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  1. #11
    Site Sponsor andrewssteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by huntindog View Post
    ... When the factory assembled one of the connections, they installed female ends in both housings. Then they somehow forced them together. ...
    Mind boggling. Amazing. Seems it would be impossible to connect two female connectors without using a knife or rotary file or something.

    I'd be on the lookout for what else the crew that built your rig did.

    Great job trouble-shooting.

    -Steve
    Steve and Renee
    2018 Solitude 310GK, disc brakes, Morryde SRE4000/XFactor with heavy duty shackles
    2012 Ram 3500 SRW 6.7 Diesel, air bags
    18k B&W Companion, non-slider
    640 watts solar, 400 amp-hour Lion Safari UT 1300 battery bank
    Aims 1500 watt inverter/charger with ATS
    Somerset, WI

  2. #12
    Site Sponsor orbiker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by huntindog View Post
    I found the problem.
    On the roof where the factory solar panel plugs into the gland it uses MP4 connectors. When the factory assembled one of the connections, they installed female ends in both housings. Then they somehow forced them together. One of the female ends managed to slide into the other female end about 1/8" deep This distorted both parts and the connection failed. I haven't replaced the MP4 connector yet. Ran out of time so I will do it tomorrow. I doubt my dealer would have ever found it
    Quote Originally Posted by andrewssteve View Post
    Mind boggling. Amazing. Seems it would be impossible to connect two female connectors without using a knife or rotary file or something.

    I'd be on the lookout for what else the crew that built your rig did.

    Great job trouble-shooting.

    -Steve
    Great job troubleshooting.
    It's amazing what people can do when they get lazy. I work on coin washers and dryer for a very large company. Whirlpool / and now Maytag can also do creative wiring and horrible crimping. Sometimes even the wrong color wire in the wrong connection.
    Their newest idea is 50 % of the machine is all small blue wires.
    I have heard a bit about the factory solar. It sounds like it's a beginner setup, that needs a bit of extra help.
    Backpacker and tent camper all my life, including BSA as a kid and adult.
    Motorcycle trips across the USA with a tent - 1978 to Present.
    02-10-2005 - 2002 F350 SWD PSD and 2003 Citation 10'8S mostly for Crater Lake Ski Patrol.
    10-29-2015 - 2016 Grand Design 380TH. It's HUGE compared to a camper.
    10-19-2018 - traded truck for a 2016 Ram 3500 DRW Laramie CC 4 X 4 Long Box.
    03-16-2019 - Traded Momentum for a New 2018 374TH-R Solitude
    FULL TIME RV'er Nov 2021

  3. #13
    Long Hauler huntindog's Avatar
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    As PO'D as I am about what the factory did, I am rather proud of being able to find the issue. I was up on the roof scratching my head over whether to continue looking for a fuse that may not exist, when I remembered that when I first removed the factory panel, that there were witness marks on its mounting brackets indicating it had been removed after the intial install..... And that may mean some trouble shooting had happened before I took delivery of it. So I layed my head down on the roof to be able to look inside the MP4 connector in the gland... That wasn't a lot of help, as It looked OK from a less than ideal viewpoint. I then hit upon an idea. I took a brand new male MP4 connector, (just the inside part) and inserted into the female installed in the gland. It ratlled around in there with a great deal of play instead of sliping in snug like it should BINGO!

    So somewhere along the line, someone was aware that there was an issue, and could not fix it right.
    Luckily I have better than average DIY skills and do not have to rely on others... Imagine trying to get a dealer to figure this out... How may trips and how long would thay have had it... Probably would have gone out of warranty and still not been fixed.
    2021 398M Full Body Paint 8k axles. LRH tires. Disc brakes.
    Two bathrooms, no waiting 155 fresh, 104 black, 104 grey 1860 watts solar.
    800AH BattleBorn Batteries No campgrounds 100% boondocking
    2020 Silverado High Country 3500 dually crewcab Duramax Allison

  4. #14
    Long Hauler huntindog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by andrewssteve View Post
    Mind boggling. Amazing. Seems it would be impossible to connect two female connectors without using a knife or rotary file or something.

    I'd be on the lookout for what else the crew that built your rig did.

    Great job trouble-shooting.

    -Steve
    I noticed in your sig, that you have pretty close to the same solar battery setup as I am working on.
    I now have 550 watts, and 4 BB 100 amp batteries. How do you like your setup? Do you have a residential fridge?
    2021 398M Full Body Paint 8k axles. LRH tires. Disc brakes.
    Two bathrooms, no waiting 155 fresh, 104 black, 104 grey 1860 watts solar.
    800AH BattleBorn Batteries No campgrounds 100% boondocking
    2020 Silverado High Country 3500 dually crewcab Duramax Allison

  5. #15
    Long Hauler huntindog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by andrewssteve View Post
    Mind boggling. Amazing. Seems it would be impossible to connect two female connectors without using a knife or rotary file or something.

    I'd be on the lookout for what else the crew that built your rig did.

    Great job trouble-shooting.

    -Steve
    To be clear: The outside plastic parts of the MP4 were correct. but each housing contined a femae metal inside
    2021 398M Full Body Paint 8k axles. LRH tires. Disc brakes.
    Two bathrooms, no waiting 155 fresh, 104 black, 104 grey 1860 watts solar.
    800AH BattleBorn Batteries No campgrounds 100% boondocking
    2020 Silverado High Country 3500 dually crewcab Duramax Allison

  6. #16
    Long Hauler DaveMatthewsBand's Avatar
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    This is why you don’t have RV dealerships install solar. Find someone that does it for a living.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Resistance is Not Futile, It's Voltage Divided by Current.


  7. #17
    Long Hauler huntindog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DaveMatthewsBand View Post
    This is why you don’t have RV dealerships install solar. Find someone that does it for a living.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Technically the dealership did not do the install. It was installed as the coach was built..... And rumor has it, they do it for a living.(don't tell anyone)
    2021 398M Full Body Paint 8k axles. LRH tires. Disc brakes.
    Two bathrooms, no waiting 155 fresh, 104 black, 104 grey 1860 watts solar.
    800AH BattleBorn Batteries No campgrounds 100% boondocking
    2020 Silverado High Country 3500 dually crewcab Duramax Allison

  8. #18
    Site Sponsor andrewssteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by huntindog View Post
    I noticed in your sig, that you have pretty close to the same solar battery setup as I am working on.
    I now have 550 watts, and 4 BB 100 amp batteries. How do you like your setup? Do you have a residential fridge?
    No residential fridge. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have a residential fridge. Big regret.

    I really like my setup, but I have to be honest that camping in the East and Mid-West is a bigger solar challenge than camping in the West. Trees make shade, plain and simple. I'd definitely be happy to add another 160 watt panel (or two) if the opportunity arose.

    Biggest regret is my 1500 watt inverter. Pretty sure I've got enough capacity -- at least for a day or two -- to support a 3000 watt inverter. Makes a difference when DW and I don't coordinate when we end up wanting to brew a cup of coffee and dry hair at the same time. That combo shuts the system down. If I had a 3000 watt inverter, I don't think we'd notice (or worry about) the competing current draws.

    -Steve
    Steve and Renee
    2018 Solitude 310GK, disc brakes, Morryde SRE4000/XFactor with heavy duty shackles
    2012 Ram 3500 SRW 6.7 Diesel, air bags
    18k B&W Companion, non-slider
    640 watts solar, 400 amp-hour Lion Safari UT 1300 battery bank
    Aims 1500 watt inverter/charger with ATS
    Somerset, WI

  9. #19
    Long Hauler DaveMatthewsBand's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by andrewssteve View Post
    No residential fridge. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have a residential fridge. Big regret.

    I really like my setup, but I have to be honest that camping in the East and Mid-West is a bigger solar challenge than camping in the West. Trees make shade, plain and simple. I'd definitely be happy to add another 160 watt panel (or two) if the opportunity arose.

    Biggest regret is my 1500 watt inverter. Pretty sure I've got enough capacity -- at least for a day or two -- to support a 3000 watt inverter. Makes a difference when DW and I don't coordinate when we end up wanting to brew a cup of coffee and dry hair at the same time. That combo shuts the system down. If I had a 3000 watt inverter, I don't think we'd notice (or worry about) the competing current draws.

    -Steve
    While boondocking, we have routinely run the microwave, air fryer, TV, a 300-watt sound bar, furnace, lights, fridge, chargers for two laptops and two iPhones all simultaneously using our 3,000 Inverter.

    Also, if you do upgrade your inverter get one with “load-balancing”. Our Magnum is called a Hybrid because it has this and most of the higher priced inverters have it, but make sure.

    In case anyone isn’t familiar with load-balancing, This allows us to run several high draw appliances simultaneously while on shore power (or a generator) even when the camp ground is packed and power output on the grid is strained or when the generator cannot keep up with demand.

    It will automatically pull the necessary power from our battery bank! This equates to fewer (nada) tripped breakers or blown fuses. You’ll generally pay a few hundred bucks more for a pure sine wave inverter with this feature but it’s well worth it!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Resistance is Not Futile, It's Voltage Divided by Current.


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