Renogy portable suitcase solar

I bought the 100 watt suitcase back in early February. Mine came with the Anderson connectors. I bought some 10awg cable from Northern Arizona Wind and Sun to make a 15 foot extension. They were out of stock of the 10-12 awg Andersons so I ended up getting the from Battery Mart.
Because of it only giving me 5.7 amps max and hooked up with my fridge going, it only added 4.9 amps per hour. So I bought another 30 watt panel only and it came with the SAE connectors. I cut my loops off and attached the 2 foot section directly to the controller where the other 2 panels attach. Now I can easily add the extra 30 watts that will give me 7 amps.
I did look around for the SAE cable, but only found it with 16 awg wire which is too small for what I wanted.
Have you called them? They have great service and technical support. Start with customer support.

Voided warranty? I wonder under what circumstances one might need to use a warranty on a solar panel. They either work, or not.

In theory a diode in panel could fail, but this doesn't happen too often.

And of course there is a matter of aging (=decreased output), and warranty would specify N% after M years, but I have yet to see a user that measured and documented this decrease accurately, determined that his "N%" after M years was less than that promised by the warranty, and filed a claim.

In reality the only warranty affected would be on the cord, not the entire system.

You can go to any auto parts store and buy everything you need to make up your own cord. I would just snip the end and put on the ring terminals, but I'm a rebel that way.

I kinda like the idea of a portable suitcase style solar panel setup. I guess they come with a built-in SOLAR CONTROLLER and all you need to do is just connect the setup to your battery bank and set the panels in full sun. If the solar controller is built-in to the panels I wonder how the controllers are powered up. External DC ???

4-5 AMPS DC Current from a 100W Panel should be a good Battery Bank top-off charge for you during the high sun day... Certainly would be a good SOLAR PLAN B thing...

My future planned upgrade thinking will include having one of these 2-pin Chassis cable connectors on both my trailer and truck. This portable solar panel could be adapted to plug-in either spot to top-off the battery banks installed in these locations... These ETRAILER POLLAX PK12800/PK12801 connector and plug is an overkill but since they would already be used on both the trailer and truck would be a neat way to get to the battery banks in both places.




NOTE: I got my answer about the solar controllers from looking up the manual... Had a quick chuckle where it read if your battery is down below 9VC then recharge the battery by other means before using the portable solar panels hehe...
PORTABLE SOLAR PANEL KIT

Roy Ken

Almot wrote:
Voided warranty? I wonder under what circumstances one might need to use a warranty on a solar panel. They either work, or not.

In theory a diode in panel could fail, but this doesn't happen too often.

And of course there is a matter of aging (=decreased output), and warranty would specify N% after M years, but I have yet to see a user that measured and documented this decrease accurately, determined that his "N%" after M years was less than that promised by the warranty, and filed a claim.

Just for your information, Solar panels come with warranties for not only the panels but also the controllers amongst other things are warranted. I called the manufacture this morning and any modifications (remove the alligator clips, etc) voids the warranty.

4aSong wrote:
...I called the manufacture this morning and any modifications (remove the alligator clips, etc) voids the warranty.

That isn't what the Magnuson–Moss federal Warranty Act says.

Truth is, you'll want to modify that system, anyway. The controller should be as close to the batteries as possible. If you have nowhere to mount the controller with what exists, buy a weatherproof switch box, put the controller inside, and mount the box close to the batteries. You can then use connector of your choice between the modules and the controller.

If you're worried about voiding the warranty, remove all the existing wire and save it. Use all new wire for the new installation. In the event of a warranty return, install the saved wiring.

In reality, about the only thing that can go South is the controller. A duplicate or better controller will cost less than the shipping charges for a warranty return.

Westend has a good point. I may be ordering the Renogy 16 foot 12awg copper solar tray cable and use my extra Anderson connectors I bought to make up my own cable. I will pickup an inline fuse holder at electronics store.
Be aware that the Viewstar VS2410n controller will only take 12awg or smaller unless there is a way to make 10awg fit.

beemerphile1 wrote:

4aSong wrote:
...I called the manufacture this morning and any modifications (remove the alligator clips, etc) voids the warranty.

That isn't what the Magnuson–Moss federal Warranty Act says.

Interesting reading. Thanks for sharing the information.

I did call Renogy and they will be providing me with the proper wire/connectors at no additional cost as the information on there web site and the owners manual showed Anderson connectors and I received SAE connectors.

I was not all that impressed with the quality of Renogy or Go Power. I had a single 100 watt on the roof in my last rig and each year it gave less and less power. A 20 year solar cell warranty means nothing when you need to deal with China. The Chinese solar cell and materials was a turnoff and from what I read most of them are not great turning sun to power. I was going to get a Zamp 100 watt for my trailer since it has a plug that says "Pre wired for Zamp" but they are spendy. I bought a 90 watt from Overlandsolar at the Seattle RV show, the owner was very helpful explaining what to look for and was probably overly honest about solar limitations and talked me away from his more expensive size when we went through my power needs. The cells on these are German (Bosch) and they fold up three way so they were smaller for storage. The charge controller is waterproof end has a small LED screen for easy changes. I have been on some long trips and the 90 watt has done great even in overcast which was kind of surprising. Does anyone know if there is a USA made solar cell in any of these systems?