Fitted myself

[ianrm]

With a little help from my work mates Solar Power ️ up and Running

 

[Sandancers]

Looks a good job, can you tell me which adhesive you used ?

 

[Revolvor]

Looks good.

Not related to the solar install, but what is the purpose of the silver "roof rack"? Doesn't look sturdy enough to take any load, and not very aerodynamic.

 

[Stealaway]

With a little help from my work mates Solar Power ️ up and Running

View attachment 710489 View attachment 710490 View attachment 710491

Nice --- and there's still room for another one.
You cant have too much solar.
Have you also connected it to your starter battery?

 

[ontheroadagain]

Nice job (and a very clean roof too!)

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[ianrm]

Thank you for the comments. I used Sikaflex 522 to Bond the feet down. Fortunately I work in a garage

Not sure what the bars are for? Giant Top Box? They were on the MH when I bought it.

The previous owner polished the Roof although I have cleaned it recently and once it warms up I will be waxing it.

 

[dazandandrea]

Roof envy

 

[VXman]

Hi Ian,

In the process of sourcing a second panel for mine. Could you tell me (us) what panel it is, and the feet - where did you get them from?

 

[ianrm]

Nice --- and there's still room for another one.
You cant have too much solar.
Have you also connected it to your starter battery?

Probably would need another in this country
It is connected to the leisure and the starter Battery.

 

[ianrm]

Hi Ian,

In the process of sourcing a second panel for mine. Could you tell me (us) what panel it is, and the feet - where did you get them from?

Complete 200W solar panel kit with 20A MPPT controller for charging a 12V/24V battery https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07T2ZWHKX/?tag=mhf04-21

This is the one I purchased.

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[Wingingit#1]

Adria ?

 

[Wingingit#1]

Thats meant to good kit but i absolutely zero experience.
Gonna be looking for some solar soon too so keep us posted please .

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

Well done, and sorry to be the harbinger of doom, but have a look at the feed back for those plastic fixing feet. I believe if their given a really good angle grinder abrasive treatment, along with the footprint on the roof their OK. But the blocks just straight to the ABS can lead to adhesion failure. You can retrofit some 75mm ally angle brackets [ 150mm long] , 2 per side, like I have done on the same size panel. It's somewhat shielded by other roof fixings, so not in the full force of the air stream.
Was it a "Craig panel" ?
It's not a disaster, but worth knowing.
Mike.

 

[donkey]

With a little help from my work mates Solar Power ️ up and Running

View attachment 710489 View attachment 710490 View attachment 710491

Looks nice and tidy. one small point, if I may. I fitted a panel in a similar position and found the close proximity of the status antenna cast a shadow if facing that way, which caused a not inconsiderable drop in performance.

Geoff

 

[Stealaway]

Probably would need another in this country
It is connected to the leisure and the starter Battery.

It looks like the your kit photonic controller only has one battery connection.
Am I missing something?

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[Hoovie]

Well done, and sorry to be the harbinger of doom, but have a look at the feed back for those plastic fixing feet. I believe if their given a really good angle grinder abrasive treatment, along with the footprint on the roof their OK. But the blocks just straight to the ABS can lead to adhesion failure. You can retrofit some 75mm ally angle brackets [ 150mm long] , 2 per side, like I have done on the same size panel. It's somewhat shielded by other roof fixings, so not in the full force of the air stream.
Was it a "Craig panel" ?
It's not a disaster, but worth knowing.
Mike.View attachment 710689

It is never a nice thing to be a big negative about what looks like a very tidy job, but Mike brings up a very important point and one I came across towards the end of last year.

I was replacing a single panel on someones PVC, and it secured down with mountings similar to these, but the long ones front and back, rather than the corner ones. Unscrewed the panel from the mounts. And was then about to attempt to wrestle the mounts from the roof, expecting a lot of grief and they literally came off in my hand! I could have removed them with my little finger. How the panel had stayed on for around 5 years or more I really don't know.
The Sikaflex between the mount and the roof was extremely well adhered (and I actually left it on as was concerned the paint would come off - it was a Ducato after all), but there was not a sign of any adhesive on the bottom of the mount.
As Mike says, those feet need very good prep to provide a solid key. (I have always been wary of relying just on adhesive to stick down a big wing on a roof, which is what a solar panel acts like, and my experience last year did nothing to persuade me).

What migh be worth doing as a precuation is fitting some kind of "spoiler" at the front of the panel to deflect air over the top? I think the only thing that saved 'my' panel not flying off was the fact the mount was full width on the front so there was little lift underneath.

 

[ianrm]

Adria ?

Yes

 

[ianrm]

It is never a nice thing to be a big negative about what looks like a very tidy job, but Mike brings up a very important point and one I came across towards the end of last year.

I was replacing a single panel on someones PVC, and it secured down with mountings similar to these, but the long ones front and back, rather than the corner ones. Unscrewed the panel from the mounts. And was then about to attempt to wrestle the mounts from the roof, expecting a lot of grief and they literally came off in my hand! I could have removed them with my little finger. How the panel had stayed on for around 5 years or more I really don't know.
The Sikaflex between the mount and the roof was extremely well adhered (and I actually left it on as was concerned the paint would come off - it was a Ducato after all), but there was not a sign of any adhesive on the bottom of the mount.
As Mike says, those feet need very good prep to provide a solid key. (I have always been wary of relying just on adhesive to stick down a big wing on a roof, which is what a solar panel acts like, and my experience last year did nothing to persuade me).

What migh be worth doing as a precuation is fitting some kind of "spoiler" at the front of the panel to deflect air over the top? I think the only thing that saved 'my' panel not flying off was the fact the mount was full width on the front so there was little lift underneath.

I keyed both surfaces and cleaned them thoroughly with alcohol. The front of the Panel frame is under the bar so can only lift one inch if it does come unstuck. I watched numerous videos on YouTube about fitting and everyone had done the same. I may add a couple of fixings between the panel and the bar above at the front for extra security just incase it does lift.

It looks like the your kit photonic controller only has one battery connection.
Am I missing something?

The two wires on the roof are negative and positive. They go into the the controller. From the controller there is a feed to the leisure and Starter Batteries.

 

[Stealaway]

I keyed both surfaces and cleaned them thoroughly with alcohol. The front of the Panel frame is under the bar so can only lift one inch if it does come unstuck. I watched numerous videos on YouTube about fitting and everyone had done the same. I may add a couple of fixings between the panel and the bar above at the front for extra security just incase it does lift.

The two wires on the roof are negative and positive. They go into the the controller. From the controller there is a feed to the leisure and Starter Batteries.

I can still only see one battery out on that controller

 

[Tombola]

Nice job...but..Get rid of them feet or bolt through. I'll find the thread and pics i posted where I almost left solar on a Spanish motorway road or the cars behind me ...and that.was after they had been keyed etc like you said from ...
Hanging luckily by the cables..I have fitted solar on all my prev vans but this was the first time.i seen them brackets
Back to ally for me.

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[Hoovie]

I keyed both surfaces and cleaned them thoroughly with alcohol. The front of the Panel frame is under the bar so can only lift one inch if it does come unstuck. I watched numerous videos on YouTube about fitting and everyone had done the same. I may add a couple of fixings between the panel and the bar above at the front for extra security just incase it does lift.

The two wires on the roof are negative and positive. They go into the the controller. From the controller there is a feed to the leisure and Starter Batteries.

I think the comments about the battery is that the controller does not have a feed to the Leisure AND Starter batteries. The pair on the right are for a LOAD connection, not a second battery.
If you want to charge the Starter as well as Leisure when getting Solar Power, you would either need a different controller or get a Battery Maintainer/Trickle Charger such as the Ablemail AMT12 for example.
the Battery Maintainer would be a better option than changing the controller as you both already have the controller, and it is a decent enough one, and the Battery Maintainer would operate on EHU as well as Solar.

 

[MisterB]

Adria ?

Yes

We also have the same roof rail. When I enquired about them from an Adria dealer, I was told they are mainly aesthetic BUT also denote the area on the roof that is 'safe' to walk on ....
They are not for loading/carrying anything in the roof.

 

[Hoovie]

We also have the same roof rail. When I enquired about them from an Adria dealer, I was told they are mainly aesthetic BUT also denote the area on the roof that is 'safe' to walk on ....
They are not for loading/carrying anything in the roof.

Good to ask the question to make sure.
I had a Nissan Quasqai in 2010 and that was the Tekna model that came with fitted roof rails which were load bearing. But on other models, Nissan had an optional extra of Roof Rails that were just stuck on and for aesthetics. I wonder if subsequent owners of the cars fitted with those realised? and realised too late!

 

[ianrm]

I think the comments about the battery is that the controller does not have a feed to the Leisure AND Starter batteries. The pair on the right are for a LOAD connection, not a second battery.
If you want to charge the Starter as well as Leisure when getting Solar Power, you would either need a different controller or get a Battery Maintainer/Trickle Charger such as the Ablemail AMT12 for example.
the Battery Maintainer would be a better option than changing the controller as you both already have the controller, and it is a decent enough one, and the Battery Maintainer would operate on EHU as well as

 

[ianrm]

Thank for the information. The Ablemail AMT12 looks like it is just what I need.

I was going to put an isolator in so I could manually switch between charging the leisure and Vehicle batteries.

What do people use the load terminal for?

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[Sandancers]

What migh be worth doing as a precuation is fitting some kind of "spoiler" at the front of the panel to deflect air over the top? I think the only thing that saved 'my' panel not flying off was the fact the mount was full width on the front so there was little lift underneath.

I am not any form of aero engineer, but is the principle of lift on a wing not to do with causing the air to take a longer route over the wing than under it which causes lower pressure on top of the wing, hence "lift". Is that not what you are doing by putting the spoiler right across the front ?

 

[Sandancers]

Well done, and sorry to be the harbinger of doom, but have a look at the feed back for those plastic fixing feet. I believe if their given a really good angle grinder abrasive treatment, along with the footprint on the roof their OK. But the blocks just straight to the ABS can lead to adhesion failure. You can retrofit some 75mm ally angle brackets [ 150mm long] , 2 per side, like I have done on the same size panel. It's somewhat shielded by other roof fixings, so not in the full force of the air stream.
Was it a "Craig panel" ?
It's not a disaster, but worth knowing.
Mike.View attachment 710688View attachment 710689

I am confused by you saying you took an angle grinder to the base of the ABS mounting brackets ? I'd have thought an angle grinder would just rip the bracket to bits on first stroke ?

Also, on the ali brackets you made up what sort of preparation did you do to the base of those prior to sticking them down ?

 

[Hoovie]

I am not any form of aero engineer, but is the principle of lift on a wing not to do with causing the air to take a longer route over the wing than under it which causes lower pressure on top of the wing, hence "lift". Is that not what you are doing by putting the spoiler right across the front ?

maybe the wrong terms, dunno. but stopping air getting underneath to try and stop the panel lifting seems a good idea to me.
Seen how plywood strapped to a roof rack starts to pull up when the vehicle starts to speed up? best to avoid that, no?

 

[ianrm]

I am confused by you saying you took an angle grinder to the base of the ABSmounting brackets ? I'd have thought an angle grinder would just rip the bracket to bits on first stroke ?

Also, on the ali brackets you made up what sort of preparation did you do to the base of those prior to sticking them down ?

I did think that too. I keyed the feet using the grit paper supplied and made sure that there wasn’t any of the smooth surface left.
I can’t see how that would be any different to using Alloy brackets.

 

[BouncyBoatFolk]

I am confused by you saying you took an angle grinder to the base of the ABS mounting brackets ? I'd have thought an angle grinder would just rip the bracket to bits on first stroke ?

Also, on the ali brackets you made up what sort of preparation did you do to the base of those prior to sticking them down ?

Hi, yes a fairly fine grit blade, abrading all the bottom [ mating face ] of all the brackets used to take away the shiny surface finish.
The mounting brackets footprints on the roof were marked, taped off, then hand abraded with a fairly course paper, again to take away that shiny finish that's unlikely to give good adhesion. All surfaces treated with acetone before applying 522 adhesive.
I understand that some plastics contain oils that are not conducive to a good bond, hence "belt and braces" and using some ally brackets as well. It's a personal choice, the O.P. and many others may well be very happy with their finished project, and it may well not be a problem, but from on line content I have read if any brackets ever let go it's always those plastic ones.
I contacted the supplier of the kit I purchased and asked the best procedure for fixing down to a motorhome roof. His response was, " Oh we've never used them for that, their designed for flat roofs of a building!! " Which was never flagged up at the time of my purchase.
Mike.

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