Zamp Port problem June 15 to Oct 6

[Eggscape]

George on Facebook was kind enough to share that he received an email from Escape that trailers build between June 15 and Oct 6 may have the Zap Port wired incorrectly.

Please check your spam if you received a new trailer with a Zap Port between those dates but have yet to see an email.

[DT6]

The bad thing about this is that Escape is limiting a repair to $50 (US). While it may take 15 to 20 minutes to fix it, most shops where I live have a minimum charge of 30 minutes, which is more than $50 (most here are $85 or more).

First, this is another example of poor ETI workmanship. The wiring installation on the assembly line should be straight forward and it was obviously not followed correctly. If it was installed per the manufactures instruction, then ETI should go after the manufacturer for reimbursement.

THE BURDEN SHOULD NOT BE PLACED ON THE OWNER in either case. This is another example of ETI not doing their job and trying to get someone else to pay for their lack of training and/or proper workmanship and inspection.

So to make up for all the inflated bills ETI had to pay for the Suburban Stove-Top installation (which they could have avoided if ETI had done a bit of homework before initially issuing a blanket reimbursement policy), they are trying to artificially limit the reimbursement at a level that no RV shop will do the job for. I realize there are a lot of RV shops out there that try to take advantage, so it is fair to have a policy in place for a fair and reasonable price, but $50 was likely not enough 10 years ago and certainly is not enough today.

[Rossue]

Watch it- someone may flag that slag

[Telescopist]

Originally Posted by Rossue

Watch it- someone may flag that slag

[Jim Bennett]

In my way of thinking, that while a mistake is never a good thing, Escape did own up and let folks know. I would imagine it was wired backwards. To change the polarity by swapping leads would be a real quick and easy fix. I installed a Zamp port on my trailer and noted that the polarity is backwards to how most would install a portable panel. I guess it works right with Zamp products.

Is it something else?

[nepaweb]

This is not a wholly new occurrence. My 2020 trailer came with the Zamp port wired directly to the batteries rather than through the on board solar controller. I discovered this while checking the polarity on the Zamp port and doing some other electrical troubleshooting.
This hasn't been a huge issue for me as my portable panel already has a controller which I would have needed to bypass had the Zamp port been wired to the onboard controller.

Future plans call for an upgraded solar controller and I will likely rewire the system at that time.

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...23-,6,-nepaweb

[Eggscape]

That is good to know. Maybe people should check the proper operation and wiring configuration of the Zap Port before using it no matter what the model year.

Here is a little video Escape did that might help.

Video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn7w...=EscapeTrailer

[beebobby]

Originally Posted by nepaweb

This is not a wholly new occurrence. My 2020 trailer came with the Zamp port wired directly to the batteries rather than through the on board solar controller. I discovered this while checking the polarity on the Zamp port and doing some other electrical troubleshooting.
This hasn't been a huge issue for me as my portable panel already has a controller which I would have needed to bypass had the Zamp port been wired to the onboard controller.

Future plans call for an upgraded solar controller and I will likely rewire the system at that time.

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...23-,6,-nepaweb

Exactly my situation. Gonna leave it as is and use my 100w Renogy suitcase/co ntroller into the Zamp.

[DT6]

I emailed Samual at ETI and stated that no repair facility will do this for $50 and they should re-issue their letter stating that they will pay a shop minimum fee - whatever that is - and if there is an issue with that, then the owner should call ETI to discuss. That way the warranty actually means something (e.g. they will cover the cost of the repair, not part of it), and those who do not wish to do this can have it done without it costing anything.

Samual provided a disappointing response. I say disappointing in that rather than re-send the notification saying the $50 maximum was unrealistic, they are only going to address it if an owner notifies them. Here is his response: "Rather than issuing a new letter, Dave will answer each customer request regarding a higher quote individually. In your case you asked if we would reimburse a minimum labor charge of 85$. I enquired and Dave agreed on that. We will just need a receipt." So why leave customers with the impression that you will only reimburse a maximum of $50 when you will actually agree to pay a reasonable shop charge?

I also asked about the warranty implications if someone decided to do this themselves, since their initial letter seemed to encourage owners to do the repair themselves. Granted it seems straightforward, but what if someone did it incorrectly and it caused damage. Who pays? ETI said they will get back to me with an answer to that. I'll post it when I receive it.

There is another post titled "Gumption Trap" that was just posted today, but it goes I think to the poor workmanship a lot of us have been seeing from our newer ETI units. A sad trend with no indication that ETI is aware of it or doing anything about it.

[tacchino]

Originally Posted by nepaweb

This is not a wholly new occurrence. My 2020 trailer came with the Zamp port wired directly to the batteries rather than through the on board solar controller. I discovered this while checking the polarity on the Zamp port and doing some other electrical troubleshooting.
This hasn't been a huge issue for me as my portable panel already has a controller which I would have needed to bypass had the Zamp port been wired to the onboard controller.

Future plans call for an upgraded solar controller and I will likely rewire the system at that time.

https://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f...23-,6,-nepaweb

My 2020 was the same.


If the problem is just that it's wired backwards people might consider just picking up a polarity reversing adapter. I ended up with this one: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Ooshkaboo]

Everyone gets confused by the Zamp wiring, seems the installer was no different.

It might be getting difficult to find skilled workers with so many young men spending much of their youth playing video games.

I have found that those who haven’t worked in the construction business and possess little skills themselves can be difficult to please or be understanding when issues arise.

When asked if I could do some work for someone I always refer them to a good worker I know. I’ve heard so many stories from various tradesmen going into some peoples homes…
I only work on what’s mine, keeps the complaint’s to a minimum.

[SRS]

Originally Posted by tacchino

My 2020 was the same.


If the problem is just that it's wired backwards people might consider just picking up a polarity reversing adapter. I ended up with this one: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is not a polarity issue. This is an issue where the Zamp port wiring, both positive and negative, go directly to the battery bypassing the solar controller. Attaching a solar panel without a controller in this situation could cook your batteries, particularly if they are lead-acid.


The attached photo shows how mine was wired from the factory with the battery out wires from the victron controller going to the Wago blocks where two other pairs of wires are attached. One pair goes to the batteries and the other from the Zamp port.

[tacchino]

Yep, understood. Mine was wired directly as well. I installed a second small controller to manage my portables

[SRS]

Originally Posted by tacchino

Yep, understood. Mine was wired directly as well. I installed a second small controller to manage my portables

I rewired mine so the zamp went through the Victron controller. Then I tested the system to try and duplicate a shaded roof panel with the suitcase in full sun. The test confirmed my suspicion the the weakest panel affects the whole system when in parallel, in this case the roof solar, and the charging was pretty meager. Amazon had a sale on Renogy's waterproof PWM controller, which should be good enough for my 100 watt Renogy solar suitcase, so I wired the system back the way it was when it was delivered August 1, 2022. The same test as above, but with the solar suitcase having it's own controller, produced much better results.


While I was at it, I installed a breaker for the roof solar. Very handy for easily shutting down solar charging.

[MVA]

It appears the installer though the end user would have a portable solar panel with a built-in controller. ()

[Eggscape]

Originally Posted by MVA

It appears the installer though the end user would have a portable solar panel with a built-in controller. ()

Or did not know this was for solar at all. Maybe they thought it was a power port.

[George n Mary]

I am rethinking rewiring my trailer and would like to know if I am understanding this correctly.

Given perfect sun conditions just to understand the workings correctly. Having a 200 watt panel and a 100 watt panel run through the same controller would net, in total 200 watts of benefit to the battery, correct?

And if we have the same 200 watt panel run through it's own controller and the 100 watt panel run through it's own controller, both connected to the same battery the total benefit would be 300 watts, correct?

[SRS]

Originally Posted by George n Mary

I am rethinking rewiring my trailer and would like to know if I am understanding this correctly.

Given perfect sun conditions just to understand the workings correctly. Having a 200 watt panel and a 100 watt panel run through the same controller would net, in total 200 watts of benefit to the battery, correct?

And if we have the same 200 watt panel run through it's own controller and the 100 watt panel run through it's own controller, both connected to the same battery the total benefit would be 300 watts, correct?

I’ll try to answer your questions but bear in mind, I’m new at this myself and still trying to understand this solar stuff. To answer the first part of the question you’ll have to do some math. Someone else on this forum gave me the below link and the person who wrote the article also did a video covering the same topic. You may need to read it a few times like I did to understand it and you’ll need to get electrical specifications for each of your panels to do the calculations.


https://www.explorist.life/using-mis...r-panel-sizes/


After doing the math for my system I came up with 90% efficiency for my system which includes a 190 watt roof panel and a 100 watt solar suitcase sharing (in parallel) the same controller. So, in full sun and perfect alignment, I should get 261 watts of output.
The answer to the second part of your question, I believe the answer is yes.

[Eggscape]

I think the key words are “in full sun and perfect alignment”. There are lots of variables in a flat roof top solar panel and personally with the testing in my Canadian location of a 180 panel on the ground flat, (and clean) I could never get anywhere near 90%. The difference between horizontal and pointed directly at the sun is outstanding. I would say that a 100 watt panel pointed at the sun will sometimes come close to the output of a roof top unit unless the sun is directly overhead.

[Vermilye]

The result of combining panels depends on many factors, enough that I'd not want to predict the result. If the rooftop panels & the added portable panel produce the same voltage and feed the same controller, their output will be the sum of the wattage.

The problem is the panel voltages can be different for a number of reasons; the design of the panels, shade on one or the other, angle to the sun, etc. In general, a lower voltage panel will load or pull down the voltage of the higher panel, reducing its output. It will rarely be enough to end up producing less wattage than either panel, ie adding a panel to the same controller will almost always add wattage or output.

For a real world example, I have modified the mounts for my Escape installed rooftop panels, (2 160 watt panels) so that they can be tilted to the proper angle for winter in Quartzsite, AZ. I carry a 300 watt portable panel that produces about a volt higher voltage than the rooftop panels. All feed the same Victron 100/50 controller. In theory, I should see around 46 amps at 13.5V, going into near empty batteries (3 100 amp hour lithiums) however the best I've seen on a cold, clear January day is around 39 amps. I doubt I'd do better with the cheap controller that came with the portable panel connected directly to the batteries, but to be honest, I haven't tried.