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  1. #11
    Seasoned Camper
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    I agree with you 100%, but an informed buyer does not get trapped.

    I'm glad you posted the information about Furrion product. This information allows others to make a better decision for themselves. In the end, its not the company that 'rips you off' but the buyer willingly giving them their money for an over priced product. Furrion is not forcing anyone to buy their products.

  2. #12
    Long Hauler huntindog's Avatar
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    I stay under 30 amps for 10 gauge wire. I did this because it is good fro 30 amps on a 30' run, and it is pretty much impossible to determine just how long the run is after it is installed, without removing it to measure..... And I DID not want to just guess that it it would be OK
    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

  3. #13
    Long Hauler huntindog's Avatar
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    On another note: Are you running your new panels and your Furrion panel thru the same Furrion controller? If so, how is it configured>

    In most cases it is not going to match up well, and you will lose output. Possibly a lot of output.
    Please post the specs for all panels as well as for the controller, for a better answer....

    I already went thru this process on my 398M
    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
    Site Sponsor SolarPoweredRV's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by huntindog View Post
    I stay under 30 amps for 10 gauge wire. I did this because it is good fro 30 amps on a 30' run, and it is pretty much impossible to determine just how long the run is after it is installed, without removing it to measure..... And I DID not want to just guess that it it would be OK
    One way to extend the length you can run your cabling is to up the voltage by combining your Solar panels in series.

    For example: my four Solar panels are 37 volts each, by combining two of them in series and then combining the pairs in parallel (2s/2p) configuration, I increased my voltage from the roof to the Solar charge controller to 74 volts which 10 awg wire can easily handle for that distance (FYI: I used 10 awg wire on the roof and 6 awg from the roof to my Solar Controller).
    David and Peggy
    2019 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.7L Diesel, Dually, Long Bed
    Running with 20k Reese Goosebox (Love It) and Ford Factory "Puck" system.
    Stopping with 8,000 lb Disc Brakes and Titan Hydraulic over Electric Brakes system.
    Powering all this fun with 1200 Watts of Solar, two Tesla, Model S, battery modules, 24 volt Victron Inverter.
    2018 Solitude 310 GK

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by SolarPoweredRV View Post
    One way to extend the length you can run your cabling is to up the voltage by combining your Solar panels in series.

    For example: my four Solar panels are 37 volts each, by combining two of them in series and then combining the pairs in parallel (2s/2p) configuration, I increased my voltage from the roof to the Solar charge controller to 74 volts which 10 awg wire can easily handle for that distance (FYI: I used 10 awg wire on the roof and 6 awg from the roof to my Solar Controller).


    A Watt is a Watt regardless of the voltage. The 74 volts has no bearing on wether or not the size of the wire (in AWG) can accommodate it. The ampacity will determine the wire size, the insulation for the solar wiring is either going to be rated at 600v or 300v and that will determine how much voltage you run through the cable
    Bill & Colleen ~ Schwenksville, Pa
    2019 Reflection 337RLS
    2006 GMC Sierra 3500 8.1L V-8
    Firestone Ride-Rite Air Bags
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    Rear Anti Sway Bar

  6. #16
    Site Sponsor SolarPoweredRV's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by IBEW Sparky View Post
    A Watt is a Watt regardless of the voltage. The 74 volts has no bearing on wether or not the size of the wire (in AWG) can accommodate it. The ampacity will determine the wire size, the insulation for the solar wiring is either going to be rated at 600v or 300v and that will determine how much voltage you run through the cable
    You are correct, the amps determine the appropriate wire size, however, combining your Solar panels in series will increase the voltage without increasing the amperage. Conversely, paralleling your Solar panels will increase the amperage without increasing the voltage.

    Depending on the number of Solar panels in your array, if you parallel all your panels, you could exceed the amperage rating of your wiring. The example I used showed one way to safely use smaller gauge wire to get the Solar energy off the roof, especially if your installation involved a long cable run.
    David and Peggy
    2019 Ford F350 Lariat, 6.7L Diesel, Dually, Long Bed
    Running with 20k Reese Goosebox (Love It) and Ford Factory "Puck" system.
    Stopping with 8,000 lb Disc Brakes and Titan Hydraulic over Electric Brakes system.
    Powering all this fun with 1200 Watts of Solar, two Tesla, Model S, battery modules, 24 volt Victron Inverter.
    2018 Solitude 310 GK

  7. #17
    Long Hauler Paul & Deb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by huntindog View Post
    I stay under 30 amps for 10 gauge wire. I did this because it is good fro 30 amps on a 30' run, and it is pretty much impossible to determine just how long the run is after it is installed, without removing it to measure..... And I DID not want to just guess that it it would be OK
    I'm running approx. 10 to 20 amps depending on how I wire my panels. I may just run them in series so I[d be at 10 amps but then I may try a 2s2p setup to see the difference but I'm still maxing out at 20 amps.

    Quote Originally Posted by huntindog View Post
    On another note: Are you running your new panels and your Furrion panel thru the same Furrion controller? If so, how is it configured>

    In most cases it is not going to match up well, and you will lose output. Possibly a lot of output.
    Please post the specs for all panels as well as for the controller, for a better answer....

    I already went thru this process on my 398M
    As I said in my OP, I removed all the Furrion stuff. I may decide to reuse bth if I want to set up a portable carryout panel but who knows. For now I have 800w of RICH panels running through a 100|50 VE SmartSolar charge controller.
    Paul "Poppy" and Deb Cervone
    2022 Imagine XLS 22MLE
    2021 Imagine XLS 17MKE - SOLD ; 2015 Grand Design Reflection 337RLS - SOLD
    2016 GMC Denali 3500HD SRW Duramax/Allison CC 4x4; Tire Minder TPMS

  8. #18
    Site Sponsor
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    Quote Originally Posted by Paul & Deb View Post
    I'm not sure how many folks have a recently built trailer which are now using Furrion solar panels, wiring, roof glands and charge controllers but I stumbled into an issue that has me ticked off and I'm trying to find a "simple" solution.

    My recent build 2022 22MLE came from the factory with a Furrion 12v fridge, which so far I love, a 165w Furrion solar panel and 25amp Furrion charge controller. I am in the process of upgrading my solar and power system so I removed the 16w panel and am adding 4 200w RICH solar panels. I went to connect the industry standard MC4 connectors from the new panels to the roof gland and, wait, what?, they don't connect! After much research and speaking with both GD customer service and Furrion customer service it appears Furrion uses it's own proprietary connectors on the panels and roof glands. What a bunch of BS!!!

    The person I spoke with at Furrion literally told me I wouldn't be able to find any adapters in the after market for these.

    I'm mad at myself for not checking sooner as I already removed my factory panel and have my new panels on the roof ready to mount and connect. Who knows how long it will take to get this resolved.

    I'm trying to avoid replacing the roof gland with an industry standard gland such as the ones GD used to install from Jaboni. I just did this same modification to my 2021 17MKE and the connection was simple because GD was using industry standard roof glands and connectors.

    Yes, I know, I keep repeating "industry standard" but I do that intentionally because it pisses me off that Furrion is doing this. If they think this will make people who want to upgrade their solar capacity buy their panels they're nuts! Solar panels usually cost roughly $1 per watt. So, for instance a 100w panel can be purchased for around $100. My new RICH 200w panels were just about $200 apiece (I have 4 of them). Guess what Furrion sells their 165w panels for? $509! That's highway robbery.

    Anyway, enough venting. I guess I just wanted to share my misery and I will report back with what I end up doing and I hope I'm not forced to replace the roof gland.



    I sympathize with your frustration. Furrion products leave a lot to be desired. We have a 303 rls. The oven and range is furrion. I HATE the oven and hardly use it. Better to use my BBQ for an oven. The furrion never maintains temperature and runs a fan constantly. It is close to junk. The range top is only usable for low flame by starting on high and rotating slowly clockwise toward off, to get a low flame. Fortunately for me, when I did my solar roof install, it was not pre wired. I did all my connections from scratch with mc4 and 10 gauge wire. BTW, I also use two 100 watt suitcase solar panels. They are connected with a furrion plug through the front of the 5th wheel and wired to the batteries. I think the wire gauge was 14. I changed it out to 12 gauge.
    Glad you got yours figured out.
    Alan and Paula
    2019 Reflection 303 RLS, 2004 Dodge 3500 5.9L
    Magnum 2k watt inverter-charger, 300 AH Battle Born battery bank, 560 watt solar power. 6K axles and disc brakes. Pepwave max transit cellular router.

  9. #19
    Left The Driveway
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    Furrion makes me Furrious! 3 of their microwaves died in leas than 3 years on our 2018 337rls. We purchases a 100 watt suitcase solar panel and found the plug did not fit the outlet on the 5th wheel. We did find an after market plug that we were able to splice on. Hopefully someone has developed a bypass for the furrion connectors or will soon

  10. #20
    Site Sponsor
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    Quote Originally Posted by Butcher View Post
    I agree with you 100%, but an informed buyer does not get trapped.

    I'm glad you posted the information about Furrion product. This information allows others to make a better decision for themselves. In the end, its not the company that 'rips you off' but the buyer willingly giving them their money for an over priced product. Furrion is not forcing anyone to buy their products.
    We who end up buying a Grand Design trailer do so because of top rated customer service and for the layout and designs of our RV. It is unfortunate for us that Grand Design choose Furrion as the manufacturer of many of the appliances installed in our RVs. We, the buyer, don't have much control over that if we want to purchase a G.D. RV, other then spending extra money to replace items. So yes. I would think that we are forced into buying there products through default, by zG.D. choice of using them as a vendor.
    Alan and Paula
    2019 Reflection 303 RLS, 2004 Dodge 3500 5.9L
    Magnum 2k watt inverter-charger, 300 AH Battle Born battery bank, 560 watt solar power. 6K axles and disc brakes. Pepwave max transit cellular router.

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