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WesternHorizon's avatar
WesternHorizon
Explorer
May 26, 2014

Solar trickle charger on '95 Fleetwood Tioga Montara

I just bought a '95 Fleetwood Tioga Montara with an RVP 7300 rooftop AC. On top of it is a solar panel that charges the house battery.

Anyone have any details on this?

Looks like RVP is now Airxcel http://www.rvcomfort.com/rvp/tech_info/ but I'm not seeing any docs for anything this old.

I am going to install an expensive new Lifeline AGM battery with an upgraded BestConverter to charge it on the road

http://www.bestconverter.com/MagnetekParallax-63007300-Upgrade-Kit_c_64.html

and a BatteryMinder float for at home. Not sure I really want or need a '95 era solar cell controller (?) involved since it could easily overcharge.

Does anyone know how it actually connects to the battery? The only doc I have is a one pager showing a yellow/black "charger cable assembly" in the ceiling grill that appears to connect directly to the battery.

It is disappointing that Fleetwood manual states that technical information is not available. Navion makes complete blueprints for all systems available on their website.

Thank you.
Class C

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  • WesternHorizon's avatar
    WesternHorizon
    Explorer
    May 29, 2014
    Thanks for the info. My CO/Smoke detector is AA battery only, so I guess the solar will help a bit with the gas detector and roof vent and fridge when I am boondocking.

    Parked at home I am hooked up to AC. The BatteryMinder allegedly performs ultrasonic desulfation on the battery. I am a little dubious about this after reading something questioning whether it really has any effect.

    BTW, there is a BatteryMinder 12248 that goes from float up to 8 amps. I have the 2012 which goes from float to 2 amps.
  • Golden_HVAC's avatar
    Golden_HVAC
    Explorer
    May 26, 2014
    Hi,

    I also have a 1997 Bounder with that same type of solar panel. Don't worry about it, probably either 10 or 15 watts, will do little to enhance your charging system. It barely makes enough power to run the CO meter and propane leak detectors.

    I would suggest that you just leave the whole RV plugged in, and not plug in the battery tender at all.

    The CO and propane detectors together consume about 0.8 amps per hour, and can discharge a fully charged 220 amp hour battery bank in about 6 days without anything else running. The battery tender typically only put out about 1 amp per hour, almost as much load as the two detectors will consume, leaving little margin to keep the battery full.

    If you can not plug in your RV all year long, then consider a 120 watt solar panel. This will make about 35 AH daily, and keep up with the demands of the RV, except while camping when you might be using up to 100 AH daily.

    SunElec.com

    Fred.

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