Community Forums

rcatter · 04-14-2011, 06:59 AM

2003 Dutch Star

Our coach has a solar panel on the roof. It has the little round guage / light on the dash for the solar which wasn't lighting. So I have been trying to figure out what the deal was. What I have found is that in the cabinet where the 50amp cable stores is a coil of wire that is tied up on the left side of the compartment that is labled "solar prep" and not plugged / wired into anything. There is no solar controller located in there. The panel on the roof is pretty small so I am ssuming it is a 5 watt.

Thoughts?

bigskymt · 04-14-2011, 08:51 AM

The 'solar prep' wires run to the roof so you can add solar panels. The small red light indicates the 5 watt panel on the roof is charging the engine batteries.

At least thats the case on my 04 KSDP.

rcatter · 04-14-2011, 09:16 AM

Mine has a solar panel on the roof. Close to the front sort of over the driver's area. It's almost like they did everything but wire the cable inside the compartment to whereever it is supposed to connect. I am not real sure where to start here.

I am guessing that if the panel is hooked up to these wires I found that I should get some voltage through the wires if I hookup a test meter? Should the light in the dash be lit even if the end pint wires are not connected to batteries?

"007" · 04-14-2011, 11:54 AM

rcatter, as bigsky said the wires in compartment are for larger solar panels. They maybe heavier wires also than 5 amp panel has.
The 5 amp small panel everyone has for chassis battery's.
Have to lookup wiring hookup for 5 not sure there is a fuse or you have a wiring problem with it.

rcatter · 04-14-2011, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by "007"

rcatter, as bigsky said the wires in compartment are for larger solar panels. They maybe heavier wires also than 5 amp panel has.
The 5 amp small panel everyone has for chassis battery's.
Have to lookup wiring hookup for 5 not sure there is a fuse or you have a wiring problem with it.

Now I understand. I was thinking those were the wires to the panel on my roof. I have both big books that came with the coach but do not see any diagram that shows the wiring for the 5w panel. The red light on the dash isn't lighting so I need to troubleshoot for sure. Nice mystery here.

Thanks

Romeo · 04-14-2011, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rcatter

2003 Dutch Star
Our coach has a solar panel on the roof. It has the little round guage / light on the dash for the solar which wasn't lighting.
Thoughts?

I have noticed that my solar panel LED is dark when not in the sunlight, not charging, and lit when charging in the sunlight. I suspect that the LED may be dark when the batteries are charged, although this I have not bothered to verify by taking notice when I know the batteries are charged.

I have found this to be the case when the coach has been garaged or covered with the coach cover.

Maybe this will help...

GaryKD · 04-14-2011, 01:03 PM

Hi rcatter,
The red light can burn out, Mine did. I took out the component and discovered voltage was still passing through to the batteries! I did end up replacing the component, but it was just a matter of me wanting to see when the solar panel is passing voltage to the chassis batteries. Consider removing the component holding the red light, from the dash. Take a VDC reading from the wires on the back of the component. It may be just a burned out light.

RetiredBob · 04-14-2011, 03:25 PM

Interesting. I have the small solar panel on the roof, but it definitely was not charging the chassis battery this winter in Gulf Shores--and we had lots of sun. The chassis battery regularly discharged even though plugged into shore power (the BIRD wasn't operating properly, this has since been fixed). Also, to the best of my recollection, I don't have an indicator light on the dash for the solar panel.

Jol912 · 04-14-2011, 05:35 PM

I recently noticed the light on my dash was not lit. Ask the service tech at the rv shop to check it out while I was having other service done. He was not any help! In fact he created more service work! The service tech must not have been familiar with it and went upon the roof and tried to pry up the solar panel on one corner, broke it, and several days of rain later, finished his report that the panel is full of water and probably shorted out the light. My panel was not broke before since I checked it out myself. Now I have to replace the solar panel along with finding out what's wrong with the light! Of course the owner of the rv shop denies any wrong doing and will not cover the cost of replacement. My last time to go there and would not recommend them to anyone. By the way, CoachWorkx, in Clearwater, Florida is their name. BEWARE if you use them!

"007" · 04-14-2011, 05:55 PM

Other coach's have same solar panel, I had one on a Bounder, this thread has a couple of wiring diagrams that may or not be how ours are wired.
My LED has always been on during sunny days would flicker if driving under tree limbs.

rcatter · 04-14-2011, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jol912

My last time to go there and would not recommend them to anyone. By the way, CoachWorkx, in Clearwater, Florida is their name. BEWARE if you use them!

I am not far from you. Down in St.Pete. Have you tried PMS (preventative maintenance service) off of 49th and 126th? They were a big help to me a couple of weeks ago right after I bought our unit. Had water in one if the front oil bath hubs that needed repair. And while i was there i asked them to check an air leak i kept hearing turned out to be a faulty leveling valve they had me back on the road in less than half a day Service was really good and the labor was reasonable.

Jol912 · 04-14-2011, 07:10 PM

Thanks for the reference. They are really close to me and I will definitely check them out. I was so disappointed with CoachWorkx. They kept our coach over 5 weeks for just a front end stabilizer and paint touch up. I will say the paint job was fantastic, but the rest was horrible service. They took advantage of us since we live here and kept servicing snow birds leaving the area first, always had another new excuse. I'm now looking for a solar panel replacement before summer rains are here. Coach had lots of water coming thru the vents a few weeks ago during our week of heavy rain. Never had a leak before my adventure with CoachWorkx!

rcatter · 04-14-2011, 07:30 PM

Not sure what chassis you have but these guys are Spartan authorized which is nice for me. Southeast Cummins in Tampa will not do any chassis work. I bought the coach at Dustys and they don't do chassis service either.

rcatter · 04-14-2011, 07:33 PM

Thanks everyone for the replies on the Solar. I am going to take some time this weekend and try to see what's going on with it. It has peaked my curiosity as they say...