21NE - not a good solar panel mount repalcement solution

[gklott]

When our daughter's solar panel catastrophically failed, we removed the panel and continued our trip. We've now discovered that the panel movement and flexing caused additional damage.

In the 2019 and 2020 units, the solar panel brackets have a bolt that goes through the roof and aluminum mounting bracket. The bracket is 2" wide, about 6" long, and 1/8" thick. It looks like ETI bends the flat aluminum stock at two points. When normal, the bracket installation looks like this (front panel, curb side front bracket):



When replacing the panel, we found that one of the brackets failed at the lower bend. We suspect it was fatigue caused by the panel moving up and down in the wind after failure. The bracket broke, but remained vertical for a while, held on by the sealant covering the foot. It eventually laid over, which is how we found it. These images show the separated upper piece, and the remaining foot on the roof (with the top sealant removed).





The other three mounts seem to be solid.

This bracket bolt, with the locknut showing in the foot, is centered on the front curb window, and the distance into the roof appears to place it just about where the upper cabinets mount. I'm thinking the solar brackets and interior cabinets mount to a piece of wood placed in the ceiling for mounting.

I cannot feel a bolt head while pressing in on the ceiling vinyl.

Bottom line: There does not appear to be an easy way to access the solar bracket mounting bolt head.

Suspect when we start turning the locknut, that the bolt head inside will begin to turn, and we will need to cut off the locknut in order to remove the bracket foot.

Does any forum member have experience with replacing these brackets?

We are contacting ETI for advice on how to proceed.

We've also reinforced the front panels.

73/gus

[gklott]

Dustin Dionne at ETI has been responsive providing support. He sent our daughter 4 new brackets, screws, washers, nuts, rivets, and two tubes of ProFlex. This is the way I've found ETI on most all warranty issues - responsive and supportive.

Several months ago we received a replacement GoPower solar panel for the failed one.

Unfortunately, we are facing a less than desirable next step. This is due to the broken front solar panel mounting bracket.Dustin's installation directions:
"Add the new brackets beside the existing ones. Mark and drill the holes on the solar panel and affix to brackets with the supplied rivets. Once attached to the solar panel drill through the bracket and fiberglass, add sealant under bracket and add bolt through to the inside of the trailer, once through add washer and nylon washer. When finished cover the bracket and bolts with Proflex to seal and gaps."

ETI offered to have an RV technician implement the mounting solution if we do not feel confident doing the work ourself.

Daughter's question:
"How do we “ Add the new brackets beside the existing ones. ”? Wouldn’t this require us to access things from inside through the ceiling?"

Dustin's response:
"That is correct the new brackets must be drilled through the fiberglass and headliner."

So, she will have four points in the ceiling with visible bolt heads and washers that pull the headliner material up. I don't see another solution, short of removing the cabinets and headliner. But this will greatly diminish the interior look and feel of our daughter's 7-month old 21NE.

I hope this is not the solution for other 21NE owners if they must move their solar panel toward the rear.

We are now considering not remounting the front solar panel.

Does anyone else see another viable solution?

73/gus

[stpax]

J would look at solutions that would not include drilling into the roof. I have seen some panels that have been double stick taped to the roof, or maybe an epoxy glue could hold new legs, or attach new legs through bolted to the old legs. I would keep thinking of answers, but not screws showing in the ceiling. I guess you could use caps that would hide the screws. Done by a professional! good luck to a horrible problem

[Donna D.]

Are all bolts going to be inside the cabinets? ETI mounted solar on my 4 year old 5.0TA and that's what was done and honestly it's a good solution. I can't see the bolts, unless I stick my head in an upper cabinet , and I know it's NOT going to fly off. I wouldn't trust any tape.. none. YMMV

[gklott]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Are all bolts going to be inside the cabinets? ETI mounted solar on my 4 year old 5.0TA and that's what was done and honestly it's a good solution. I can't see the bolts, unless I stick my head in an upper cabinet , and I know it's NOT going to fly off. I wouldn't trust any tape.. none. YMMV

We will be measuring tomorrow. I hope that is the case for us too.

Agree. We will not mount a front solar panel without a mechanical attachment - bolting through. This is especially true given the failure we experienced.

73/gus

[rubicon327]

You didn’t mention that Escape is supposedly coming up with a solution to deflect wind. That may be even more hardware to worry about. If it were me I would consider setting aside all the replacement parts from Escape and installing a flexible panel(s) instead. No framed panel to catch wind and no new bolts through the roof. Just tape it down, plug it in and call it a day.

[MyronL]

I am in the middle of building a homeboy frame to hold my 190 watt solar panel to the roof. I will be using the 3m 4950 VHB tape BUT my panel frame will also be held in place at 4 corners with the pictured hold down bolted through the roof. It will bolt through to inside the cabinets. That is a 3 inch piece of stock serving as a washer to spread the stress on the inside.

I absolutely advise to never bend stock to make that angle bracket. I used stock angle 1/8 thick cut to size. I think aluminum is too brittle and bending flat stock on your bench vice will cause stress at the bend that weakens it. It will break apart over time.

[MyronL]

Ditto what Donna said.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by MyronL

I absolutely advise to never bend stock to make that angle bracket. I used stock angle 1/8 thick cut to size. I think aluminum is too brittle and bending flat stock on your bench vice will cause stress at the bend that weakens it. It will break apart over time.

That depends greatly on the alloy and the heat treatment (temper)... but yes, for the material found on hardware store aluminum stack bins, bending is not advisable and using extrusions of the desired section shape is a much better idea.

[Centex]

Originally Posted by gklott

We will be measuring tomorrow. I hope that is the case for us too....

I'm confident you'll be pleased with the result of your measurement (finding that the OE-mount bolt holes are behind the OH cabinet-face) even if not thrilled with the prospect of working within the confines of the cabinet (a bit challenging, but do-able, IMO).

I'm curious to see the 'ETI total retro-fix with wind-deflection' mentioned by Dave above and in another thread here. Personally I don't think that 'flexible' panels are the solution .... too many other trade-offs for me, but YMMV.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by stpax

J would look at solutions that would not include drilling into the roof. I have seen some panels that have been double stick taped to the roof, or maybe an epoxy glue could hold new legs, or attach new legs through bolted to the old legs. I would keep thinking of answers, but not screws showing in the ceiling. I guess you could use caps that would hide the screws. Done by a professional! good luck to a horrible problem

No epoxy . That was how the panels were originally installed and they ripped the gel gloss off the roof and the panels went flying ! Pat

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

No epoxy . That was how the panels were originally installed and they ripped the gel gloss off the roof and the panels went flying !

That means that the epoxy was strong and that the brackets didn't provide enough bonding area. The original bracket design is typical of panel installations but is poor, encouraging peeling instead of straight tensile and shear loads.