Solar plug in

[JOglesby]

Today I was looking to add some underlighting on the camp side of the trailer. Not really wanting to drill a hole for wiring or anything. I have settled to tie into where the power tongue jack is connected in the battery disconnect box on the front of the trailer. This is powered when on shore power but is disconnected from the battery when not. I was checking around with my multimeter and decided to check the plug where we are supposed to be able to connect a solar panel. But with shore power connected this plug has 13.7 volts on it. Is this normal? I thought it was just an input.


Side note, we do not have any solar panels.

[flybouy]

You likely have a "Solar ready" plug (SAE 2 pole plug) that's just attached to the battery. It's a connection point for suitcase solar panel that has a built in charge controller. The voltage you are reading is the converter charging the battery and it's perfectly normal. Wherever you pick up power for your light just make sure you add an appropriate fuse at the source.

[JOglesby]

Solar ready is what the camper says. I figured it was the charging voltage from the converter. So does that mean I can just plug in a solar panel? If I have shore power and plug in a solar panel what will happen? Anything? Also I has 2 plugs on the roof, I assume they are the same.

Good point about the fuse, I'll make sure to grab a fuse holder.

[jxnbbl]

This post gave me an idea....I have no real use for this plug but I do have a use for some 12V devices that "use" to plug into a cigarette lighter. Now these become harder to use since your lucky if you have a one of those outlets in a car/truck. Anyways I could just repurpose those to plug into this and be able to use them. One item that comes to mind is a "high volume pump" that I use to blow up tubes/floats.

[flybouy]

Originally Posted by jxnbbl

This post gave me an idea....I have no real use for this plug but I do have a use for some 12V devices that "use" to plug into a cigarette lighter. Now these become harder to use since your lucky if you have a one of those outlets in a car/truck. Anyways I could just repurpose those to plug into this and be able to use them. One item that comes to mind is a "high volume pump" that I use to blow up tubes/floats.

Sure can, BUT, make sure that whatever you connect is fused and th3 amperage doesn't exceed the wire size of the plug on the camper. You can get an adapter with an accessories outlet (cigarette lighter socket) to SAE plug. Just Google SAE connector.

[JOglesby]

I also found a resettable breaker just under the skirting on the frame. Wiring disappears into the under belly. Any idea what it goes to? I can't find any wiring diagrams.

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by flybouy

Sure can, BUT, make sure that whatever you connect is fused ...

that's right forgot that all the solar connections are direct connect. Thanks for the reminder.