Solar panels and TV audio out

[macstonedude]

I (we) have a question regarding the solar panels used on our 1999 Tradewinds 7370. I cannot find any control panel for it. I find a 5A fuse on the fuse panel but nothing else. Isn't there a control panel that monitors the battery voltage and allows/disallows battery charging? Where is it? If no panel, then how do I know if the panels are working or not?

On an unrelated question, how do I get the audio out of the TV to work thru the speaker system that exists in the coach? Anyone done this? It appears we have to use the disk changer input on the dash-mounted entertainment system.

[two2go]

If you have the small solar panel (probable with a 5 amp fuse), there is probably no controller. The panel current feeds the battery directly when the sun is shining and the low output (5 to 10 watts) barely covers the battery self-discharge rate, so little likelihood of overcharging. There should be diodes in the circuit to prevent discharge back into the solar panel at night. Later NRVs had a LED on the control panel to indicate when the panel was working. Mine never did. Found out the panel was dead, so I put a 50 watt panel on the roof. I put a thread on here a couple of years back about my replacement. To test the panel, disconnect the house and chassis batteries. Find a terminal on the fuse for the solar panel, if possible, and check with a voltage meter. You need to make sure you have a ground test point that is common with the panel. If no luck there, You will have to go up to the roof and test. It would be best to follow the circuit from the roof testing all the way to the batteries to be sure it is complete.
About the TV sound, you would have to amplify your TV out signal if it is line-level, not speaker level (changes with the TV volume). If your sound system has an auxiliary input, running an audio cable pair from the TV out to the aux input should do the trick.
Hope this helps a bit.