Solar panel is hooked up and working!

[ruscal]

Properly crimped connections work well in dry locations. If moisture is allowed to wick into the splice oxidation could build on the surface of the wire and connector. The joint will get a fuzzy appearance. In theory this could cause resistance and subsequent voltage drop and in worst case an open circuit. This could happen with crimp on connectors, Scotchloks, wire nuts, wound wire splices, etc. Even the 7 pin set screw connectors could be subject to moisture.
Wire nuts made for outdoor use are filled with "goop", and dielectric grease can be used on the set screw type connectors. I solder and shrink all my automotive connections and have had no failures so far, but I'm only 67 so it still could happen.
Russ

[carlkeigley]

Any one got an aspirin?..........lol.

This as set me back to 'industrial electronics' school. lol.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by ruscal

.......... I solder and shrink all my automotive connections and have had no failures so far, but I'm only 67 so it still could happen.
Russ

Give this man a ceeee-gar!

[GMike A]

And the winner is Soldacrimpador or Crimpadorsol. Go with what works for you.

the ultimate answer on solder vs crimp - Electrical-battery- Alternators- Wiring - SMD Forum

[Gina D.]

everyone will give you a different argument. I personally solder and shrink. In my electronics manufacturing and then my RV tech days, I saw MANY crimped connections fail..and not a single solder connection fail in an RV. (Electronics..thats another story!)

That said, I try to solder all my own stuff, but I often live off grid and so crimping is my only quick option. I know how to do it correctly (You would be surprised how many don't) and have only had 1 failure.

To the OP..good job. I did something similar with my Burro solar panels and do the same with my Leocraft for my portable panels. I use an ASC controller and it CAN be put in the battery box. It is 100% potted so no interior components are exposed to battery corrosion. I do have to clean the exterior connections once a year or so.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Gina D.

........ In my electronics manufacturing and then my RV tech days, I saw MANY crimped connections fail..and not a single solder connection fail..................

My experience, too.

[Raz]

Be it soldered or crimped, tinned wire is good protection against corrosion. I find most wire sold at the parts store/ hardware store, usually refered to as primary (wire) is not tinned. Ask and they won't have a clue. No matter how good you seal, water seems to find a way in. Raz

[Paul Braun]

I am wondering what the wiring pin outs would be used on the vehicle side 7 pin connector that Mike is using for his solar panel. The Sunguard controller has a red and black wire coming out. Mike is using the vehicle side to connect to the trailer side 7 pin Bargman that Escape provides. One pin will be a ground for the black wire and other the charge battery pin for the red wire. I cannot figure out what pins to use.

[Frederick L. Simson]

Originally Posted by Paul Braun

One pin will be a ground for the black wire and other the charge battery pin for the red wire. I cannot figure out what pins to use.

You need to connect the Black wire to pin #1 and the Red wire to pin #4.

[Paul Braun]

I can't tell from the diagram, is this an image of the connector on the trailer side or the vehicle side? They are reverse locations depending on which side.

[GMike A]

Originally Posted by Paul Braun

I can't tell from the diagram, is this an image of the connector on the trailer side or the vehicle side? They are reverse locations depending on which side.

Most connectors have numbers on them.
Attached is a picture from the car side which has male contact studs.

[rabbit]

Originally Posted by ThomasG.

I know that generally it is recommended to put the controller close to the battery, but using heavier wiring would help to mitigate the controller being on panel from being a problem

Mitigation of amateur misinterpretation was pretty good at Elk Neck St. Pk., Northeast MD. over the weekend. Clear weather Fri., Sat., Sun. The usual use of water pump, lights, range hood, roof fan and approx. 3 hrs. of TV news on inverter-powered AC television over 2-1/2 days. Resting voltage on group 27 was 12.58V when we got home. I'm going to stick with the controller on the panel. Now that I'm retired, Byron's configuration is attractive for car battery charge maintenance. Have to make up another flat connector pigtail for that. And I'll stick with the 12/3 SJ cable despite the extra conductor because it was free for the taking and appears to be producing charge maintenance and recovery adequate to my purpose.

jack

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by rabbit

Mitigation of amateur misinterpretation was pretty good at Elk Neck St. Pk., Northeast MD. over the weekend. ...........

jack

Way to go. Watch the mail for your Jr. Electrical Engineer aka "Sparky" merit badge.

[rabbit]

Oh definitely "sparky" in my case; forever touching a live wire of misinfo; not sufficiently grounded in the basics I fear. Or the esoterics? Or perhaps etherics?

jack

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by GMike A

Most connectors have numbers on them.
Attached is a picture from the car side which has male contact studs.

That was a very good diagram you posted. I had the same doubts when I was hooking mine up. Once I thought I had the right ones figured out on the trailer end, I went out and tested those two with a voltmeter. Assured that I had it correct, I then marked with red and black sharpie markers the mirror-image prongs on the plug I would be wiring. Having such a good diagram would have made it simpler.

[kdhanso]

Thanks to Mike Magee for sharing your solar setup. After reading this I went ahead and ordered the same panel and controller. They arrived yesterday and in short order I had the same power cord spliced in and had the panel charging my battery. I didn't do the 7 pin uption as I recently added this battery box Cabela's: Cabela's Battery Box and made my connection to the external battery posts.

[Paul Braun]

Something I am not understanding on Mike's design is the charging process. Maybe I am missing something. The Sunguard controller can function as a stand alone charger? Is that correct?

If we are putting the solar power through the trailer side connector are we not using the charger on or in the trailer to do the charging? My Escape uses a WFCO Ultra III distribution center. One of the comments I have read about the charging portion of this device is it is slow to charge. Or, becasue we are using the power line normally used for charging from the tow vehicle, is the trailer charger bypassed.

On a related note, is there a method to measure what charge you are getting and what charge you have after finishing. I am aware that taking a measurement just after completeing a charge will give higher readings due to the topping off feature. I have an inexpensive Equus as shown below and a multi tester but not the knowledge of where and when to test.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Paul Braun

Something I am not understanding on Mike's design is the charging process. Maybe I am missing something. The Sunguard controller can function as a stand alone charger? Is that correct?

If we are putting the solar power through the trailer side connector are we not using the charger on or in the trailer to do the charging? My Escape uses a WFCO Ultra III distribution center. One of the comments I have read about the charging portion of this device is it is slow to charge. Or, because we are using the power line normally used for charging from the tow vehicle, is the trailer charger bypassed.

On a related note, is there a method to measure what charge you are getting and what charge you have after finishing. I am aware that taking a measurement just after completing a charge will give higher readings due to the topping off feature. I have an inexpensive Equus as shown below and a multi tester but not the knowledge of where and when to test.

You can (and should) wire the trailer so that the on-board converter, the tow vehicle and the solar panel all connect to the battery. Whichever source has the highest voltage will charge the battery.

To measure the charging you need to use an ammeter. I wired in one when I made a control panel, but you can use a multimeter to measure current flow. I have a disconnect switch on my battery and it is possible to put the multimeter leads across the the terminals when the switch is in the off position, and measure current flow.

One of many on Youtube:

How To Use A Multimeter - YouTube

[ShawnKK]

Mike, I didn't catch where you bought your solar set up. Anyway you could turn me on to where you got yours? I am not that far to get one now (still working on ac) but My baby will be sitting in the sun everyday and I think it might be a good ideal to have a solar setup and run my vent during the hottest part of the day. Thanks Mike!

[jwcolby54]

A couple of things here.
1) As Thomas mentioned, a 50' cord is 100 feet of wire, 50 foot there and 50 feet back.
2) "The current" is NOT being delivered. The current is being wasted as heat (power loss).
To make the math easy to understand assume that the battery is a 1 Ohm load and the solar panel is delivering 12 V. Put 12 volts across a 1 ohm load = 12 amps. I = E/R. Now add .1 ohm resistance in the wire as loss (just an example). The wire is placed in series with the original load and so the resulting load is 1.1 ohms. 12V / 1.1 Ohm = 10.909 amps. You have just "lost" .9 amps. Where did it go? To heat loss.
3) And finally solder is an excellent conductor, assuming you are not using plumbing solder.

http://et.nmsu.edu/~etti/fall97/electronics/solder.html

Solder is a tin (or silver) / lead mix.
The flux in electrical solders help the wire surfaces to "wet" with the solder and form an immaculate electrical connection. Solder also absolutely 100% prevents poor connections in the crimp since there is no crimp. Poor connections lose power in... high resistance... which causes... heat.

I had an electrician come in to look at my power panel in my home. The lights would dim when stuff turned on around the house. It turns out that every screw in the panel (to each individual breaker) had loosened over the years. The main power cable from the power company is a massive thing which came into a massive screw. It too was loose. The black plastic block around the screw was MELTED from the heat generated from the poor connection.

Obviously this is an extreme example, but it amply demonstrates the issue behind the scenes. Crimps will never be as good as a soldered connection. They will ALWAYS corrode over time. Heat causes them to flex. Flexing causes the connection to slowly deteriorate. Poor connection causes resistance which causes heat (which is power loss), which causes more flexing causing worse connection and so a vicious cycle ensues. A poor connection also allows oxidation of the wire surface (corrosion). Corrosion causes resistance, which causes heat, which causes (is) power loss which feeds back into that vicious cycle.