
We have 2200 watts of panels on the roof.

Really? Although it will not support 2200W if it is the zamp pre-wire it should support three 170W panels so a little bit higher. What I found was the predecessor to the solarflex was the pre-wired zamp otg package. This would have a sticker as attached, the ports on the roof and the wiring to the pass through. The wiring/ports should support the following from zamp to it 'max expansion' of 3 panels.



https://www.zampsolar.com/collection...t-dual-battery


In my case, probably due to availability the 3 port roof cap wasn't inplace and a 2 port cap was installed so I have to use an adapter to combine 2 panels to one of the roof ports (or install a 3 port roof cap).



https://www.zampsolar.com/collection...-sae-y-adapter


The weird part is that I assumed that the wiring wasn't enough and ordered the kit and then the expansion cables and found the installed cable for the battery as well as the roof cap to be correct. - 8ga



So I have a roof cap and the wire harnesses on Ebay for sale cheap!

[FlyboyD8]

I have been running this inverter for 2 complete seasons and it has run fine with load of wife's 1875watt hairdryer


https://invertersrus.com/product/kisae-sw1220/

[WJQ]

You may be getting more help than you need but I have previously posted my design issues for my 2018 which had no rewiring. I installed both solar power for my batteries and an inverter to run some 120V appliances.

Find my post on the microwave because my 1350 watt microwave would not run on a 2000 Watt inverter that had a peak power capability of 4000W. It turns out that a microwave has a peak demand of 3 to 4 times the nameplate rating.

[rlh1957]

I must give credit… I didn't do my install but worked with Northern Arizona Wind & Sun in Flagstaff, AZ.
Via phone and email we worked out a system design that met our needs. I took photos and measurements so that when we arrived they had all parts staged and ready. Backer board cut and equipment mounted & wired do they just lifted into place.

I don’t know if they fished the wires from roof or used the prewire to back-pull.

They upgraded the roof run wires snd installed new box with MC4 because Keystone on 2020 models were using some other standard connector. Keystone was pushing ZAMP then.
We have 8 panels totaling 2200Watts, 3000Watt Victron Inverter, 2 charge controllers- 1 Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/50 & 1 Victron SmartSolar MPPT 250/150 charge controller, Victron MultiPlus 3000 Inverter/Charger.

We left it with them 3 days so we could tour area while they worked at their pace.

Very please with professional work and performance.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by rlh1957

I must give credit… I didn't do my install but worked with Northern Arizona Wind & Sun in Flagstaff, AZ.
Via phone and email we worked out a system design that met our needs. I took photos and measurements so that when we arrived they had all parts staged and ready. Backer board cut and equipment mounted & wired do they just lifted into place.

I don’t know if they fished the wires from roof or used the prewire to back-pull.

They upgraded the roof run wires snd installed new box with MC4 because Keystone on 2020 models were using some other standard connector. Keystone was pushing ZAMP then.
We have 8 panels totaling 2200Watts, 3000Watt Victron Inverter, 2 charge controllers- 1 Victron SmartSolar MPPT 100/50 & 1 Victron SmartSolar MPPT 250/150 charge controller, Victron MultiPlus 3000 Inverter/Charger.

We left it with them 3 days so we could tour area while they worked at their pace.

Very please with professional work and performance.

Just out of curiosity, what did a system like that cost ?????

[rlh1957]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Just out of curiosity, what did a system like that cost ?????

We got it Aug/Sept 2020 and it was about $14K plus $3800 Labor Charge.
With market price changes, new models of electronics or advances I’d expect cost changes.
For someone putting it together themselves prices could probably be sourced cheaper.

They pulled power cable from front bay to the rear to tie in to the rigs main bus to that all breakers and plugs would be hot.

The factory prewire only activates 1 kitchen plug, 1 TV plug, 1 bedroom plug.
We wanted all AC to be available for our choosing.

For everyone that always asks the first question, “Can you run AC”
The answer is yes.
We can run either 15K or 13.5K AC. They both have the SoftStartRV installed.
The AC had ran for over 5 hours when we shut it off. The Battery monitor still showed 30%.

[acemotorman]

I've used AIM's Power Pure Sine Wave inverters in multiple applications. DO NOT INSTALL a Modified Sine Wave inverter! You can harm sophistocated electronic devices.

[Cimriver]

Originally Posted by rlh1957

The problem I had wad the “prewiring” wire gauge only allowed limited amount of panel wattage. Seems what came prewired was for a 200 Watt panel with room to expand to 400 watts. Their prewire was the minimum gauge. They want it to appear plug snd play.
So we ended up pulling heavier gauge wire from roof.
We have 2200 watts of panels on the roof.

I have 540 watts of solar panel using that 8 gauge wire. My panels current rating is 12.5 amps. All three panels wired in series produce 12.5 amps of current which is easily handled by that 8 gage wire. That same three panels produce about 60 vdc. My Rich Solar 40 Amp MPPT solar charger is rated for a max input voltage of 100vdc.

While there are certain advantages to running solar panels in parallel such as no single point of failure, there are definite advantages to run in series also.