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Old 09-27-2022, 01:14 PM   #21
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It appears to be wired for a portable panel WITH a solar controller built into the panel.

If you wanted to take advantage of the MPPT Victron controller, with only one rooftop 190 watt panel & the 100 watt Renege panel you could bypass the panel controller & change the wiring so both the rooftop panels & the portable feed the input (PV) terminals of the Victron 100/20 and still be within its 300 watt limit.

As wired, you need to use the controller on the portable panel.

By the way, it looks like the mounting of the Victron controller is such that the 1"X2" blocks most of the cooling flow for the heatsink. If you notice that the device gets hot you might want to relocate it so that it has better air circulation.
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Old 09-27-2022, 02:41 PM   #22
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Will having both controllers charging the batteries confuse either controller?
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Old 09-27-2022, 02:59 PM   #23
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Don't think I will be pulling my batteries for the winter.
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Old 09-27-2022, 09:33 PM   #24
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Renogy panels are not wired according to the industry standard? What about the identical ports sold that is wired to SAE standards? Is SAE or Zamp the standard?
an SAE connector has a 'pin' and a 'socket'. on one side of a pair of connected SAE connectors, the pin is positive and the socket is negative. on the other side, the pin is negative, and the socket is positive.

thats the standard!

now for a NORMAL application, like a power supply such as a battery and a device being powered. on the power supply side, you want the PIN to be negative, and the protected socket to be positive, so that if it hits something bare metal thats at ground (negative), it doesn't short out and spark. but on a battery charger connection such as a solar panel, BOTH sides of the connector are 'hot'. Fun, eh?

I *hate* SAE connectors, and refuse to use them. I installed a 12V Marinco 40A 'trawling motor' socket on the side of my trailer, that goes to a 40A fused circuit off the battery main bus bars (something I added as part of a rewiring). externally, I have a 6 foot cable with the trawling plug on one end, and a Andersen PP45 connector on the other end, and I have various things with PP connectors I can plug into this, such as a car stereo in a box, a Renogy portable solar panel, a triple cigar outlet + USB thing, and a PP45 5-way bus that allows me to connect several things at once.
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Old 09-28-2022, 08:21 AM   #25
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an SAE connector has a 'pin' and a 'socket'. on one side of a pair of connected SAE connectors, the pin is positive and the socket is negative. on the other side, the pin is negative, and the socket is positive.

thats the standard!

now for a NORMAL application, like a power supply such as a battery and a device being powered. on the power supply side, you want the PIN to be negative, and the protected socket to be positive, so that if it hits something bare metal thats at ground (negative), it doesn't short out and spark. but on a battery charger connection such as a solar panel, BOTH sides of the connector are 'hot'. Fun, eh?

I *hate* SAE connectors, and refuse to use them. I installed a 12V Marinco 40A 'trawling motor' socket on the side of my trailer, that goes to a 40A fused circuit off the battery main bus bars (something I added as part of a rewiring). externally, I have a 6 foot cable with the trawling plug on one end, and a Andersen PP45 connector on the other end, and I have various things with PP connectors I can plug into this, such as a car stereo in a box, a Renogy portable solar panel, a triple cigar outlet + USB thing, and a PP45 5-way bus that allows me to connect several things at once.
I know what the standard is with the cable, but we’re taking about the solar port and/or the MC4 to SAE converter cable from the panel, with both sides having the potential to be hot, not the connecting cable. With the potential to be hot in either direction one could argue the standard taking either Zamp’s or Renogy’s side.

I don’t have an issue with SAE connectors though, but some day I might touch ground. While I have and have used Anderson connectors in the past they can be stepped on and broken. Both SAE and Anderson have their pro’s and con’s. TETO!

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The SAE cables I received from Renogy to convert from MC4 to SAE at the panel were wired so the SAE connector exposed pin was hot on the panel side. That’s why you need to either reverse the SAE connection from Renogy at the panel, or reverse the wires at the camper port side. If one buys the panel side MC4 converter from Zamp instead of Renogy you don’t need to reverse anything. Most don’t buy their converter cable from Zamp, and that’s why threads like this keep cropping up.

I’m dyslexic, writing about reversed items is hard for me, so I may have something reversed.

Enjoy,

Perry
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Old 09-28-2022, 04:18 PM   #26
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I’m not ready to purchase just yet but all this had me thinking about it again. I called Renogy just to get their take on it all.

Much good information on here but it was also helpful for me to speak with their tech department, they were very helpful.
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Old 09-28-2022, 04:38 PM   #27
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My dilemma now is whether to use as is, with my suitcase controlling part of the batt recharge and the Victron in RV controlling the rooftop panels output, or rewire the port to feed in parallel with the rooftop panel into the PV of the Victron. I expect that in the first scenario, the Victron wouldn't be reporting data from the suitcase (other than voltage). Decisions, decisions.
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Old 09-28-2022, 06:01 PM   #28
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My dilemma now is whether to use as is, with my suitcase controlling part of the batt recharge and the Victron in RV controlling the rooftop panels output, or rewire the port to feed in parallel with the rooftop panel into the PV of the Victron. I expect that in the first scenario, the Victron wouldn't be reporting data from the suitcase (other than voltage). Decisions, decisions.

you can only parallel panels into the same controller if they have the same or very close PV open circuit and max current voltages. My 100W Renogy has a 18V panel, while my rooftop 360W LG NeonR panel is 36-40V monocrystalline.
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Old 09-28-2022, 06:43 PM   #29
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Dang! Sounds like I may have to do more research. Perhaps it will be a good time to put in breakers for the PV input of the Victron. And yes, I'm going to move it further down on the wall for cooling. I love this stuff.
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Old 09-29-2022, 06:59 PM   #30
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Does anybody know what the specs are for the factory rear panel on my 21?(off the top of their heads). I would prefer to run both panels through the same controller. My Renogy is 18v , 5.56 a.
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Old 09-30-2022, 09:24 AM   #31
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Does anybody know what the specs are for the factory rear panel on my 21?(off the top of their heads). I would prefer to run both panels through the same controller. My Renogy is 18v , 5.56 a.

I have a 2022 17A with Escapes standard panel. Here is a photo of the label underneath it.
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Old 10-01-2022, 10:11 PM   #32
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Comparing the specs, I think I'm going to treat the panels as separate units. Hopefully the controllers won't conflict. This will give me the option of using the Renogy to charge our canoe mounted trolling motor battery . Thanks for the specs on the 190 panel.
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Old 10-02-2022, 08:01 AM   #33
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We run our 100 watt Renogy portable using a Victron 100/20 controller that sits a foot away from the battery and our 465 watts on the roof with a Victron 100/20 controller that also sits a foot away from the battery. Both have a 40a resettable fuse in between the controller and the battery. Setup in this fashion neither will interfere with the other.

In addition, the two Victron controllers and the Victron 712 battery monitor talk to each other.

According to the picture your VMP is 20.4 not 18. Watts will be lost from the GoPower panel when in parallel with the Renogy panel. It operates using the lower of the two VMP’s. When wiring dissimilar panels in parallel your other panels should be as close to 20.4 as possible. Since we were not willing to lose the watts our portable is using a different controller than the roof. OTOH, we mixed three Renogy 100 watt panels with our 170 watt GoPower panel, and since the VMP’s were close we only lost 6 watts from the theoretical 470 watts on the roof, and it works great!

For the first time since installing the three 100 watt panels over a year ago, we had to get the portable out this week in northern Minnesota. With the furnace running every night, two nights below freezing, we made it through the four nights only down 70 amp hours of our 260 available, and the day we left the batteries were easily filled parked at the Gitchi Gami bike trail head.

Enjoy,

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Old 10-02-2022, 01:01 PM   #34
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According to the picture your VMP is 20.4 not 18. Watts will be lost from the GoPower panel when in parallel with the Renogy panel. It operates using the lower of the two VMP’s. When wiring dissimilar panels in parallel your other panels should be as close to 20.4 as possible. Since we were not willing to lose the watts our portable is using a different controller than the roof. OTOH, we mixed three Renogy 100 watt panels with our 170 watt GoPower panel, and since the VMP’s were close we only lost 6 watts from the theoretical 470 watts on the roof, and it works great!



Enjoy,

Perry

I have a single Victron 100/20 and Victron 712. I also have the GoPower 190w Roof solar panel. As a backup, I carry a 100w Renogy panel with a Vmp of 17.6v and an Escape installed Zamp port connected to the Victron 100/20. If I plug the 100w Renogy panel in, does the Victron controller act like the GoPower and default to the lower of the two Vmp's. Or, does it derate the GoPower panel but both panels still function. Also, does the Victron app indicate the presence of the second panel or does the controller just show what's being produced?

My system is the new lithium package from Escape and includes 2 Hublion 100a batteries and the Victron-Orion DC-DC Charger. I carry the Renogy solar suitcase for situations where trees are blocking my roof solar or for overcast days. The system recharges so quickly that I haven't needed the suitcase when boondocking and using the microwave for a few minutes a day.
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Old 10-02-2022, 10:06 PM   #35
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I have a single Victron 100/20 and Victron 712. I also have the GoPower 190w Roof solar panel. As a backup, I carry a 100w Renogy panel with a Vmp of 17.6v and an Escape installed Zamp port connected to the Victron 100/20. If I plug the 100w Renogy panel in, does the Victron controller act like the GoPower and default to the lower of the two Vmp's. Or, does it derate the GoPower panel but both panels still function. Also, does the Victron app indicate the presence of the second panel or does the controller just show what's being produced?

My system is the new lithium package from Escape and includes 2 Hublion 100a batteries and the Victron-Orion DC-DC Charger. I carry the Renogy solar suitcase for situations where trees are blocking my roof solar or for overcast days. The system recharges so quickly that I haven't needed the suitcase when boondocking and using the microwave for a few minutes a day.
It defaults to the lower VMP, but both panels will provide power. There is a loss of power, but still more than the GoPower will provide.

This blog post from Explorist Life explains the math involved. You may need to read this 4-5 times and then have a paper, pencil (not pen), and a hand calculator to determine your final output.

Personally, if I had a 190 watt panel with a VMP of 20.4 and a Renogy panel with a VMP of 17.6 I would use two Victron controllers. If I wasn’t currently cramped in our camper I’d do the math for you, but it’s really something that owners should do themselves.

Enjoy,

Perry
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Old 10-03-2022, 09:42 AM   #36
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It defaults to the lower VMP, but both panels will provide power. There is a loss of power, but still more than the GoPower will provide.

This blog post from Explorist Life explains the math involved. You may need to read this 4-5 times and then have a paper, pencil (not pen), and a hand calculator to determine your final output.

Personally, if I had a 190 watt panel with a VMP of 20.4 and a Renogy panel with a VMP of 17.6 I would use two Victron controllers. If I wasn’t currently cramped in our camper I’d do the math for you, but it’s really something that owners should do themselves.

Enjoy,

Perry

Thanks Perry, that link was helpful although I'm so electrically challenged it's all still daunting. I realized that multiple solar panels arrays and multiple battery banks are somewhat similar in that mixing sizes isn't necessarily the best way to go. But you answered my biggest questions which after watching video's and reading on-line articles, I hadn't found anything to explain the mechanics. I have enough room to put in a second controller and if I feel it's necessary I may do that.


I really appreciate the help,
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Old 10-06-2022, 09:38 AM   #37
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Years ago I added solar to my Scamp. I decided then that I wanted the positive lead from the solar panel be protected to prevent a bare hot lead touching the ground. Not sure if that was necessary, but I preferred that the bare lead at the end of the cord to be negative.
Turns out that was just right for directly plugging into the connector on our Escape.
So, on our standalone panel (no converter involved) our bare connector is negative and the covered connector is positive, and matches the tested voltages on our Escape connector.
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Old 10-06-2022, 09:52 AM   #38
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Years ago I added solar to my Scamp. I decided then that I wanted the positive lead from the solar panel be protected to prevent a bare hot lead touching the ground. Not sure if that was necessary, but I preferred that the bare lead at the end of the cord to be negative.
Turns out that was just right for directly plugging into the connector on our Escape.
So, on our standalone panel (no converter involved) our bare connector is negative and the covered connector is positive, and matches the tested voltages on our Escape connector.

I checked the port with a volt meter and verified mine is wired the same as yours.



I have the full solar / lithium package and discovered yesterday that my solar port doesn't appear to be connected the charge controller which is contrary to what I was told by Escape and the wiring diagrams they sent. Bypasses the controller, goes directly to the battery, and explain why, on the few occasions occasions I've used the solar suitcase, I didn't see a change in readings on the Victron app. I've contacted Escape and will do more investigation to see if I missed something, but that's my situation at the moment.
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