Rookie questions

[camposclan]

Thanks in advance for your input on some rookie thinking and questions
I have a 2017 Outlaw 29h
1- everything says solar ready. What does that mean? I'd like to charge my house batteries when storing.
2- If I do connect a solar panel to the pre wiring, what solar set up should I get?
3- If i get said solar set up do I leave the house switch in "use" to allow the solar system to push charge to battery?
4- I have my rv plugged into the house outlet and had the house switch in "use" and at a later time in "store", each time I did so I did a walk around and I'd see the microwave on, the car stereo with blue back light glowing and the reverse camera infrared lights glowing. Is this normal? I'm concerned about battery drain while not in use.

[JamieGeek]

Can't answer your solar questions (at least 1, and 2), but:

3. Depends on how you connect your solar setup. If the solar controller/charger is connected directly to the battery the store/use switch will do nothing.

4. When plugged into the wall the converter is providing 12V and thus everything will operate regardless of the position of the store/use switch (also note that the Microwave is 110V and not on the 12V system).

In general if your RV is plugged in you should have the switch in Use mode to maintain the charge on the batteries. When in Store the converter will be disconnected from the batteries and won't be able to charge. The only real time you need to be in Store mode is when the RV is in storage not plugged into 110V (in which case your solar setup should be maintaining the batteries).

[Azwoodman]

I have a 2018 23 H that also says it is solar ready but can find no information.
Did you find the answers to questions 1 and 2?

[be happy]

Solar ready would mean there are wires from somewhere in the battery compartment to the A/C area. Most companies will offer a small solar panel as an option. This panel gets attached to the top of the AC cover. The main purpose is to keep your house batteries topped off. I can not answer 2 have no idea.

[Joe-FL]

Although I have never personally seen a manufacturer attach a small solar panel to the top of an air conditioner unit, I know a lot of DPs offer a small 12" solar panel at the rear of the roof that is attached directly to the chassis batteries. Generally, if it is an option and not on your coach you may see a small metal plate sealed in the roof that can be removed to reveal the wires. If your chassis (engine) batteries are in the front of your coach then the plate on the roof would be toward the front, if a rear engine set up then look at the back of the roof.

I would contact manufacturer because there could also be a blank plate on the roof for "satellite prep" option.

[jpmihalk]

As stated before, "solar ready" generally means that the manufacturer has pre-wired from the roof to the battery compartment. However, that may only be for a small panel and not for 1200 watts worth of panels.

If you want to add a solar panel, I would get at least 100W of panel. When it comes to solar, bigger is better for many reasons - among those reasons is that the panel will be flat and lose efficiency, rainy days will also be less efficient, etc.

The next question is whether or not they included a solar controller. If you add a significant amount of solar panels, you will need a controller to manage the charging cycle.

Most solar systems are directly wired to the batteries so the "store/use" switch will be bypassed.

When plugged into shore power of any kind, I would leave the switch in the "use" position to enable charging the batteries via the built in converter. If you add solar separately, it will also be charging the batteries (although at a slower rate) during the day.

There are a few good articles about solar out there and a really good intro to RV electrical systems called "The 12V Side of Life" that is an excellent read.

[Bob Denman]

2018 Outlaw 29H ere...

You've got some wires up on the roof, and they disappear down into the bowels of the bodywork.

No controller... no nuthin' else!

[Emmett]

On our 2018 24HE, there are connectors for solar panels on the roof. I was told by a tech that the wires from these connectors run to the same area as the converter. I think the wiring ends there but wouldn't it make sense to install the controller there and use the same wires to the batteries?

[carlgorski]

Originally Posted by camposclan

Thanks in advance for your input on some rookie thinking and questions

I have a 2017 Outlaw 29h

1- everything says solar ready. What does that mean? I'd like to charge my house batteries when storing.

2- If I do connect a solar panel to the pre wiring, what solar set up should I get?

3- If i get said solar set up do I leave the house switch in "use" to allow the solar system to push charge to battery?

4- I have my rv plugged into the house outlet and had the house switch in "use" and at a later time in "store", each time I did so I did a walk around and I'd see the microwave on, the car stereo with blue back light glowing and the reverse camera infrared lights glowing. Is this normal? I'm concerned about battery drain while not in use.

Wires go down to electrical center. You will have to run wires to battery and install a controller.

[Mags911]

Solar Ready on our travel trailer meant there was a plug in on the side of the TT where I could plug in a small portable solar system. It ended up being like a "trickle charger" because it's low wattage. With the RV don't have such a feature since we have a generator.

I ended up adding four 100W panels to the top of the TT and it was more than enough to charge two batteries which would last us through the evening routine and to run the heater at night if it was cooler climate.

[M&M_MURPHYS]

We bought our 2017 Quantum a few months ago. like your rig, ours was sold "Solar Ready".

In our case this meant the RV was wired for future installation of solar should we decide to do it. We decided to have it installed before we picked our new RV up from the dealer.

We had a 100 watt panel installed on the roof. It was approx 3 foot by 4 foot and was installed on the roof all by itself (not near the AC unit). The panel was then connected to the wiring harness on the roof that was already there because our RV was "Solar Ready".

They also installed a solar controller information panel near our switch panel. This controller was part of the solar option we added (not part of the "Solar Ready" configuration although it was probably connected to wiring that was there as part of the solar ready feature).

The controller tells us where our battery is charge wise (in AMPS) and if it is half charged, charging, fully charged, low, etc). I believe the solar system charges our batteries regardless of the battery store switch being on or off. It seems to continue charging the batteries even when switched off as long as the sun is shining.

The whole upgrade cost us about $1,000 dollars to add on at the dealer. I did not shop the price. We just wanted to have it installed right out of the gate.

We could add more panels as the wiring harness on the roof has 3 inputs. So far 100 watts has been enough for us. We do camp without hook ups and it seems to keep our batteries in usable condition as the days go by. We are conservative on our battery usage however, but have not yet run out of battery power.

The brand on our solar equipment is ZAMP. We are happy with it so far and I am glad we got it added on. Hope this helps