Is my factory installed solar wired up?

[Scottb127]

I bought my 260RD Reflections 5th wheel new this year. I've had a lot of issues already some is just my knowledge, some are actual rig issues. I don't have a ton of time to figure them out as I have to keep the RV in storage 30 minutes away. I'm busier than ever at work and I still have a long honey do list at home. sorry just trying to explain my situation. I don't think my solar charges at all. I'm in SC so I have plenty of sun. My 12v fridge runs the battery down very quickly even with 100% sunshine. Look at the wiring. seems like the wires on the left should be wired to the ones on the right. thoughts? anyone have the same rig? does yours look the same?

[Scottb127]

the label under the orange wire says "solar / Inv"

[Country Campers]

No the orange wire should not be connected to anything accept an inverter. That wire with the "solar/inv" is mislabeled. The orange wire is actually for inverter prep only. If you were to add an inverter this is the wire you would use to power a couple breakers in you power distribution panel inside the RV. I can not see the lights on the solar charge controller, just to the right and under the light in your picture, to see if it is actually charging. With a standard deep cycle battery, which I am guessing that you have, it may not be able to power the fridge and the other items that are drawing power over night, even with full sun during the day to charge the battery.

Brian

[ncitro]

the label under the orange wire says "solar / Inv"

The orange wire is the loop for your inverter, so it is unrelated to your solar. Do you have a meter and know how to use it? If so read the DC voltage at the input of the solar charge controller (black Furrion box in your first photo) while the sun is up. If you have voltage there then power is coming in from the panels. Also double check that your battery disconnect is on (key cannot be removed).

[acoleman43]

Scottb127 the orange wire is for an inverter (if you choose to add one in the future), It is not part of the solar system.

The Furrion MPPT 50a unit is your solar charge controller. This should be connected to your solar panels and your battery(s). You should have both +/- (positive/negative) from solar panels and to battery(s).

I see two red wires but just one black wire connected to the MPPT charger. Make sure you have a red and black from the solar panels. Look at your MPPT charger and verify the correct red and black wires are connected to the correct connections.

You should also have a red and black wire from the MPPT charger to your battery(s). You should also verify these connections are correct.

I would also verify you are getting current/voltage through the +/- wires from solar panels and to batteries (while sun is hitting solar panel).

I would also go online and find the owners manual for the MPPT solar charge controller to make sure settings are correct.

**Solar system basics: Sun hits solar panel(s). Solar panels send DC energy through +/- wires to solar charge controller. Solar charge controller changes voltage to battery(s) voltage. Solar charge controller sends DC energy to battery(s), in other words the solar charge controller charges the battery(s). Just make sure the energy from the panels is making it to the battery(s).

[mpking]

Scottb127 , can you get a better picture of the MPPT controller? We'd like to see the wires coming out of the bottom.

Scottb127 the orange wire is for an inverter (if you choose to add one in the future), It is not part of the solar system.

The Furrion MPPT 50a unit is your solar charge controller. This should be connected to your solar panels and your battery(s). You should have both +/- (positive/negative) from solar panels and to battery(s).

I see two red wires but just one black wire connected to the MPPT charger.

I can't tell. The quality of the picture is too bad to see.

I went and pull THIS picture from a used 260 listing (This is NOT OP camper)
You can see the left wire is a smaller gauge, and is joined together. It's possible on Scott's it's just a trick of the pixelation.

[acoleman43]

Scottb127 , can you get a better picture of the MPPT controller? We'd like to see the wires coming out of the bottom.



I can't tell. The quality of the picture is too bad to see.

I went and pull THIS picture from a used 260 listing (This is NOT OP camper)
You can see the left wire is a smaller gauge, and is joined together. It's possible on Scott's it's just a trick of the pixelation.

I see the wires now. Time to test . Make sure you are getting power from the solar panels. If you are, make sure you are getting power to the batteries from the solar charge controller.

[mpking]

I see the wires now. Time to test . Make sure you are getting power from the solar panels. If you are, make sure you are getting power to the batteries from the solar charge controller.

Again, that photo IS NOT from Scott... Just one I found on the internet....

Scott needs to give us a better photo. :-)

[Jomani]

Depending on the size of the solar panel and the refrigerator you have, chances are good that solar alone will not keep up. I have a 2022 Reflection 303RLS with a 165w panel and 16cf refrigerator - in full sunlight, the stock lead acid battery would not keep the refrigerator running for more than a day. After upgrading to a 200ah lithium battery, the best I can get is 4 days with nothing but the refrigerator running.

As far as the orange wire, as others have already said, it is the inverter prep circuit. Below is a link to a video I created detailing that circuit on my 303.

https://youtu.be/TjYSG_EDJWc

[WondersAwait]

Depending on the size of the solar panel and the refrigerator you have, chances are good that solar alone will not keep up. I have a 2022 Reflection 303RLS with a 165w panel and 16cf refrigerator - in full sunlight, the stock lead acid battery would not keep the refrigerator running for more than a day. After upgrading to a 200ah lithium battery, the best I can get is 4 days with nothing but the refrigerator running.

As far as the orange wire, as others have already said, it is the inverter prep circuit. Below is a link to a video I created detailing that circuit on my 303.

https://youtu.be/TjYSG_EDJWc

I also encountered pretty much this exact same experience while we only had the stock single 165w panel setup. After adding 2x 200w panels in series I can now maintain power as long as there isn't much other draw on the system.

Our 303RLS with 565w solar has been "in storage" parked outside at our family farm in direct sun for the past month without shore power. I'm stress-testing how much power the fridge pulls when needing to combat summer heat and if it can hold temps fighting that heat (no AC on obviously). We have gone in checked several times and the fridge is maintaining food-safe temps according to our thermometers that show the highs/lows they read. I'm impressed as we have have had many days of high humidity and well over 90 degrees in the past month. The solar array is keeping up with the draw on the battery bank but we have had very few cloudy days in the past month, but it appears we have enough juice in the battery bank to cover a few overcast days in a row if needed. I'm pretty happy with these results given our moderate sized array.