pre wired for solar?? (1 Viewer)

[mick noe]

In the garage of my rapido is a cover with a picture of a solar panel on it. Removing this cover reveals 4 cables 2 blue and 2 red I assume this is pre wireing for solar panel. Where do these cables go? cannot find any unused cables in any cupboards etc and both sets of leads are dead. I thought maybe one set would go to leisure battery and the other coiled up somewhere to go through roof to panel. I may give up on idea as cannot find a accessable route through van for new cables. any ideas please?

 

[Hellski]

From my limited time on this great forum, @Techno seems to be the guru and may be able to assist?

 

[tonka]

Telling people your make, model and year would be a big help to get the right info..
Then someone may either have same van or could know the answer..

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[mick noe]

Telling people your make, model and year would be a big help to get the right info..
Then someone may either have same van or could know the answer..

yes sorry good point. fiat ducato based 2007 Rapido 7097F

 

[cranky]

I have just been looking at mine as I have bought a folding panel for occasional use. The right hand 2 cables (pale blue & red) go to the battery terminals but are not connected, they are taped to the side of the main cable. The other 2 disappear into the bowels of the wiring loom. I was thimking of extending the first 2 round to the garage door to make it simple to connect the solar panel. As the panel has its own controller I am assuming this is ok, it will effectively be connected straight to the leisure batteries or should I connect it before the built in charger/controller? Any thoughts welcome.

 

[mick noe]

I have just been looking at mine as I have bought a folding panel for occasional use. The right hand 2 cables (pale blue & red) go to the battery terminals but are not connected, they are taped to the side of the main cable. The other 2 disappear into the bowels of the wiring loom. I was thimking of extending the first 2 round to the garage door to make it simple to connect the solar panel. As the panel has its own controller I am assuming this is ok, it will effectively be connected straight to the leisure batteries or should I connect it before the built in charger/controller? Any thoughts welcome.

I have a similar arrangement and at the moment charge batteries direct from solar controller until I can find someone who knows what to connect where I'm not going to risk it. Sorry cant help but will try to post pictures of the offending unconnected cables tomorrow if I can.

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[WillH]

I would think that one pair of cables is for the leisure battery and the other for the chassis battery. They would be connected to the outputs of the solar controller.

 

[eddie]

In one of your cupboards (normally the wardrobe) you will see a green plug which is for TV

Remove the panel that the plug is mounted on/in and the solar cables are there

 

[cranky]

In one of your cupboards (normally the wardrobe) you will see a green plug which is for TV

Remove the panel that the plug is mounted on/in and the solar cables are there

Thanks Eddie, will check it out

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[Techno]

Mine were rear right corner and went down to the garage and right around the island bed to the distribution panel then all the way to the front right from rear left to the batteries. They could not possibly have made the cable run any longer HENCE my ignoring them and using bigger cable too.

 

[mick noe]

In one of your cupboards (normally the wardrobe) you will see a green plug which is for TV

Remove the panel that the plug is mounted on/in and the solar cables are there[/QUOT

D

In one of your cupboards (normally the wardrobe) you will see a green plug which is for TV

Remove the panel that the plug is mounted on/in and the solar cables are there

Where do they go to? As I could not find any cables I ran my own . But now feed to batteries via solar controller direct,but it would be great if panel charged vehicle battery through vans charging/ control setup
This is what I have

messy at the moment as I have not finished as such because Im hoping to use vans system if ever I find it how.

 

[mick noe]

View attachment 123122 View attachment 123124 View attachment 123122 View attachment 123124

In one of your cupboards (normally the wardrobe) you will see a green plug which is for TV

Remove the panel that the plug is mounted on/in and the solar cables are there[/QUOT

D

In one of your cupboards (normally the wardrobe) you will see a green plug which is for TV

Remove the panel that the plug is mounted on/in and the solar cables are there

Where do they go to? As I could not find any cables I ran my own . But now feed to batteries via solar controller direct,but it would be great if panel charged vehicle battery through vans charging/ control setup
This is what I have

this is my charging set up at the moment also not tidied yet but wanted the option of separate system for each battery.....a waste of time probably but I never do anything that e easy way

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[Ridgy]

If your vehicle isn't pre wired, it's often easier to run from the solar controller to the control box (Sargent in many cases). With the help of a multi meter you will find 2 heavy ish gauge cables, one for the leisure, and the other for the cranking battery. Just tap into these cables, but NOT with scotch locks!!! (I hate those things!). Tracing these two cables is not always straightforward, it's better to do a continuity test from each battery as there are many 12v lives within the box, most of which go offline when you switch the panel off. The neutral is easy enough, just use a heavy gauge one. Depending on your solar controller type, you can set the charge ratio between the two batteries, I usually go for 70/30, leisure being the higher. Hope this helps!

 

[treetops1]

I traced these cables from being coiled up near the leisure batteries to the rear garage to the point on mick noe detail above. I got the impression the connection in the garage was for a portable kit to stand outside the van.The cables were not very heavy duty so i just ripped it all out and replaced with heavier duty cable from the batteries under the bench to the storage cupboard straight up through the roof simple and easy to fit ,drilling through the roof directly above the cupboard .As a novice the whole system, 2 panels and the control unit took me 4 hours to fit from start to finish and delighted with the results .Never had to touch the system since installed a year ago.