Operation of factory installed solar system

[rad21385]

We have a 2021 Solitude 385GK with the factory installed solar system..... one 300 watt solar panel, one 30 amp charge controller with remote display, and one 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter. I have downloaded the manuals for the charge controller and the inverter, but we still are unsure about how to operate this particular system. For example, is the inverter on all of the time? And if so, does the system prioritize shore power and or generator power over inverter power? The inverter is mounted on the ceiling right above the generator making it very difficult to see and/or reach. Can the inverter be turned on and off from the remote display? Exactly what 120 volt items are wired to be supplied with inverter power? I imagine the ACs and microwave might not be, but how about the electric side of the water heater? We experienced an outage of shore power during a storm, the microwave wasn't powered but the light for electric side of the water heater remained on (which we didn't realize for a while), and the remote display showed battery voltage down to 10.6 volts (two 6 volt wet batteries). We did run the generator after seeing that!

I realize this is a long post, but thanks in advance for any advice that you can provide!

2021 Solitude 385GK
2018 GMC 3500 Denali DRW

[A.Texas.Yankee]

We have a 2021 Solitude 385GK with the factory installed solar system..... one 300 watt solar panel, one 30 amp charge controller with remote display, and one 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter. I have downloaded the manuals for the charge controller and the inverter, but we still are unsure about how to operate this particular system. For example, is the inverter on all of the time? And if so, does the system prioritize shore power and or generator power over inverter power? The inverter is mounted on the ceiling right above the generator making it very difficult to see and/or reach. Can the inverter be turned on and off from the remote display? Exactly what 120 volt items are wired to be supplied with inverter power? I imagine the ACs and microwave might not be, but how about the electric side of the water heater? We experienced an outage of shore power during a storm, the microwave wasn't powered but the light for electric side of the water heater remained on (which we didn't realize for a while), and the remote display showed battery voltage down to 10.6 volts (two 6 volt wet batteries). We did run the generator after seeing that!

I realize this is a long post, but thanks in advance for any advice that you can provide!

2021 Solitude 385GK
2018 GMC 3500 Denali DRW

Not really much to operate. In the event shore power/genset power are unavailable, inverter will kick in. You have a transfer switch that dictates priority between shore power and genset (usually genset is priority), happens before inverter. There should be a dedicated on/off switch for the inverter, usually pass through compartment. Only items on inverter circuit should be refridgerator and maybe some of the GFCI outlets since you have the 2000w inverter with solar. Water heater should definitely NOT be on the inverter circuit it would kill your battery way too fast. I would verify that. Gas would have to be enabled for water heater to work without shore power under normal circumstances.

Wet batteries will not last too long with an inverter. If you plan on boondocking much at all, consider upgrading batteries.

Hope that helps.

Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk

[huntindog]

We have a 2021 Solitude 385GK with the factory installed solar system..... one 300 watt solar panel, one 30 amp charge controller with remote display, and one 2000 watt pure sine wave inverter. I have downloaded the manuals for the charge controller and the inverter, but we still are unsure about how to operate this particular system. For example, is the inverter on all of the time? And if so, does the system prioritize shore power and or generator power over inverter power? The inverter is mounted on the ceiling right above the generator making it very difficult to see and/or reach. Can the inverter be turned on and off from the remote display? Exactly what 120 volt items are wired to be supplied with inverter power? I imagine the ACs and microwave might not be, but how about the electric side of the water heater? We experienced an outage of shore power during a storm, the microwave wasn't powered but the light for electric side of the water heater remained on (which we didn't realize for a while), and the remote display showed battery voltage down to 10.6 volts (two 6 volt wet batteries). We did run the generator after seeing that!

I realize this is a long post, but thanks in advance for any advice that you can provide!

2021 Solitude 385GK
2018 GMC 3500 Denali DRW

I have this on my Momentum. If yours is like mine, it has a remote inverter switch in the front pass thru storage... I feel that is a dumb place for it. You can relocate it if you buy some longer phone wire. I chose to leave it in place, and bought a new switch which came with 25' if wire. I installed it inside next to the Jaboni solar monitor, I ran the wire to the inverter and got a 2 into one phone wire connector. Both switches are now operational. You will likely want this mod for sure as the inverter draws power whenever it is on, and will kill the two 6 volts pretty fast
As for the inverter, mine was wired to the absorption fridge via a subpanel. I felt that my normal usage for the fridge would be propane, and it would be handy to have the microwave powered by the inverter. In my case I was able to install 2 half sized breakers in the subpanel and wire one to the fridge and the other to the microwave. On the rare occasions when I would want the fridge powered by the inverter. I can just turn that breaker on, and turn the microwave off.... In practice though since I installed a lot more solar, I can run the fridge on electric when under tow, and switch it to gas when camped. So I usually don't bother turning either breaker off... Since the microwave isn't used while under tow, it works great and I like the clock on it.
As for your WH, what light are you talking about? I thought the Solitudes run it via the One Control like my Momentum. At any rate, you really do not want that powered via the inverter. That would even put a hurt on my battery bank.

[rad21385]

Thanks for your response. I did find the remote switch for the inverter on the front wall of our pass through storage right below the battery disconnect switch. I cycled the switch a couple of times to check it out, the inverter has not been on. I don't know if the water heater can be powered by the inverter or not, I would guess not, but the light in the switch for it remained on with no shore power or generator running. I would definitely run the heater on gas only if no shore power or generator power was available (assuming I needed hot water), I simply forgot it was electric when the power went out. Our refrigerator is gas/electric, we usually have it on auto, and I was aware that it switched to gas when the power went out.

I am definitely considering upgrading the batteries to lithium, we would likely just go with two of those, since we don't have a large solar array.

Thanks again!

[rad21385]

I have this on my Momentum. If yours is like mine, it has a remote inverter switch in the front pass thru storage... I feel that is a dumb place for it. You can relocate it if you buy some longer phone wire. I chose to leave it in place, and bought a new switch which came with 25' if wire. I installed it inside next to the Jaboni solar monitor, I ran the wire to the inverter and got a 2 into one phone wire connector. Both switches are now operational. You will likely want this mod for sure as the inverter draws power whenever it is on, and will kill the two 6 volts pretty fast
As for the inverter, mine was wired to the absorption fridge via a subpanel. I felt that my normal usage for the fridge would be propane, and it would be handy to have the microwave powered by the inverter. In my case I was able to install 2 half sized breakers in the subpanel and wire one to the fridge and the other to the microwave. On the rare occasions when I would want the fridge powered by the inverter. I can just turn that breaker on, and turn the microwave off.... In practice though since I installed a lot more solar, I can run the fridge on electric when under tow, and switch it to gas when camped. So I usually don't bother turning either breaker off... Since the microwave isn't used while under tow, it works great and I like the clock on it.
As for your WH, what light are you talking about? I thought the Solitudes run it via the One Control like my Momentum. At any rate, you really do not want that powered via the inverter. That would even put a hurt on my battery bank.

Thanks for your response! I did find the remote inverter switch, cycled it a few times, and now realize it has been in the off position the whole time. Regarding the water heater, the light in the switch remained on. I'm guessing that light is powered by the 12 volt system and turns on when the switch is selected to the on position. Since the inverter was off, the water heater couldn't have been powered, and likely wouldn't be even if the inverter was on, but I wouldn't know how to check that.

Regarding the "One Control" system...... that looks awesome. Unfortunately, the Solitude doesn't come with that!!! At least mine didn't, and I just looked at our order/option sheet..... it isn't on there!

Thanks again!

[huntindog]

Thanks for your response! I did find the remote inverter switch, cycled it a few times, and now realize it has been in the off position the whole time. Regarding the water heater, the light in the switch remained on. I'm guessing that light is powered by the 12 volt system and turns on when the switch is selected to the on position. Since the inverter was off, the water heater couldn't have been powered, and likely wouldn't be even if the inverter was on, but I wouldn't know how to check that.

Regarding the "One Control" system...... that looks awesome. Unfortunately, the Solitude doesn't come with that!!! At least mine didn't, and I just looked at our order/option sheet..... it isn't on there!

Thanks again!

The inverter switch is a momentary switch. IOW, it doesn't have an on or off position. Press in once to turn it on. Press it again to turn it off. This why you can add another switch so easily. Your HWH likely has a switch underneath the outside grill to turn on/off the electric element.

[rad21385]

The inverter switch is a momentary switch. IOW, it doesn't have an on or off position. Press in once to turn it on. Press it again to turn it off. This why you can add another switch so easily. Your HWH likely has a switch underneath the outside grill to turn on/off the electric element.

I figured that out regarding the inverter switch, there is also a light next to the switch that illuminates when it is in the on position. We do have the outside switch for the water heater's electric element as well!

Thanks for the info!

[ajg617]

The inverter switch is a momentary switch. IOW, it doesn't have an on or off position. Press in once to turn it on. Press it again to turn it off. This why you can add another switch so easily. Your HWH likely has a switch underneath the outside grill to turn on/off the electric element.

Does 110v from solar default to off if another power source (generator, shore, TV?) becomes available - according to dealer at least? We have the residential fridge and I'm not entirely sure what will keep that going while underway? My understanding was solar only which would require pressing the inverter switch on travel days but now I'm not sure since the Magnum manual states that the transfer switch automatically switches between utility and inverter input. That didn't seem to happen during our tests yesterday and I'm not yet sure what is feeding the utility side but it's also possible that the BB batteries aren't fully charged yet. Fridge and microwave only came on when the generator was powered up.

Also, I'll be disconnecting the batteries and no shore power is currently connected in order to swap out the WFCO converter to lithium compatible PD unit and add a shunt, but also for the winter. I noticed an on/off red switch between the converter and transfer switch in addition to the main on/off in the storage compartment next to the inverter switch. Turn both off or does the main switch in the storage bay control the solar input as well?

Be interested in your MW clock fix.

[Second Chance]

Does 110v from solar default to off if another power source (generator, shore, TV?) becomes available - according to dealer at least? We have the residential fridge and I'm not entirely sure what will keep that going while underway? My understanding was solar only which would require pressing the inverter switch on travel days but now I'm not sure since the Magnum manual states that the transfer switch automatically switches between utility and inverter input. That didn't seem to happen during our tests yesterday and I'm not yet sure what is feeding the utility side but it's also possible that the BB batteries aren't fully charged yet. Fridge and microwave only came on when the generator was powered up.

Also, I'll be disconnecting the batteries and no shore power is currently connected in order to swap out the WFCO converter to lithium compatible PD unit and add a shunt, but also for the winter. I noticed an on/off red switch between the converter and transfer switch in addition to the main on/off in the storage compartment next to the inverter switch. Turn both off or does the main switch in the storage bay control the solar input as well?

Be interested in your MW clock fix.

If the inverter switch is on, the ATS (automatic transfer switch) will switch from 120VAC shore power to the inverter/batteries when shore power is disconnected. When on inverter/batteries, only those circuits on the inverter sub-panel will be powered. In the 310GK-R, that will include the refrigerator and a number of outlets - but not the microwave, fireplace, water heater, or ACs.

Rob

[ajg617]

Just changed the Jaboni setting to Lithium and flicked the inverter switch on. Refer lights up and TV goes up. Just a cursory look since I have some warranty paperwork to fill out and have to re-check the LiFePO4 installs the dealer did as a courtesy.