Connecting portable solar to battery

[Shibumi]

Just returned from camping trip where I tried to connect my renogy solar panel to the trailer.

Alas, the port I had installed by Ecape to connect panel to batteries is NOT connected to the batteries. I thought Escape would do this step as they inquired whether my panel had controller or not .

Well, at least the wires are there, but I’m not sure what to connect where.

I’m sure this has been discussed somewhere but searching for topics leaves me somewhat 😴. So, apologies in advance for the duplication.

So, I have a 2019 21 with two 6v batteries with Escape-installed Solar panel on roof with controller/monitor mounted underneath dinette so you have to practically lay on the floor to see/read itfacepalm: I digress.

Batteries are “conveniently” located under dinette seat, rear passenger side corner. One battery is NOT easily accessed but that’s another story.

I’m sure this is something I’m capable of doing, just want to make sure I do it correctly. With four battery posts and one red and one black wire to attach and the controller for the roof and the controller on the portable being an issue, I need a picture (worth a 1000 words) to explain how this is done.

Thanking all in advance for your help. So glad this group is here when things like this come up!

Lisa

[Brian B-P]

The one aspect of this situation which is not clear to me is the controller for the portable panel: does it have its own controller, or are you going to use the trailer's controller for both panels? That will determine what you need to do, so people can give some specific guidance once we know that.

[dfandrews]

Lisa,
First the batteries: The two 6V batteries are wired in series to form, electrically, one 12V battery. That connection is the short cable between the negative terminal of one 6V and the positive terminal of the other 6V. So, that word picture (in less than a 1000 words) is {6V battery/short cable between/other 6V battery}, which is equivalent to a single 12V battery. Nothing else connects to these two terminals other than the short cable between the batteries.

You're left with the other battery posts, one on each battery. One is a "Negative", one is a "Positive", and should be labeled as such. Typically, there is a red cover on the positive. These two terminals are equivalent to the two terminals on a single 12V battery. All further discussion refers to only these two battery posts.

You mentioned that you have a portable panel with its own controller. IN this case then, it is a completely separate solar system from the rooftop Escape-installed system, so it connects directly to the batteries.
The output wires from the portable controller should be labeled "positive" and be colored red, and "negative" and be colored black. Positive attaches to the battery positive terminal, negative to the negative terminal of the other battery.
Edit: At this point, the 'how to' get from the controller outside to the batteries inside, requires more info. The port that you mentioned: does it have a mfr. or model name/number? Are there wires from it to the area near the batteries? Are the wires color coded or otherwise labeled?

[MyronL]

So, on your 21 batteries are inside the trailer, not outside, on the tongue? Is that something new from Escape? As I understand it your rooftop solar is pre-wired to the batteries inside and therefore functioning properly. But your (portable), Renology solar panels are on the ground outside, and have their own controller, so, how then, would she run wires from it to her batteries?

[quidoi]

howdy--- just take the black from that port and connect to the black(negative) post and red to positive from the unconnected port-- then just plug your panels in assuming the solar panels has built in solar controller--- perhaps show us a picture of your set up (worth 1000 words as well )

[MyronL]

Oh, so Escape added a solar port outside as extra, in addition to the rooftop solar, but didn't run the outside port wires to the battery inside. I get it now. (Nevermind.)

[John in Santa Cruz]

Originally Posted by MyronL

So, on your 21 batteries are inside the trailer, not outside, on the tongue? Is that something new from Escape? As I understand it your rooftop solar is pre-wired to the batteries inside and therefore functioning properly. But your (portable), Renology solar panels are on the ground outside, and have their own controller, so, how then, would she run wires from it to her batteries?

E21 dual 6V batteries are in a vented battery box under the curb side bench of the rear dinette.. this battery box has a vent hose to the outside.

this is mine, with the old (dead) batts before I replaced them. the curbside is on the top of the picture, and you can just see the vinyl corrugated vent hose at the top of the pic. the putty is around the wires to keep any outgassing of explosive hydrogen gas from getting into the trailer.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by dfandrews

You mentioned that you have a portable panel with its own controller.

I read and re-read Lisa's post, and it's not at all clear that the portable panel has its own controller... which is why I asked.

If it does have its own controller, then yes, the wiring from the inlet port should go directly to the batteries... or that controller can be removed and the Escape's built-in controller can handle both panels.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by MyronL

So, on your 21 batteries are inside the trailer, not outside, on the tongue? Is that something new from Escape?

All 21' (and 5.0TA) Escapes have always had the battery or batteries under the dinette; they have never been on the tongue of any Escape model other than the 19'.

[dfandrews]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

E21 dual 6V batteries are in a vented battery box under the curb side bench of the rear dinette.. this battery box has a vent hose to the outside.

this is mine, with the old (dead) batts before I replaced them. the curbside is on the top of the picture, and you can just see the vinyl corrugated vent hose at the top of the pic. the putty is around the wires to keep any outgassing of explosive hydrogen gas from getting into the trailer.

Great 1000 word reply, there, John. It's complete with "red/labeled positive" to positive terminal, and, "black/labeled negative", and the short cable between the two batteries.


Now the question: does she have a Zamp port, or one of the other mfr's, which may be different or coded backwards from Zamp's routine??


P.S. "Congratulations on promotion to Site Team!! (At least I hope it's "pro").

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by quidoi

howdy--- just take the black from that port and connect to the black(negative) post and red to positive from the unconnected port-- then just plug your panels...

Not so fast! This assumes that black is negative and red is positive, but that's not a safe assumption; it depends on the wiring of the connector on the panel's cable and of the inlet port (the Zamp versus other manufacturers issue that Don described).

[Vermilye]

Originally Posted by Shibumi

Just returned from camping trip where I tried to connect my renogy solar panel to the trailer.

Alas, the port I had installed by Ecape to connect panel to batteries is NOT connected to the batteries. I thought Escape would do this step as they inquired whether my panel had controller or not .

Well, at least the wires are there, but I’m not sure what to connect where.

I’m sure this has been discussed somewhere but searching for topics leaves me somewhat ��. So, apologies in advance for the duplication.

So, I have a 2019 21 with two 6v batteries with Escape-installed Solar panel on roof with controller/monitor mounted underneath dinette so you have to practically lay on the floor to see/read itfacepalm: I digress.

Batteries are “conveniently” located under dinette seat, rear passenger side corner. One battery is NOT easily accessed but that’s another story.

I’m sure this is something I’m capable of doing, just want to make sure I do it correctly. With four battery posts and one red and one black wire to attach and the controller for the roof and the controller on the portable being an issue, I need a picture (worth a 1000 words) to explain how this is done.

Thanking all in advance for your help. So glad this group is here when things like this come up!

Lisa

In general, Escape connects the solar port to the existing solar controller if there is one (for those that have the on board solar option) and leaving the wires unconnected if you don't have on board solar. In the past they have connected the port to the batteries, but I don't believe that are currently doing that. If they asked you whether your portable panel has a controller, and you said yes, it is likely they did not connect the solar port to anything.

Determining what they actually did would require chasing the wiring to be sure. If the solar port is not connected to anything, you have a choice. It can be connected to the input of the Escape provided solar controller (in parallel with the rooftop panel), in which case you would bypass any controller built into the portable panel.

If you wish to use the portable panel's controller, connect the solar port to the batteries. Use the same connections that the converter goes to, ie the positive to the connection that the 40 - 50 amp fuse is connected to & the negative to the negative terminal of the other battery. I'd also add a 20 - 30 amp fuse in the positive connection to protect the wiring.

An additional concern is the manufacturers of portable solar panels have different ideas of what the polarity of the SAE (ZAMP) connector should be. Renogy & ZAMP use the opposite polarity. Depending on who they purchased the SAE (ZAMP) flush mount connector from (the connector Escape installs for portable panels), the wire colors may or may not match your panel. It would be wise to check the polarity rather than just following the wire colors.

On Edit - Sorry to be repeating much of what has already been said...

[John in Santa Cruz]

I might note, in my setup, the factory solar (thats its controller at the lower edge near the left) is not wired directly to the batteries, but rather wired to where the battery cables connect to the power center, which is under the rear bench of my U shaped dinette towards the street side.

here's the back of my power center, you can see the ground stud where all the black/negative wires terminate, this includes the ones from the battery and the solar controller... the red/positive wires from both the battery and solar go to the thermal breakers just to the left of the power center and partially obscured. I took this picture to show the wiring I'd added for my USB/Cigar/Powerpole outlets so the factory wiring is somewhat obfuscated by my overlaid wiring.

[Perry Butler]

Originally Posted by Brian B-P

Not so fast! This assumes that black is negative and red is positive, but that's not a safe assumption; it depends on the wiring of the connector on the panel's cable and of the inlet port (the Zamp versus other manufacturers issue that Don described).

The Zamp port is colored backwards. I never have seen a good explaination why Zamp colors their wires backwards. When I purchased the Renogy portable and Zamp port, I was sent a reversing plug. Didn't want to go that back asswards way, so the first thing I did was wrap the black wire from the Zamp port with red tape and the red wire with black tape.

Enjoy,

Perry