mmare
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 13
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Post by mmare on Nov 13, 2020 7:24:09 GMT -5
I have a 2021 Connect with the solar power ready port and was wondering if anyone uses this to trickle charge their battery. If you do use it to charge, should the battery disconnect switch be in the on or off position? Also any pros or cons to using solar that you have encountered? I’ve owned a travel trailer for a long time, but this is the first one that I’ve had that is solar ready from the factory.
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Post by lynnmor on Nov 13, 2020 10:10:37 GMT -5
Your "solar ready" may be just some wires pulled thru to connect the solar panels and other necessary devices. Often these wires are smaller than what most experienced solar experts would use. In other words, you may have nothing special and a lot to learn about installing a solar system. If you only want to keep the battery charged during non-use, there are solar battery chargers available that would be fine and require virtually no installation.
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mmare
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 13
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Post by mmare on Nov 13, 2020 13:52:55 GMT -5
Update: I was able to get in touch with KZ and they said that the solar connection can trickle charge but it’s more for dry camping to charge the battery than it is for battery maintenance during the winter when the RV is not in use. Their recommendation was to remove the battery and use the traditional battery tender.
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Chris RV Living
Seasonal RV’er
Starting to add Boondocking to our camping experience.....
Posts: 135
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Post by Chris RV Living on Nov 29, 2020 14:50:31 GMT -5
I use a battery tender once the battery is out of the RV and at home..... boondocking in a CONNECT, is a challenge unless you add batteries for more AMP Hours to keep frig cold. And for a new RVer, .... I'd go small inverter generator that runs super quiet before I would go solar. You can always sell the generator if you do end up making a big solar / boon docking investment.
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Post by dennyb on Jan 20, 2022 14:17:00 GMT -5
I have a 2021 Connect with the solar power ready port and was wondering if anyone uses this to trickle charge their battery. If you do use it to charge, should the battery disconnect switch be in the on or off position? Also any pros or cons to using solar that you have encountered? I’ve owned a travel trailer for a long time, but this is the first one that I’ve had that is solar ready from the factory. We purchased a 2018 KZ Connect 251RK last year. This coming season I am thinking of using a solar panel array to keep my battery charged during the day while dry camping and use my generator at night. The most power draw for this 12v system is the 12v refrigerator. This is one of the newer option the factory installed. My question is: does anyone know how the factory installed solar prep is configurated for my rig? |
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offgridalways
Newbie RV’er
Two dogs and campgrounds don’t mix so we off grid camp.
Posts: 24
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Post by offgridalways on Mar 4, 2022 11:51:04 GMT -5
We have a Renogy Suite case portable solar panel with a built in charge controller that I wire directly to the battery.
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Mark T
Newbie RV’er
Longer days ahead.
Posts: 43
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Post by Mark T on Mar 21, 2022 23:48:50 GMT -5
I have a 2021 Connect with the solar power ready port and was wondering if anyone uses this to trickle charge their battery. If you do use it to charge, should the battery disconnect switch be in the on or off position? Also any pros or cons to using solar that you have encountered? I’ve owned a travel trailer for a long time, but this is the first one that I’ve had that is solar ready from the factory. We purchased a 2018 KZ Connect 251RK last year. This coming season I am thinking of using a solar panel array to keep my battery charged during the day while dry camping and use my generator at night. The most power draw for this 12v system is the 12v refrigerator. This is one of the newer option the factory installed. My question is: does anyone know how the factory installed solar prep is configurated for my rig? Still need info on this? I could check mine out for you if needed. |
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senior
Weekender RV’er
2022 KZ280TH
Posts: 80
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Post by senior on Mar 22, 2022 8:07:23 GMT -5
Trace the wires from the port, if they end on the battery side of your cut-off switch it will charge your battery, if they go to the other side of the
cut-off it will need to be on.
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Post by jimwk2 on Apr 15, 2022 9:03:50 GMT -5
We have a Renogy Suite caster portable solar panel with a built in charge controller that I wire directly to the battery. Hi!
Is that the 200W suitcase? How well is it working for you?
I just purchased (but haven't taken delivery of) a 241RLK. I was thinking of going this route and possibly adding another 100ah battery in parallel.
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Post by 660catman on Apr 15, 2022 14:15:59 GMT -5
We have a Renogy Suite caster portable solar panel with a built in charge controller that I wire directly to the battery. Hi!
Is that the 200W suitcase? How well is it working for you?
I just purchased (but haven't taken delivery of) a 241RLK. I was thinking of going this route and possibly adding another 100ah battery in parallel.
Last summer I talked to a guy extensively about his Renogy 200 as my D250RES is solar ready too. It’s all fine and dandy in the sun but the amp charge goes way down in the shade. IIRC it just made 2 amps in the shade. In the sun he said it worked great but he still used his Honda 2k inverter generator too that particular weekend. |
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offgridalways
Newbie RV’er
Two dogs and campgrounds don’t mix so we off grid camp.
Posts: 24
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Post by offgridalways on Nov 5, 2022 18:17:55 GMT -5
To be honest we haven’t used it yet but yes it is. We have 2 small inverter generators that we parallel so we can run one A/C and the rest of the trailer. Where we go there are always a lot of trees so the solar panel really wouldn’t help.
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Post by 660catman on Nov 6, 2022 7:09:25 GMT -5
To be honest we haven’t used it yet. We have 2 small inverter generators that we parallel so we can run one A/C and the rest of the trailer. Where we go there are always a lot of trees so the solar panel really wouldn’t help. After talking with the guy camping next to me I decided on 2 Firman 2100/1700 watt inverter generators with a 50 amp parallel kit. Too much shade in the campgrounds we frequent to hope solar power charges the battery enough. I’m sure solar would work for a lot of people. Many have changed their batteries to lithium which requires a converter change too. |
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offgridalways
Newbie RV’er
Two dogs and campgrounds don’t mix so we off grid camp.
Posts: 24
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Post by offgridalways on Nov 6, 2022 10:23:23 GMT -5
I will add that i have a small (slightly larger than a license plate) renogy solar panel mounted to the top of the LP cover to **maintain** the battery while in storage. So far it has worked wonderfully at keeping the battery topped off. I used this one on the motorhome we had to keep the chassis and coach batteries top off while in storage also. I do hope to use the larger suitcase renogy next season if we go somewhere with less trees. We are always looking for new HipCamp sites to go to as well as returning to ones we really like. We will need the suitcase solar if we do go somewhere with more sun and limited access to gas for the generators. With a 12V fridge it will take a lot of sun to keep the battery charged. Those 12 V refrigerators are battery hogs! They do have more room in them than the propane refrigerators though.
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offgridalways
Newbie RV’er
Two dogs and campgrounds don’t mix so we off grid camp.
Posts: 24
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Post by offgridalways on Nov 6, 2022 10:35:34 GMT -5
We purchased a 2018 KZ Connect 251RK last year. This coming season I am thinking of using a solar panel array to keep my battery charged during the day while dry camping and use my generator at night. The most power draw for this 12v system is the 12v refrigerator. This is one of the newer option the factory installed. My question is: does anyone know how the factory installed solar prep is configurated for my rig? Still need info on this? I could check mine out for you if needed. Our 261rb has the solar prep also. So far the only thing I have noticed is the port on top of the trailer. Haven’t traced the wires yet to see where they go. I do know from the groups I’m in on FB that there are more pieces of equipment to purchase other than the solar panels. Since the trailer didn’t come with solar panels on it from the factory, we will need to purchase a charge controller suited for the type of battery bank we will use (lead acid, AGM, Lithium). Then there needs to be shunts, multiple Batteries (more than just the one cheap battery the dealers put in), some sort of monitoring device, Inverter (which will need to be wired into the existing Converter). Also to help with the cost of the panels; you can buy used panels from solar farms sometimes. These will be 200W panels at minimum and still have a plenty of life left in them for using on an RV. They have to change them out at certain intervals so they sell off the used ones. |
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Post by rvcouple on Nov 11, 2022 20:56:12 GMT -5
I will add that i have a small (slightly larger than a license plate) renogy solar panel mounted to the top of the LP cover to **maintain** the battery while in storage. So far it has worked wonderfully at keeping the battery topped off. I used this one on the motorhome we had to keep the chassis and coach batteries top off while in storage also. I do hope to use the larger suitcase renogy next season if we go somewhere with less trees. We are always looking for new HipCamp sites to go to as well as returning to ones we really like. We will need the suitcase solar if we do go somewhere with more sun and limited access to gas for the generators. With a 12V fridge it will take a lot of sun to keep the battery charged. Those 12 V refrigerators are battery hogs! They do have more room in them than the propane refrigerators though. We have the "Solar" 10 Amp connector on our 2019 C261RB, but from my understanding, you can't really use that with just a solar panel, you need the charge controller also. BTW, I was told the 12V DC fridge uses less juice than the gas/electric model when used in gas mode because the DC draw to keep the gas solenoid open is more than that 12V DC model uses. Of course that assumes the fridge is already cold and just maintaining temp. |
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Post by nvguy on Nov 21, 2022 22:52:40 GMT -5
I will add that i have a small (slightly larger than a license plate) renogy solar panel mounted to the top of the LP cover to **maintain** the battery while in storage. So far it has worked wonderfully at keeping the battery topped off. I used this one on the motorhome we had to keep the chassis and coach batteries top off while in storage also. I do hope to use the larger suitcase renogy next season if we go somewhere with less trees. We are always looking for new HipCamp sites to go to as well as returning to ones we really like. We will need the suitcase solar if we do go somewhere with more sun and limited access to gas for the generators. With a 12V fridge it will take a lot of sun to keep the battery charged. Those 12 V refrigerators are battery hogs! They do have more room in them than the propane refrigerators though. We have the "Solar" 10 Amp connector on our 2019 C261RB, but from my understanding, you can't really use that with just a solar panel, you need the charge controller also. BTW, I was told the 12V DC fridge uses less juice than the gas/electric model when used in gas mode because the DC draw to keep the gas solenoid open is more than that 12V DC model uses. Of course that assumes the fridge is already cold and just maintaining temp. Considering that my 2 way (gas-electric) refer has a 1 A fuse on the 12 V side, I doubt it draws more current than a 12V compressor refer. This sounds like sales BS. But I will definitely put a meter on it to be sure once we defrost after the winter. Now a 3 way will draw a ton (<20A) of amps for the 12V heater. |
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Post by rvcouple on Nov 26, 2022 17:31:18 GMT -5
We have the "Solar" 10 Amp connector on our 2019 C261RB, but from my understanding, you can't really use that with just a solar panel, you need the charge controller also. BTW, I was told the 12V DC fridge uses less juice than the gas/electric model when used in gas mode because the DC draw to keep the gas solenoid open is more than that 12V DC model uses. Of course that assumes the fridge is already cold and just maintaining temp. Considering that my 2 way (gas-electric) refer has a 1 A fuse on the 12 V side, I doubt it draws more current than a 12V compressor refer. This sounds like sales BS. But I will definitely put a meter on it to be sure once we defrost after the winter. Now a 3 way will draw a ton (<20A) of amps for the 12V heater. You are probably right about the Sales BS. One Amp seems really low for a gas solenoid, but all I know our refrigerator is a 20 Amp DC fuse and is wired <10 ft. of 10 ga wire. It says is only pulls about 10 Amp max, but... I do like that I can leave the gas off while traveling and still have a cold refrigerator when we get someplace 6+ hours later. The more we use the 12VDC refrigerator, the better we like it. |
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