Solar Panel Bracket kinda loose

[RizeMaster]

Looking at the roof, I noticed that the flimsy brackets holding the 190W solar panel have shaken loose and the black tar stuff is splitting and does not cover them anymore.


They have always been a bit shaky, but now they're at a new level of shaky.


Not too concerned it will fly off, but I don't like the holes in the roof as any water will surely find its way in there.


So... is this normal? I assume not. Happened to anyone? Ideas how to address this (low cost, without doing a completely new installation)? And yes, I like having a solar panel.

[RizeMaster]

I contacted Thor (back then) and they told me there was nothing wrong, and it was the owners responsibility to be up on the roof frequently and check for cracks in the putty.

After some back and forth I decided to take it upon myself to clean off whatever tar they had slapped on the roof connectors, and used Silicone to glue it all together and reduce the shake. Most of the screws were already loose.

Interesting to get a recall that is finally supposed to that. The brackets are too flimsy, and the constant vibration will not only loosen the screws, but also weaken the alu angles with predictable results.

My dealershit is 250 miles away, so that's always painful, especially since they never commit to getting it done. "Bring it by and we'll have a look".

[Chateau_Nomad]

Get a roll of 4" wide Eternabond tape. Apply judiciously over the bracket feet and overlap onto the roof. Burnish tightly but DO NOT create tears in the vinyl backing.

Done properly your mounting brackets will never come loose and will be water tight.

But don't stop there... anywhere anything goes through the roof, lap the Eternabond over the hole (cut tape as necessary)... burnish until the butyl backing oozes out a little.

[Mikmal]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

Get a roll of 4" wide Eternabond tape. Apply judiciously over the bracket feet and overlap onto the roof. Burnish tightly but DO NOT create tears in the vinyl backing.

Done properly your mounting brackets will never come loose and will be water tight.

But don't stop there... anywhere anything goes through the roof, lap the Eternabond over the hole (cut tape as necessary)... burnish until the butyl backing oozes out a little.

I'm not familiar with the term "burnish" and when I looked it up, it said to polish. Can you please explain what you mean?

[DavidEM]

What hasn’t been addressed so far are the loose brackets. Putting Eternabond tape or Dicor on top of a loose connection will not last.

Presumably the brackets were screwed into the thin plywood below the membrane on top. If the screws have worked loose, you need to move them and try again.

David

[RizeMaster]

Not the issue. The posts/bolts are OK. The problem is that the flimsy brackets were screwed down without washers, and the vibrations up there cause them to become loose which increases the flexing of the panel which eventually leads to them flying off.

I guess everyone just reads the first post and replies. Read the second post regarding the recall which hopefully addresses this.

[Chateau_Nomad]

So it's a metal van roof. Question is what is under the roof (inside) that the screws are threaded into? Plywood blocks? Aluminum/steel framing?

Most solar panels are designed to use aluminum "Z" bracket kits. The panels have pre-drilled holes which the brackets fit into. I have three 200 watt panels on our motorhome roof... mounted with the bracket provided screws. I didn't measure anything special - just drove in the 8 screws (2 in each of the four brackets) through the TPO roof. Then covered with Eternabond tape.

All three panels are rock solid after driving cross country and back. What the heck is Thor doing with their solar panel installs?? It's really NOT THAT DIFFICULT! Are they using some funky kind of brackets?

Granted that vans have a different style roof... but it's really just common sense!

[RizeMaster]

Originally Posted by Chateau_Nomad

So it's a metal van roof. Question is what is under the roof (inside) that the screws are threaded into? Plywood blocks? Aluminum/steel framing?

Most solar panels are designed to use aluminum "Z" bracket kits. The panels have pre-drilled holes which the brackets fit into. I have three 200 watt panels on our motorhome roof... mounted with the bracket provided screws. I didn't measure anything special - just drove in the 8 screws (2 in each of the four brackets) through the TPO roof. Then covered with Eternabond tape.

All three panels are rock solid after driving cross country and back. What the heck is Thor doing with their solar panel installs?? It's really NOT THAT DIFFICULT! Are they using some funky kind of brackets?

Granted that vans have a different style roof... but it's really just common sense!

Yeah, it's nuts. Totally amateurish. Dangerous. There is now a Rize/Scope recall to check the brackets for missing washers and loose screws.

While I fixed the lower connection of the brackets, with all the shaking the upper connections must have broken the solar panel frame and the whole thing was about to fly off. I am so lucky that I check up there once in a while.

I took it off for now and bought one of those adjustable bracket systems, where you can angle the panel towards the sun. Along with a few more brackets and braces, hopefully I can use the existing panel and achieve a more secure connection.