98 Beaver Monterey questions....

[Dave Sampson]

I did a fair bit of searching and can't seem to find this info, so I thought I'd go right to the pros-

I recently purchased a 98 Beaver Monterey.  It is a beautiful creampuff with 17,000 miles on it, and I have almost perfect documentation. That said I'm missing the following data:

How powerful are the Solar panels, and what controller type does it use?  If it has one at all.

It seems to have three panels.  A tiny black one, that I suspect is between 5  & 10 watts for the starting batteries.  The 2 others, I guessing for the house batteries, that may be between 50 and 100 watts each.  I can't find a manufacturer name or plaque anywhere on any of them.

What Air conditioners are on my roof?... I'm guessing they are 13.5K BTU Dometics, but I am not sure. I would like to buy hard start kits for them.

I have many years of using borrowed and rented Class A's and must say this is a nicely built coach.

My parents upgraded from it to another Beaver Marquis a 42 footer (I think), and have noted that the build quality in many areas is not equal to the older one.

Thanks guys!

"Uncle" Dave Sampson

[Larry Fritz]

Uncle Dave: I have a 98 Beaver Patriot 37'.  I think (but not certain) that we have the same solar panels and likely the same roof air's.

I don't know the brand info on the solar panels but mine has a controller (for the two large solar panels) that is mounted under the lift up bed platform on the vertical portion of the platform closest to the front of the coach. It has a red led light on it. It is adjacent to the dual battery isolator.

My roof air's are Duotherm Model 600315.321. There is a complete pdf manual on the web for this one at: www.bryantrv.com/docs2/docs/acservice.pdf that you can download free.

Hope this helps.

Larry Fritz

[Roy Mueller]

Uncle Dave,
I have a '97 Monterey with 3 panels.  The small one is a Solorex SA5 5 Watt.  The 2 larger ones
are 40 Watt.  The A/C are 1350 BTU.  Call me for More INFO.  I have made changes.
Roy Mueller 573-220-1216

[Dave Sampson]

Thanks guys, very helpful.

Larry, I haven't even looked under the bed!  Ill take a look for the controller next time Im in the coach.

Roy- I will give you a ring when Im unmolested by work.

I figured those panels would be pretty weak, but I was hoping for at least 50 a side, oh well...

Good news is I have some roof real estate to work with and you guys to help me.

Thanks again.

Uncle Dave

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

Under most solar panels is an information label, with all the data you will need about the manufacturer, size, capacity etc.  Just remove the 4 bolts holding it to the mounting brackets, and turn it over.

I had a '98 Patriot.  The controller was under the bed.  I could see the red light glowing by looking through the louvers on the engine bay cover on the rear.

Larry

[Dave Sampson]

I unbolted one of the larger ones and there was  a spot  where a sticker or plaque once was- and I didn't go after the second one.

On the tiny black one all I could see was what looked like "solarex" but no model number - I did not unbolt it.


Dave