Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Which wire is the solar prep wire?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Which wire is the solar prep wire?

    Imagine XLS 22RBE. In the front pass thru there are 2 sets of wires coming up in a trunk from below with lots of other stuff. The 2 sets of wires come out of the convenience center and are stubbed off to the side with a label that says "solar prep/inv". The wires have no labeling on them, so I can't tell which wires come down from the solar prep box on the roof. Also- where the heck would the other wires that are labeled "inv" (I assume that means inverter) come from? Of course there is nothing in the owners manual to explain this. The two sets of wires are identical. Anyone know how to tell them apart?

  • #2
    Could you please post a picture of the wire sets?

    Brian
    Brian & Michelle
    2018 Reflection 29RS
    2022 Chevy 3500HD

    Comment


    • #3
      So I got on the line with Grand Design today and did a video share call with a tech. As the two sets of wires are indistinguishable, he had me pull out a multi meter. The wires that are intended to be "Inverter" are connected at some point to the house battery. These wires are designed to provide DC power from the house battery bank to an inverter that the owner would install in the pass thru. Therefore, these wires should be powered with the same amount of volts as the house battery bank is putting out. The other set of wires- the "solar prep" wires- are connected to the solar prep port on the roof, and since there is nothing connected to the solar prep port on the roof, these wires should show nothing when you hook up the multi meter to them. Switched the multi meter to Volts and then to DC. Touched to one set of wires and they showed 13.3 V (these are the "Inverter" wires. Touched the other wires and they showed 0 V. These are the solar prep wires. So there we go.

      I guess my follow up question would be- if they ran some DC power to the pass thru for an inverter, then why didn't they also run wire back to the breaker box to handle the AC load from the inverter that needs to go back to the breaker box?

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by AlpineGuy View Post
        So I got on the line with Grand Design today and did a video share call with a tech. As the two sets of wires are indistinguishable, he had me pull out a multi meter. The wires that are intended to be "Inverter" are connected at some point to the house battery. These wires are designed to provide DC power from the house battery bank to an inverter that the owner would install in the pass thru. Therefore, these wires should be powered with the same amount of volts as the house battery bank is putting out. The other set of wires- the "solar prep" wires- are connected to the solar prep port on the roof, and since there is nothing connected to the solar prep port on the roof, these wires should show nothing when you hook up the multi meter to them. Switched the multi meter to Volts and then to DC. Touched to one set of wires and they showed 13.3 V (these are the "Inverter" wires. Touched the other wires and they showed 0 V. These are the solar prep wires. So there we go.

        I guess my follow up question would be- if they ran some DC power to the pass thru for an inverter, then why didn't they also run wire back to the breaker box to handle the AC load from the inverter that needs to go back to the breaker box?
        I think that there is some confusion from the GD Rep. The Imagine XLS line does not come with and inverter or an inverter option, Solar is the only option in this area.

        The wires that you found are as follows: The wires that you tested with "0" volts go to the roof mount solar prep entry gland, these after installing a solar panel would get connected to the solar controller needed with the panel. The wires that you found that had "13.3 v" these are connected to the battery and would also connect to the solar controller to charge the battery.

        I would label the wires and tape or seal them so they do not touch anything and cause a short. If you plan on installing solar then you have the wiring that you need.

        If you would like to install an inverter there will be a little more work that needs done.

        Hope this clears this up as your meter readings have helped to understand the wiring.

        Brian
        Brian & Michelle
        2018 Reflection 29RS
        2022 Chevy 3500HD

        Comment

        Working...
        X