drewh
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 8
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Post by drewh on May 29, 2022 21:38:26 GMT -5
Hey everyone, new owner of a 2022 Connect. I'm in the process of adding solar panels,mppt, a 200ah lifepo4 battery, and inverter. I'm pulling out what's left of my hair trying to find where the wiring ends. I've written to KZ for help on locating the wires for the top connecter for solar.
While waiting on a response, I was wondering if anyone has had any luck locating them. I've pulled the control panel, radio, main board, the plates in the master bedroom, and at the battery. So far, as much as I can tell, it appears the solar connector on top might be wired directly into the battery, which seems wrong.
At the stock battery, there's two fuses, one which looks like it's a +12v from the 7pin and another white/blue going into the trailer. There's also a 8ga red wire going in, and I see a similar 8ga wire at the distribution panel. I haven't figured out what the white/blue wire is yet, but it's smaller, like 12ga maybe, so I'm hoping it's not the solar prep wire.
I was expecting to find a pair of 10ga wires coming down the wall to the distribution panel (since the go electric connecter replacement on etrailer said it uses a 10ga 10 ft lead) that was unconnected but I've had no luck locating them.
Has anyone had any luck locating the solar prep wires? If/when I hear back from KZ, I'll report back as well.
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Post by jusfloors on May 30, 2022 2:59:18 GMT -5
On my 2022 261rb it's behind master bed light switch. Blue and white 10 gauge wire. Wired direct to battery. I haven't hooked a controller yet but that is where factory recommended placement.
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drewh
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 8
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Post by drewh on May 30, 2022 11:35:46 GMT -5
On my 2022 261rb it's behind master bed light switch. Blue and white 10 gauge wire. Wired direct to battery. I haven't hooked a controller yet but that is where factory recommended placement. Looks to be the case. Pulled the light switch, and found a blue and white wires, heavier gauge. Turns out there's probably 6-7 feet of looped wire dropped down in the wall. There was some tape attached with writing but I can't make out what was written. If you're curious, here's a photo: Solar wiring for 2022 KZ Connect RV imgur.com/gallery/jBlUHiz
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Post by jusfloors on May 30, 2022 21:17:19 GMT -5
Same thing with mine. I learned from another rver on this forum. Haven't researched it yet but they called factory to find it out. May have to do the same to figure out how they planned to install controller.
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drewh
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 8
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Post by drewh on May 31, 2022 11:14:52 GMT -5
so my plan is to put a plate up behind the trim hiding the door rail for the bedroom, run wire from the plate across behind the trim then drop down the wall to where the electrical distribution panel is. I'm placing the electronics & the battery in that corner cubby since it's a giant unused space.
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drewh
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 8
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Post by drewh on May 31, 2022 17:52:59 GMT -5
Here's a few more photo's so far of the build. I'll add more soon with the plates being covered and the panels installed. imgur.com/gallery/NZ5F3Mf
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drewh
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 8
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Post by drewh on Jun 6, 2022 21:42:11 GMT -5
Ok, final pictures of the build. Only had a bit of late evening sun, so not a solid reading yet of output, but it showed as charging. Final pictures of the solar build imgur.com/gallery/bqAE0cH
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Mark T
Newbie RV’er
Longer days ahead.
Posts: 43
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Post by Mark T on Jun 13, 2022 12:15:38 GMT -5
Great, nice job. Thanks for the updates.
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drewh
Newbie RV’er
Posts: 8
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Post by drewh on Jun 14, 2022 11:38:16 GMT -5
Got a chance this weekend to do a first trial run for boondocking. Friday was heavy clouds/rain all day, and we had disconnected from shore power at home at roughly 2PM. I ran the fridge off the inverter from that point till we were at our camp site at about 9PM. Battery was down to about 35% which was a bit lower than I expected. Switched the fridge over to propane for the evening just to go easy on the battery till Sat.
On Sat, the morning was mostly overcase, but brighter than than Fri. I saw a positive charge start to show about 8am (~2 amps). By about noon, the clouds shifted to partly cloudy, and I saw upwards of 22 amps of charging. in total, i recorded close to 140 amps recovered by the panels on Sat, and the battery was back up over 80% by the time light faded for the day. Kiddos were able to watch a movie, we all could take short showers, charge phones and everything without any concern on Sat.
Overall, it's not bad considering, but I do think I'd like to double up on battery capacity and go to 400 amp/hr. Our NW weather makes it pretty easy to have a couple days with minimal sun and I'd like to be able to operate a full weekend without sun if possible (thinking more winter time).
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