Routing Solar cables in Tribute PVC T680 - which way?

[dna]

Hello all,

A while a go I posted about getting a roof rack to accommodate a kayak on our 2018 autotrail tribute panel van.

As we run a guest house, things on the van have not progressed for a long time but we finally got round to ordering things last week. We've gone for the Thule system and have got a solar panel as the fitter recommended locating that first before fitting the rack.

My question is where is the best place to run the cable into the van roof to be able to use the existing cable runs to access the controller / battery (both under the rear offside bench) - anyone done this?

 

[Mala1951]

Have a look at gadget John on tour on YouTube he's done loads to his tribute including fitting solar

 

[dna]

Thank You - I'll have a look this evening

 

[Off da Grid]

I drilled a hole in the roof above the locker on the drivers side and ran the cables behind the liner running down back from where the seat belt is attached and then under the bench seat behind and into the controller.
All cables hidden.
Gadget John has bought a base model van and upgraded everything, interesting but not sure if he’s saving any money this way?

 

[dna]

Quick update - engineer on way to do the installation tomorrow (Fingers crossed). I wrote to Autotrail and got the following reply within 24 hours -

Thank you for your enquiry regarding the installation of a solar panel to your Tribute 680

We would suggest the solar panel is installed to the front of the rear rooflight and the cable entry point is to the rear of rooflight on the offside into the top lockers.

Behind the Power Supply Unit (PSU) there is a spare connection in the main wiring loom, this is a M-N-L socket with 3 pins and contains 3 wires, this leads into the main wiring harness and is linked into the vehicle and leisure battery, you will need to fit a solar controller/ regulator.

Gadget John has the batteries under the nearside bench rather than the offside where ours is. Maybe that helped his cable routing. How he can manage to pack everything without either bench for storage is amazing!

Off da Grid If we installed the panel at the front of the roof and dropped the cable down by the seatbelt, we would have to get it past the bathroom to reach the bench seat.

Will post pictures when the job has progressed

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[Off da Grid]

Ours is a tribute 650 so the bathroom is on the near side at the rear with the bench seat / pull out bed behind the drivers seat. This is where the leisure, electric and gas hot water boilers are.

 

[dna]

I see! it's the offside rear bench for us where all the techie stuff is. Looks like the rear mounted panel could be the answer. Thanks for your advice and thumbs up to autotrail for their quick response as well

 

[138go]

You can put the panel where you like. You then use white trunking stuck to the roof to get the wires to where you want them. We have a Laika and the panel is as far back as it would go. They then just ran the cables along and dropped down into the locker above the oven to pick up the Laika wiring to the battery.