Solar Panel Function ?

DandS · 11-11-2009, 03:27 PM

I have a small solar panel on the roof of my Canyon Star and an indicator light on my dash which indicates charging function. Neither my Owner's Manual nor the DVD given me at delivery say anything about this panel. I think it charges my chassis battery but I'm not 100% sure. If it is wired to my chassis battery and charges it, will I cause any harm if I hook a mtce. charger to the battery for storage purposes? The coach will be o/s so on sunny days it could be charging from both units.

Can anyone enlighten me as to the function and if I will cause a problem? Thanks.

LVJ58 · 11-11-2009, 03:46 PM

Dave, shouldn't be any problems, as when your engine is running, your alternator is charging the battery at a higher rate than your charger will. Those small battery maintainer solar panels usually have an line diode in to prevent current back flow.

Good luck, Jim

Luv2go · 11-11-2009, 05:52 PM

Dave, we have one also, I'm not sure which battery it goes to but I am sure there will be no problem connecting any kind of battery maintainer to your battery. As Jim said, the solar panel has a diode which prevents it from being damaged.

Note the Canyon Star has a BIRD, which connects the house and chassis battery together when either one is high enough, approximately 13.1V. It is located above the engine in our coach.

If it is working right, just plugging in the power cord and keeping the battery disconnect on should connect both batteries to the converter and keep them charged all winter. We leave the coach plugged in all winter this way, the batteries stay charged nicely

.

The manual for the BIRD is here: http://www.intellitec.com/PDF/5300362.100.pdf

Also, note I said "if" it works right. To check, measure the voltage across both big terminals of the relay on the right-hand side of the box (the smaller of the two relays) after you have been plugged in a while. There should be less than 0.2VDC. If there is more the BIRD or relay is bad (we went through 2 warranty replacement relays before we gave up and installed a bigger relay)

.

You can also measure across the coach and chassis batteries after you are plugged in for a while, they should both be 13.4 to 13.8VDC, and should be within 0.2V or so of each other.

Good Luck!
Stewart

Spikester · 11-11-2009, 05:57 PM

Dave, you are correct in your assumption, it is wired to your chassis battery. You will have no problems if you hook up a MTCE, circuit is protected.

Spike

Norm4015 · 11-11-2009, 07:28 PM

Newmar mounts a 5-watt solar panel on the roof to help maintain a fully charged chassis battery. There is no harm in connecting a charger to the battery with the solar panel still connected.

DandS · 11-11-2009, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luv2go

Note the Canyon Star has a BIRD, which connects the house and chassis battery together when either one is high enough, approximately 13.1V. It is located above the engine in our coach. If it is working right, just plugging in the power cord and keeping the battery disconnect on should connect both batteries to the converter and keep them charged all winter.

Stewart - I appreciate the information. The BIRD is another item not mentioned in my manual and not something I was told about at the dealer. I will check that out as an alternative to my mtce. charger. I had a Trik-L-Start unit on my Winnebago which performed the same function of tieing the batteries together and I was considering setting one up on this coach. Guess I don't need it! That being a nice feature, I can't imagine why Newmar doesn't put it in the manual.

Thanks to all for your responses - I guess my hunch was correct on the function of the solar panel. I learn something new every day.

edgray · 11-11-2009, 08:53 PM

DandS: If your CSCA has the Iota DLS55 converter like Newmar put in my 03 KSCA, then you should look into the optional IQ4. It is an inexpensive, simple plug in device that turns the standard converter into a "smart" charger. I did years ago, and my OE house batteries lasted 6 years. ED

DandS · 11-11-2009, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edgray

DandS: If your CSCA has the Iota DLS55 converter like Newmar put in my 03 KSCA, then you should look into the optional IQ4. It is an inexpensive, simple plug in device that turns the standard converter into a "smart" charger. I did years ago, and my OE house batteries lasted 6 years. ED

Appreciate the tip. As a matter of fact, I do have the DLS55 and ordered an IQ4 for it today! I was reading my manual on the converter and saw that option was available, got on-line and ordered one. Nice to hear I did the right thing.

Luv2go · 11-12-2009, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Stewart - I appreciate the information. The BIRD is another item not mentioned in my manual and not something I was told about at the dealer.

Glad I could help. Yes, most dealers don't know about it. One dealer we had our coach serviced at insisted that the chassis battery would never be charged by the coach charger. I ended up sending him the manual link I posted above before he believed me. Of course it was the owner that did not believe me, the tech knew all about it

.

Stewart

DandS · 11-12-2009, 08:49 AM

Stewart - Went out and poked around under the hood this morning and found the "BIRD" mounted above air cleaner on the firewall in a clear plastic box structure. Got my multi-tester and with everything on and plugged in checked and sure enough, after a delay of a couple minutes, both the coach and chassis battery were being charged (indicated by 13.5 V @ each battery). Guess I don't need to use my mtce. charger after all. These forums are great for the info gleaned. Thanks again.

towman 2004 · 11-12-2009, 10:18 AM

The standard Iota DLS55 is not meant for long term charging (over the winter) as it will keep a constant charge on the batteries. The batteries need to see a higher voltage like 14 volts about once a week to avoid sulfation build up on the plates. The IQ4 is designed to do this and I thought about adding it to my 04 KSDP with the DLS55 but decided to use two "Battery Minders" instead. Reason being you are charging two different banks of batteries (house 12 volt and chassis 6 volt) at the same time with the Iota DLS55 and IQ4. How can the unit differentiate between the two banks? One bank of batteries will charge differently than the other but they will get the same charging rate regardless. The IQ4 would be good for one bank but on most coaches both banks are wired to the DLS55. I researched the IQ 4 online and this issue was not addressed. All I could find was info one how great it was for one bank. The battery minders are about $40 each and do a great job for me. They use less electricity too!

Tony
2004 KSDP

69RoadRunner · 11-12-2009, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DandS

Got my multi-tester and with everything on and plugged in checked and sure enough, after a delay of a couple minutes, both the coach and chassis battery were being charged (indicated by 13.5 V @ each battery).

That's basically how I confirmed that my Magnum charger/inverter charges the chassis and house batteries when the generator is running.