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kjenckes's avatar
kjenckes
Explorer
Aug 25, 2017

Help with Lance 820 solar set up

I'm posting here as opposed to the tech topics because I think it's a TC issue which hopefully someone else has run into.

I'm replacing/upgrading my solar and batteries in my 2005 Lance 820. It has the OEM 58watt panel and 1 group 27 battery in the battery compartment. I have placed 2 x 100 watt panels on the roof and ran the cables down the fridge flue. The 58 will be disconnected. The wires are pathetically small and I'm adding 2 x 6 volt golf cart batteries. I built a vented box under my fridge in front of the step up. So far, so good. Here's the issue. I want to empty the old battery box and use it for sewer connector storage. Should be easy right?

Well here's the issue. I have 1 positive wire and 1 pathetically small positive solar wire. No problem. I have 1 big negative wire, 1 small negative solar wire, and.....2 more negative wires. These concern me.

Anyone have any ideas what they could be? They look factory because of the way they come through the wall into the compartment.



Click For Full-Size Image.

The black is Lance's positive, the white is negative. The really small blue and whites with yellow o-ring connectors are the solar wires.
Truck Campers

10 Replies

  • kjenckes's avatar
    kjenckes
    Explorer
    Jun 14, 2018
    Some follow up to this that may help someone in the future.

    The 2 large wires (2gauge) are to the generator! I had a bad transfer relay and no good way to change it out so I haven't tried the generator again until today. My water heater died an awful death over the winter. My bad, messed up with the winterization. So with a large hole in the side of the camper I now have access. Time to fire up the generator and test the relay..... OK start now.... not a sound. I hooked the 2 large wires to a jump pack and voila! Generator sounds. OK so the gas is off because the water heater is unhooked. For $78.00 from Amazon delivered tomorrow I will soon have a new transfer relay.
  • Powerdude's avatar
    Powerdude
    Explorer
    Aug 28, 2017
    I recently opened up my converter area on my Lance 820, and swapped out the power converter.

    The 110 volt wires to the simple minded fuse board are indeed only 12 gauge, but the 12 V wires to it from the camper are 8 gauge wires, which lead to the battery though the back of the sink.

    The 12 V outputs on the powercenter were indeed some questionable gauge (maybe 16-ish), but the are quire short (6-8 inches), so that's not really much of a problem.

    I used thesepeople. They were great, for replacing my old Magnatek with a PD4655V.

    I don't see any pre-wiring for solar on mine, but mine is a 2001. There is probably some Lance package that offers solar wiring, especially if it was ordered with a solar panel.

    I would imagine you'd want to splice into or connect up to the power centers inputs using 8 gauge wires. The space is tight but doable.

    As for your battery box, how did you vent it to the outside? Under the fridge, at least on my Lance 820, is the 2xLPG tank compartment. Did you go under that?
  • dave17352's avatar
    dave17352
    Explorer
    Aug 28, 2017
    So that old panel did or did not have a controller on it? I can't remember but you may want to keep your old controller in line if it has one and then use your new controller for your new set up. What do you exactly have on that old panel?
    I would be to curious and have to disconnect the two extra negatives and see what was not working in my rig. But that's just me :)
  • kjenckes's avatar
    kjenckes
    Explorer
    Aug 28, 2017
    Thanks to everyone. Here's what I found and did. I'm still not sure what the extra grounds are. I bolted them together and left them hooked to ground. The positive is disconnected from the power center so it is dead at the battery side now. I tucked those as far into the wall as possible then zip tied and screwed them up out of the way. I'm going to connect the old, small, oem panel to my new solar controller. Those wires are only 12 gauge. Sheesh. Later today or tomorrow when I have access to my laptop I'm going to post a new thread with pics on what, where, and how so maybe someone else will benefit. Thanks again.
  • 2oldnslow's avatar
    2oldnslow
    Explorer
    Aug 27, 2017
    I also moved my batteries from the "high and to the rear" battery box. I only had one of each wire though. I removed the positive wire and tied the negative wire up and out of the way. It is still electrically connected to the new batteries.

    I would tie all the negative wires together in the old battery box and leave them. No harm if they touch anything. The positive wire will have to be insulated or removed. It doesn't matter what the white wires go to, if they are electrically tied to the new battery negative, everybody will be happy.
  • dave17352's avatar
    dave17352
    Explorer
    Aug 27, 2017
    work2much wrote:
    I would just test out the lines with a voltmeter and abandon any prewiring for solar or anything else you aren't using. Extra wires here at battery aren't for fridge or any other normal camper function. Run a new pair off the roof of correct sizing with your new panels through a new charge controller to the battery bank. You will need a good volt meter at least to monitor states of volt levels to keep battery bank from over discharging .


    I would not be sure they could not be for any other normal camper function.
  • work2much's avatar
    work2much
    Explorer
    Aug 26, 2017
    I would just test out the lines with a voltmeter and abandon any prewiring for solar or anything else you aren't using. Extra wires here at battery aren't for fridge or any other normal camper function. Run a new pair off the roof of correct sizing with your new panels through a new charge controller to the battery bank. You will need a good volt meter at least to monitor states of volt levels to keep battery bank from over discharging .
  • KD4UPL's avatar
    KD4UPL
    Explorer II
    Aug 25, 2017
    Why would you disconnect the 58 watt panel? You might as well use it if it's mounted there. Or, did you mean you will completely remove it?
    As for the wires, it doesn't matter what they are for. You just need to hook all the negatives to a #6 or maybe a #4 and run that to your new batteries. Same with the positives, connect them all to one large #6 or #4 and hook that to the new batteries.
  • AnEv942's avatar
    AnEv942
    Nomad
    Aug 25, 2017
    https://www.lancecamper.com/docs/2006-07%20Lance%20Owners%20Manual.pdf
    manual for the 2005 on Lance site missing schematics- the 2006 should be similar, shows 8ga as going to negative buss bar, the smaller wire didn't see-. Appears in pic to be in same lug so would assume factory.. Being ground even unidentified I would reconnect to new batt location. Could add a lug for the grounds, run single cable to new location
  • dave17352's avatar
    dave17352
    Explorer
    Aug 25, 2017
    Probably one runs to your propane detector and the other to your truck connector. Maybe the other one to your refrigerator. Shouldn't be that hard to figure out actually. Plus if you connect all the same wires to your new setup everything should work fine. Just cut the small ones and figure out what isn't powered. Shouldn't take long. JMHO Of course somebody else probably will know exactly what they are for.:)

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