2022 310 GK Solar package

[Dale B]

My dealer knows nothing about this & nor did I other than checking the option box

When I arrived home the single 100ah was near dead, I have now figured out the inverter was on. Very unlikely then even were aware It has been plugged in since & seems to be OK. The fridge was on auto, it switched as it should.....good news.

Last evening I installed 2ea smart heated 200ah lithium batteries, I now have nearly 400ah of usable power. Prior to the install I learned the converter is also smart supposedly it will figure what batteries are connected & adjust it's profile.......will see.

I also learned the Jaboni 30ah is programable, as well there was a Bluetooth box beside the charge controller. Not plugged in @ not a word from the dealer. The bad news is the LED for the panels is not on & zero voltage on those wires. I did contact the dealer 1.5 hours away & I'm told there is no fuses between the panel & charge controller & it very unlikely the panel is defective.

Now that the batteries are installed I made some draw checks with the clamp on. First of all I will say I'm impressed how the clamp on & smart batteries agree on charge & discharge....nice.

There are two power shut off's, separate inverter & RV house. All off the usage was less than 150ma, house on the fridge is nasty. On propane it is 2.5 to just over 3ah, I have to research that some more. Inverter & the fridge switching to ACV, you might as well call it 50ah! Ugh!

I will add to this thread as I go, these were questions I had when checking the option box that I could not get answers to.

[howson]

Dale B -- what refrigerator is in your 310GK?

What model converter?

Panel to controller wires should be easy to troubleshoot (says the guy comfortably sitting in his air conditioned home office) .

[Dale B]

Dale B -- what refrigerator is in your 310GK?

What model converter?

Panel to controller wires should be easy to troubleshoot (says the guy comfortably sitting in his air conditioned home office) .

Fridge model Norco 2118ST prop/elect

Converter WFCO model WF-9855-AD, AD is for auto detect. They do have an explanation on the website.

I checked the battery app this AM & the voltage is showing 13.7vdc. I'm sure the recommended float voltage is 13.8vdc.

Not a comfort zone for me on roofs, the co-0wner normally has those responsibilities :-). Solar diagnostics's is not one of her strong points Ha! Trying to avoid getting on the roof I thought I would have a look in fuse panel. Discovered a fuse that looks like a resetable breaker, it is marked 'XI" any idea what it is for? Cannot find it in the owners manual.

[howson]

Dale B -- no idea. You and Paul and judy should compare notes!

[ncitro]

Dale B Just guessing but my first guess would be the gland on the roof where the solar cables plug in. There was a post a little while ago from someone who opened theirs up and only one of the cables was connected inside. Let me see if I can find it.

[ncitro]

This is the thread I was thinking of:

https://gdrvowners.com/forum/solar/8...r-system-issue

[Dale B]

This is the thread I was thinking of:

https://gdrvowners.com/forum/solar/8...r-system-issue

While you were posting I was up on the roof trying to release the MC4 connectors to measure panel voltage. Doing that I could here the electrical snap once in awhile so I was very sure the problem was their. Removing the Jaboni roof connector box I soon discovered the negative pin was not installed correctly & pushed back when the panel connector was pushed in. There is bad news with roof membrane, I was careful. The manufacturer was not, once I figure how to transfer phone photo's I will post.

Here is my rub, I listened to the preaching of QA. Not only from GD, the dealer, then the sales rep who does the delivery. Technically there should have been @ minimum three people verifying the solar package was charging. I was not in hurry nor pressured anyone to do the above & beyond to get this rig in my hands. I'm into month #7 & accepted this rig Wednesday, threshold of tolerance has now been exceeded.

[Dale B]

I've spent additional time with this factory solar package, I'm not prepared to swap anything out @ this time.

Both the solar charger & converter are doing the job. Discharged the lithium batteries to 84% by running the fridge on the inverter. Draw was 45-50ah, then I switched the inverter off & observed the solar charger via the app, DCVM across the paralleled 200ah batteries & a clamp on current meter.

BTW the 200w panel is 32vdc, was not a perfect day, some cloud & intermittent sun. Charge current was up to 22ah, the controller was in their lithium mode & voltage was 14.4vdc.

The Jaboni is capable of a user profile thru the Bluetooth module & app. I have reduced the "float" voltage from the default of 14.4vdc. Solar system is going to be used 90% of the time, my concern for the float setting.

After observing the solar recharge, I plugged the RV back in observing both charger's. Both systems operated as they should, sharing the charge duties.

Eventually the day clouded & rain returned so converter returned the batteries to 100%.

The "auto detect" is working as described by WFCO. It is floating around the 13.6vdc

Fridge is power hog, depending the cycle it is in. If you want to run it on the inverter you best have some good battery power. I only plan run the fridge in this configuration for short periods of time. Such as travelling on a ferry crossing.

When the fridge is turned off, as in dead the house draw is 1.1ah. That is reasonable thinking about all the parasitic draws. Fridge on propane the house draw goes just under 2ah to 3ah....depending on the fridge cycle.

[howson]

Dale B -- completely agree with the "power hog" statement. When I switched from the Dometic "RV" refrigerator to a "residential" model the power requirement dropped dramatically. The difference is powering a heating element (on the absorption RV fridge) vs running a compressor on a residential. ( A 12v fridge also has compressor technology.) I'm also convinced the refrigerators that don't require additional insulation around them maintain their temps better.

Thanks for the follow-up.

[Dale B]

Thought I should update this thread, the rig has been off grid nearly three weeks.

The batteries are easily maintaining 99-100%, the 30a factory Jaboni solar charger is working very well. I did modify the trickle charge voltage, thru the app.

Factory inverter is also doing the job, why the on/off control panel is installed in the storage compartment escapes me. PIA it has a 2ah idle draw, it should be easily accessible to turn on/off as needed.

App's for batteries, Compass Connect, solar charger & propane are working well with the not so smart phone. What I find with the not so smart phone is that multi tasking such as streaming music & hot spotting best turned off when using RV app's.

My next project is to get a combo WIFI & internet going to monitor what I can when away from the property where it is parked. Originally I had planned to go with the Winegard Osprey plug & play module pre wired to the roof antenna. I've since abandoned that idea, MOFI5500 is on the radar.

BTW the Rockford Fosgate audio system sucks, I turned it on twice. The second time was to verify how bad it is. No fault of Rockford Fosgate, I suspect the same person who decided the placement of the WFCO control panel was involved. My Marshall Tufton is the temporary audio system.

[pengle]

Thought I should update this thread, the rig has been off grid nearly three weeks.

I've got the Norcold fridge and the 300w factory solar on my 310GK. I agree with the 50Ah fridge usage using the inverter. As long as my moving day is less than 4 hours I still run off the inverter and save money on the propane. On the day before I move to a new site I put the fridge controller on "9" to get the fridge colder for moving day. On moving day I put the temp setting at "1".

We are going to Canada this year. There are some long ferry rides ahead of us. Lately I've been freezing 1/2 gallon milk containers. I throw a couple of those in the fridge on moving day and I'm not using as much battery amperage now.

Battery recovery: When I arrive at our site our battery recovery is 37Ah on cloudy days and about 44Ah on sunny days. My 300w solar panel only produces about 150w when DIRTY. I cleaned it and got a max of 270w (250w in winter).

Like you, I've only used the Rockford Fosgate a couple of times in 18 months. Like some others, I've installed a sound bar that works and sounds great.