BougeRV Solar Panel Fail

[allenrude]

All,

I have added 7 after market panels to my 2022 28BH to the existing 165 watt Furrion that came with the RV. The BougeRV panels are in 2 serial/parallel arrays. I have both their 170 and 180 watt panels as the 170's are no longer available. Recently i noticed that one of the arrays was putting out about half of what the other was putting out. I tested all the panels and found a dead panel. The panel was out of warranty so I had to buy a new one to replace. I went thru the hassle of removing and replacing and for fun popped the the black box on the back and this is what I found..

Clearly some got HOT..

Sent the pictures to the vender to see if they had an idea of what happened, but wanted to share it with you all to see if anyone had seen a similiar issue?

thanks
Al

[Country Campers]

Yikes! Looks like the wire was either pulled from the crimp connector or not fully inserted from the factory.

Brian

[allenrude]

Wires were well secured so my thought that the wires were not crimped properly and started to arc, get hot, and finally melted thru. Interesting on the replacement 180, they actually coat all the wires and components in that area with some sort of caulk or similar goop which this did not have.

will be interesting to see if I get a response from their service department. They have been quite responsive so far.

So with a burned up solar panel and an exploding glass shower surround, this has not been the best RV weekend...

[allenrude]

Follow Up.

BougeRV has been very responsive related to the failed panel, and even though it was a couple years out of warranty, gave me a 75$ credit on my credit card. Hard to beat that kind of service. I have already replaced that panel with a new 180 Watt panel, and have repaired the old panel as a spare. I am out of room on the roof for any more panels and am already over paneled for my charge controllers.

Happy with the outcome.

[Jlawles2]

Yikes! Looks like the wire was either pulled from the crimp connector or not fully inserted from the factory.

Brian

Seen a couple of wiring failures that look like that. Amazingly the crimps were correct and wire insulation removal was proper as well (had seen the connection before and after failure). Amazing is when the wire over heats, it causes the insulation to draw back like that.

I'd be looking at those diodes to ensure one of them is not bad and letting the angry pixies cross the picket line to the other side.