Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Denman
Welcome to the Forum! 
I've got a question for you about charge controllers:
My RV is pre-wired for a Go-Power controller; but I'd rather use a controller from a different source.
Are they interchangeable when you plug them in; or will I need to start clipping wires?  |
Hi Bob, per the docs the factory GoPower charge controller (which is PWM) is either a 10A or 30A, mine (Magnitude XG32) was a 10A, and the wiring to the panels is 10 gauge. Unscrew the GoPower from the left side of the entry (just below the closet in mine) and you will see the four wires that go to it. The solid orange and white go to the battery and the orange with black stripe and white with black stripe go to the gland on the roof and connects the solar panels via two MC4 connectors. Carefully pry up the floor to the shallow closet to gain better access to the wiring.
I mounted my Victron MPPT charge controller inside the bay that had the hydraulic unit for the jacks, on the right side (plan to weather-proof this better soon). Then extended the wires that go to the gland on the roof so they would reach the charge controller. I removed the 20A fuse inside the battery area under the steps and replaced the run from the charge controller to the batteries with beefier wiring (8 gauge thin stranded marine wire) with the positive going thru a Bussman 150A DC breaker (
https://www.solar-electric.com/mrcb-...t-breaker.html) as close to the battery connection as could.
I bought everything but my LiFePO4 batteries from Northern Arizona Wind and Sun who I've bought from over the years and highly recommend (
https://www.solar-electric.com/). They have experts that will help spec what you need. For the amount of solar I wanted, NAWS recommended I wire the panels in parallel and spec'ed the Victron 250/100 charge controller (
https://www.solar-electric.com/victr...ontroller.html). It's pricey but will handle the high voltage from the parallel setup.
With 400AH of LiFePO4 and 1320W of solar (I bought the REC 330w panels, just over $200 per), on a day with decent sun the state of charge on the battery bank only goes down to ~65% per the built in bluetooth SoC of the LifeBlues. I also rewired some of the AC outlets to run off the Xantrex inverter so can make coffee w/o running the generator. Plan to do same with microwave as soon as figure out an issue I'm having with that. The four 33w panels are overkill but that's what I like.
PM me with your email if want me to send pics...
Mike
Thor Forums
