FYI-Solar for 1999 Safari

JaceBeck · 02-23-2003, 08:04 AM

Just purchased a self-assembled system for my 25C. Priarily for use as a weekending system and for one long trip a year.

Shell SM-110 12V panel and Solar Boost 200E MPPT controller. If interested, I will share where parts were purchased and prices. Coach is still in storage for another month. I'll share the install process once I get to it in early April.

Drop a note if you have questions, just don't expect a lot of hard-core technical advice. Other on this site are far better at that than I.
Jace

**jcanavera** · 02-23-2003, 10:09 AM

Jace,
My Safari is supposedly prewired for solar. From the drawing in the manual there may be wiring in the arm of the front sofa, but I find none. One of the fellows at a rally thought it was in the refrigerator compartment, but we couldn't find any. Is your's prewired and if so, where is the connection point to the electrical system?

Regards,

Jack

Les Gilliam · 02-23-2003, 11:58 AM

The pre-wire on my Excella comes out at the bottom of the cabinet under the microwave (forward of the refrigerator). Run the wire from the solar panel down through the refrigerator vent. I chose to bypass the pre-wire and run the wire directly from the solar panel all the way to a location near the DC panel. I mounted the controller/monitor under the arm rest of the couch, then wired into the DC panel from there.

Good luck on your project.

JaceBeck · 02-24-2003, 01:07 PM

Here is a verbatim copy of what I received from A/S about the pre-wire in a 1999 Safari 25C...

Dear sir, There is a green and yellow wire coiled up in your outside refer
compartment run your wires from the panel down the refer vent and hook to
these green and yellow. pull the monitor board over above your galley
cabinet out of the wall and you will find a green,yellow,black,and red wire
these hook to your solar panel monitor place it beside the monitor already
there. the black and red run up to the battery and these will need hooked up
there. I hope this helps.

**jcanavera** · 02-24-2003, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JaceBeck
Here is a verbatim copy of what I received from A/S about the pre-wire in a 1999 Safari 25C...

Dear sir, There is a green and yellow wire coiled up in your outside refer
compartment run your wires from the panel down the refer vent and hook to
these green and yellow. pull the monitor board over above your galley
cabinet out of the wall and you will find a green,yellow,black,and red wire
these hook to your solar panel monitor place it beside the monitor already
there. the black and red run up to the battery and these will need hooked up
there. I hope this helps.

OK. The only question is where is this black and red wire, as described above, out at the battery? I'm not sure I have seen any spare wire out by the battery waiting to be terminated.

Jack

JaceBeck · 02-24-2003, 02:03 PM

Just got this response before I saw yours...According to A/S:

Dear sir, The black and red wire is not hooked to the battery yet but should
be laying in the r/s arm rest of the lounge. The gauge of the wire is 10 gauge.

**jcanavera** · 02-24-2003, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JaceBeck
Just got this response before I saw yours...According to A/S:

Dear sir, The black and red wire is not hooked to the battery yet but should
be laying in the r/s arm rest of the lounge. The gauge of the wire is 10 gauge.

Ah! This is the wire I've been looking for and have been unable to find! Lets see, if we find this wire we must then figure out how to get it outside to the battery, correct?

Jack

JaceBeck · 02-24-2003, 06:35 PM

You got it, Jack!

My intuition tells me that you can get the wires out the same hole that the cables from the converter go out, I may be wrong, but I'll bet that I end up taking the sofa out. Otherwise, this would just be too easy.

I know for a fact that there are no wires in my r/s armrest as that is where my kids keep their toys. My guess is that they are under the flimsy cover over the converter behind the sofa or somewhere near there. I get the trailer out of winter storage at the end of March, so we'll see.....
Jace

John · 02-24-2003, 06:41 PM

Jace,

When I removed my sofa/sleeper, my solar wires were coiled by the converter, so you're probably right.

I bet you can't wait to get the trailer out of storage and start preparing for the great western trip!

John

nwclassic · 02-24-2003, 11:19 PM

For what it's worth... I was told to look behind the oven, beneath the stove for wires that will tie into a battery. Also, to mount controller on the galley cabinet wall adjacent to the door. I can not confirm as I've not pulled the oven out to look, but the refer comp. and converter area do contain the wires mentioned by others in previous posts. (as per phone conversation w/AS tech person). Good hunting,
Brian

JaceBeck · 04-13-2003, 09:28 PM

The wires referred to by Airstream in my posts above cannot be found in my refer compartment. Anyone know where they might be on my 25C? The rig was built in November of 1998, if that makes any difference.

Any ideas whee the wires for the solar panel might be if they are not in the refer compartment?

Thanks!!

Les Gilliam · 04-14-2003, 07:54 AM

Jace,

Mine were under the cabinet supporting the microwave. They are color coded so you may be able to trace them from the DC panel.

JaceBeck · 04-15-2003, 07:22 AM

Les,

Thanks for the ideas. Regrettably, I don't have the microwave, so am unsure where to keep looking. I looked at the schematic form a 2001 owners manual that indicates that the wiring harness hasn't changed much since 1996 and that the wires should be in the refer compartment. But they are not. There is nothinh in there approaching the guage that the panel wires are supposed to be (10 Ga. if I remeber correctly).

I'll keep hunting.

JC

nwclassic · 04-15-2003, 09:24 AM

Jace -- Sorry the prewire hunt is not going better. Get AS tech person (I've talked w/Rod and Rhonda) on the phone (937 596-6111) and determine if you are looking for wires that aren't there.
We just completed our solar hookup. Like most projects, a projected half day turned into a day and a half. I did find wires where they told me they were (prev post). The real headache was negotiating the refer vent. I was told that the prewire ended in the refer compartment because most will never be used and saved additional roof holes. Then I was told to just push wires up the vent and grab them w/long nosed pliers under the hood. Seems AS could've done that before mounting the hood w/o adding holes, but no matter. Point I'm making is that this fish method will not work. So, off came the hood (10 rivets), off came the screen (more rivets), then out came the microwave and the compartment ceiling. Finally, fishtape was possible. Decided on PVC conduit. Used both rigid curve and flex. Drilled upper vent wall and splash board (on the roof) for fittings and w/Vulkem installed them. Mounted the panel feet on roof ribs leaving room for another panel later. Prewired it. Attempted to use Olympic rivets. Was disappointed in them. Replaced them w/screws. Seems more secure. One more roof rivet drilled out to mount a conduit clamp. Looks neat, hope it's sealed... time will tell.
Our system is a Kyocera 120W, Solar Boost 2000E, and Link 10. Initial results good. Brian