Where is the solar panel light?

Kneticnrg · 02-04-2014, 09:02 PM

I have searched all over the coach and this site as well as my manuals and cannot for the life of me figure out where the solar panel indicator light is located.

I have a 2002 Brave 32V Workhorse. Anyone know where it is?

Thanks!

Jbmsr · 02-04-2014, 09:15 PM

There is a red LED on the coach's monitor panel that is supposed to light up

Herman Snerd · 02-04-2014, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kneticnrg

I have searched all over the coach and this site as well as my manuals and cannot for the life of me figure out where the solar panel indicator light is located.

I have a 2002 Brave 32V Workhorse. Anyone know where it is?

Thanks!

Not sure on your exact coach, but I went through the same "search mission" with mine a while back! :-) I finally found it way back/up in the battery/power cord compartment behind the inverters.

Had to get on my hands-and-knees to see it. Try looking there.

vsheetz · 02-04-2014, 09:50 PM

Mine is a solar panel built into the front AC unit. The indicator light is on the ceiling air vent for the AC unit.

cbeierl · 02-04-2014, 09:53 PM

Are you sure you have a solar panel? According the to 2002 Brave brochure the solar panel was optional.

If you have it, I would expect the Solar Charging light to be in the upper left of the monitor panel as shown on page 4 of the Holding Tank Monitor Panel for your coach.

Alan17 · 02-05-2014, 02:10 AM

I have a 1995 itasca suncruiser. It it wired for the small factory solar panel and has the connector up on the roof to plug in the solar panel but I can not find the charge indicator light anywhere inside. I have seen different motorhomes with the little round bezel with the red charge light mounted on a wall or on the ceiling AC air return but have not found one in my MH. It would make since that if it was wired that he light would be somewhere.

NeilV · 02-05-2014, 09:45 AM

I have the 2001 Adventurer which should be similar. If the solar panel was installed by Winnebago then the indicator light should be inn the OnePlace Panel where the tank monitors, generator hour meter, water pump switch, gas water heater panel and Power Management is located. Winnebago was starting to put everything they could in one central place to make finding things easier.

Did you see a solar panel on the roof? They were optional on the Brave and there is no mention of them in the Braves owners manual in 2002 nor is the indicator light shown in any of the close-up photos of the OnePlace in either the brochure or operators manual.

Kneticnrg · 02-05-2014, 04:35 PM

I do have a solar panel on the roof. There is no light on my holding tank monitoring panel. Still cannot find a little red light…..

NeilV · 02-06-2014, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kneticnrg

I do have a solar panel on the roof. There is no light on my holding tank monitoring panel. Still cannot find a little red light…..

There may not be one then since no manual or brochure mentions its existence or has a photo of it. Is there anything in the black bag refering to the solar panel or its light?

TheToads · 02-08-2014, 08:48 AM

In the control panel of our 38J Adventurer the is a grouping for the batteries. In that grouping there is a small sign that says "solar panel charging when lit" and there is a little red light there. But that light only comes on if and when the solar panel is in fact charging. Hope that helps

CJBROWN · 03-04-2014, 11:33 PM

I have the small solar panel with indicator on the tank levels panel.

What I would like to know for sure is which battery bank is it connected to? House or chassis?

Wizard · 03-05-2014, 08:05 AM

Have you called Winnebago Customer service. They are real good about helping with things like that. You can also0 e-mail them.
Winnebago Industries

Kneticnrg · 03-06-2014, 08:05 AM

To follow up, I called Winnebago and they have no record of a solar panel, therefore it is a dealer/aftermarket installation. I know it works because as I was changing out my charger/converter for an upgraded model, I got sparks when my screwdriver touched a wire lug and the charger chassis. Covered up the solar panel and no more sparks and the LPG monitor light went out.

Thanks for your help, all.

bobmac · 03-06-2014, 08:19 AM

On my 09 Journey, the 10w panel is connected to the chassis battery through an 8 amp breaker in the rear compartment. Think the rationale for connecting to the chassis battery is to maximize the chance of the battery being able to start the coach after an extended period. Mine works reasonably well and seems to offset residual drain on the coach battery with the disconnect switch off. You could confirm which yours is connected to by checking the wiring diagrams for the LPG detector.
I recently had to replace a slide controller and couldn't find where it was located. I called Winnebago and found it was in the left rear electrical compartment (with the inverter) buried behind the panel. Evidently, this is the preferred area for Winnebago for items connecting to the batteries. Removing the main and fuse panel provides easy access to the items there including the charge and coach disconnect solenoids and the solar connection.

CJBROWN · 03-06-2014, 10:47 AM

Hmmm...several comments here prompts:

I have not called winnebago, preferring to get direct response from actual owners or figure it out myself.

My solar panel was a factory build option - it's on the option list.

My suspicion is it is connected to the house batteries because they will show over 13volts during the day and the chassis battery will go flat over time.

So, I will likely trace the feed wire that comes through the refer stack and see if I can figure out where it ends up. Probably not going to be possible as there are too many wires under the fridge and I'll likely not be able to figure out where it goes. My preference would be to connect to the chassis batt as my plan is to install a few PV panels, probably 300-400 watts for charging the house batts.

I was hoping someone with a similar vintage, model, and had the optional trickle charger panel might know for which batt. I'm going to go look at the wiring diagrams for the unit documentation and see if perhaps it clarifies.

It would make total sense to connect it to the chassis batt, not the house. Unfortunately I think mine got put on the house batts.

cbeierl · 03-06-2014, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJBROWN

Hmmm...several comments here prompts:
...
So, I will likely trace the feed wire that comes through the refer stack and see if I can figure out where it ends up. Probably not going to be possible as there are too many wires under the fridge and I'll likely not be able to figure out where it goes. My preference would be to connect to the chassis batt as my plan is to install a few PV panels, probably 300-400 watts for charging the house batts.

I was hoping someone with a similar vintage, model, and had the optional trickle charger panel might know for which batt. I'm going to go look at the wiring diagrams for the unit documentation and see if perhaps it clarifies.

It would make total sense to connect it to the chassis batt, not the house. Unfortunately I think mine got put on the house batts.

Just a note that Winnebago labels every wire every few inches so by checking in the Wiring Identification Guide and the specific wiring diagrams for your coach at Winnebago Wiring Diagrams you should be able figure out which wire is which.

On my 2005 Vectra the solar panel charges the house batteries. Since I have added a Trik-L-Start to charge the chassis batteries whenever the coach batteries are being charged the solar panel charges both banks (but only a tiny bit, since it's only a 10W panel).

CJBROWN · 03-06-2014, 01:54 PM

Hey, that's pretty cool Chris - I was able to find the diagrams for my year and model, found the solar panel, traced the feed wires to the isolation solonoid and then to the coach batts.

All I'll have to do is move both wires (from the panel, to the batt) to the other side of the solonoid and they'll be on the chassis side then. Whoop!!

The problem is going to be getting to that solenoid...I think it's behind the chassis circuit breaker panel under the step. :(

CJBROWN · 03-06-2014, 03:42 PM

Okay so I took a look at this thing over lunch, the breaker panel under the step has two screws so you can remove the whole panel and behind it are the two solonoids - isolation for alternator and master house switch. Between the two there is a small gauge yellow wire coming into a plug-in fuse holder that is actually mounted to the house side of the isolator. I'm guessing that's it, just move it to the other side so it's on the chassis side when the ignition is off. I guess I'll have to remove it and put a meter on it during daylight to see if it has power after everything else is disconnected.

There's even a circuit breaker labeled 'solar panel' but both wires go into the loom, that must be for the indicator on the control panel.

Will report back what I find.

CJBROWN · 03-06-2014, 11:38 PM

Dug into this thing tonight...
Easily found the feed wire from the solar panel - it is a 10w factory option. I calc that to be .83ah. Why they connected it to the house batts I'll never understand - must be for storage maintenance. Anyway, all I had to do was move it to the chassis batt side of the isolator and it now charges the chassis batt. Easy peasy. Geez, for 10 years I've been putting a 2/6a charger on it.

Now I want some solar panels on the roof for the house batts.

I just put a new Iota DSL converter in yesterday - that is one slick unit!! It charges like a mutha, then drops off to float once the batteries are up. Should'a done that a LONG time ago too.

bruceisla · 03-07-2014, 06:05 AM

On my RV the solar charger is on the House Bats. The logic seems to be that if you can keep the House charged you can start the Genset and therefore charge the Chassis from the 120VAC/Charger or start the engine with the Boost Switch. Apparently, the House side has more parasitic draw than the Chassis.