BAC Forum
General Boards => Technical Support => Topic started by: Jack W Hannah on February 20, 2024, 01:33:34 PM
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Where is the solar regulator in my 2002 Patriot located?
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Our solar charge controller is mounted to the ceiling of the 'hidden' storage bay in front of the rear axle. Are you having an issue with your solar setup? A couple of things to keep in mind: a 100w solar panel (like on our coach) puts out only 5 amps on a sunny day, that's just a trickle charge. And the age of your (and our) coach affects the output of the solar panel too. I would guess that a 20 yr old solar panel would produce approx 75% of its output when new.
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Thank you Bill.
Attached is a pic of what I suspect to be my Solar Regulator, althouht it is labeled DC Interface Module. It’s located on the ceiling of the curbside basement compartment just forward of the rear wheels.
Is this my Solar Regulator?
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Jack,
The picture you posted is one of the modules that supplies information to the CMT-10 monitor panel. There are other modules similar to this one for the water tanks and 12volt along with 120 volts and amps. You are looking for the Heliotrope solar controller that I think is mounted on the ceiling of the holding tanks compartment. Fred
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What issues are you having with your solar?
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Fred - Thank you for the information. I just had the cover of that compartment off 2 days ago wrapping up extensive work on my Hydro Hot system. The only thing I saw in this compartment besides the tanks was a HH Heat Exchanger and it's associated wall-mounted thermostat. Next time I'm in my coach I'll check again.
Bill - The essence of my problem is batteries are slowly discharging when off shore power. This has been an on/off problem for the 3-4 yrs I've had this coach. I've never reallly fully understood this solar system so I'm now trying to get to the bottom of it.
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There is always a drain on your house (and coach) batteries. Two ways to win the battle-disconnect the neg battery cable from your house and coach batteries. Or keep your rig plugged into shore power. Unless you have a big solar array on your coach (not factory), solar just won't put out enough current (amps) to keep your batteries charged. There are parasitic loads (inverter primarily) that will drain your house batteries over time. Even if you think the inverter is off, it is still drawing current. I just replaced my house batteries last summer and this winter while in storage I disconnected the neg cables from the chassis and house batteries. I installed a Victron Smart Shunt to keep track of both banks of batteries. With the neg cables disconnected, I can sleep at night and not worry about my batteries.
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Your coach may be different, but like others here ours is in the "hidden" tank bay with other devices.
-Joel