Best double sided tape

[John in Santa Cruz]

just fwiw and fyi...

I know a BUNCH of folks who've had flex panels fail within a year of installation. my kid had them VHB taped flat on the perfectly flat roof of his ambulance-converted-to-a-camper, and several of his panels went open circuit internally within just a couple months, he's having a heck of a time getting a refund via paypal from the ebay seller.

[J Ron]

I just used VHB to mount channels for window awnings. I found applying some heat before and after installing seemed to enhance the bond considerably.

[gordon2]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

just fwiw and fyi...

I know a BUNCH of folks who've had flex panels fail within a year of installation. my kid had them VHB taped flat on the perfectly flat roof of his ambulance-converted-to-a-camper, and several of his panels went open circuit internally within just a couple months, he's having a heck of a time getting a refund via paypal from the ebay seller.

I would not give him a refund either. Taping them flat with no air space under them is always likely to cause failure from overheating. Warranties usually do not cover improper installation. Unless the seller provided instructions that specially said to tape them flat and that no air space was required, then (if he was my kid) I would tell him to chalk it up to experience and take the financial hit.

[Steve Hammel]

Originally Posted by k corbin

If you are not actively using the panel for powering a lot of devices a smaller 50 watt panel should be sufficient for keeping the battery topped up when it is sitting in the driveway. Going to larger panels will make it more difficult to get the panel to lay flat on that compound curve structure. The better companies do have return policies if you can't get it to lay flat enough.

120 watts for $119 bucks. Not worth messing with returning it. I'm eventually going to a 12v compressor fridge. After having 3 of them I'll never go back to propane long term. I get 2-3 days off a single 12v battery charge w/o solar. I now have dual 6 volts and the 120w panel so should be good for quite awhile. I'll have to live with the 1.9 cu ft propane fridge until winter when I have time to switch.

[honda03842]

The following is a link to the tape we used to hold our 100 watt panel to the roof of our Scamp. It is the least expensive outdoor tape you can buy. We have used it for at least 5 years without any issue, traveling all around the USA 7 months of the year, standing up to heat, wind, rain and snow. Made by Scotch that I believe is owned by 3M. It's about $15 and is 450 inches long. WE use it for mounting all kinds of items to the interior of our Scamp as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Perman...tape+permanent

Norm

[David Tilston]

Norm, If I remember correctly, you did not leave an air space below the solar panels. How are they holding up?

[Donald Watts]

Originally Posted by Steve Hammel

As you see it has a tenervery pronounced curve. Would be hard to mount a flat panel of any size.

Adhering to an extreme compound curve is practically impossible, but a surface that is not two directional like a cylinder can be easier. A mechanical standoff fastener would be more secure for sure.

[Donald Watts]

Originally Posted by Donald Watts

Adhering to an extreme compound curve is practically impossible, but a surface that is not two directional like a cylinder can be easier. A mechanical standoff fastener would be more secure for sure.

Having moveable panels would be the way to go.

[Byron Kinnaman]

All this talk about mounting Solar Panels to the top of fiberglass trailer including "blowing off" reminds me one reason I prefer portable solar. I bought a solar panel 10 years ago and bought some aluminum angle and flat pieces made a stand and it works great for me.

One things I ran across in Big Bend TX. There's a brush row in the campground on one side is nice campsites with lawn and shade, on the other side are campsites with full sun along with dust and dirt. A couple came in with a Scamp with solar mounted on top and went to the sunny side because they felt they needed the solar in the sun.

Because I have such a small power usage chasing the sun every 4 or 5 days is just a lot nicer in my mind.

[k corbin]

Originally Posted by gordon2

..I would never even ask to return a panel that I had stuck VHB tape all over. YMMV

I use easy to remove painter's masking tape for trial fits on such things before I commit to more permanent attachment methods. Not sure why a person add permanent tape without first doing a trial fit to at least add alignment marks before applying payment mounting tape.