Solar JUST to recharging house battery?

Link to my NEW topic

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29370750.cfm

I found the isolator. It was right out front, but SUPER old.

I will assume it is just broken and replace it (it looks really old). I will start a new post with some questions I have about the isolator (as it is hooked up differently than what I have seen in instructions... and I will add the link to the new topic here if anybody wants to continue to help. :)

I also have NO idea why images are not working for me. I go to the "image" part of the post and include the URL. But that does not seem to work.

https://ibb.co/fq7dkQ (Image)

I would go for the 100 watt panel and controller before working on alternator charging because it works when not driving, too. If you are a modest user of electricity like us, you will not need any other source of electricity. Our batteries stay over 80% charge all the time and we never plug in.

There is a serendipitous advantage to the panel supplying electrical loads while the sun is shining instead of saving and later withdrawing energy from the batteries - it avoids the energy loss in the battery during charging and discharging.

We do get some benefit from engine charging, perhaps as much as the solar panel (5 amps) when driving. I greatly improved our engine charging by eliminating voltage drops in the wire - there was a poor connection costing nearly a volt and going direct to the battery instead of way over to the battery isolator switch at the door and back added nearly another volt.

I would recommend a battery monitor so you know the battery state of charge. An eBay cheapo works well for me. I have the 25 amp version of This one

Factory built
99 precent probability
It came with a ' converter ' for charging the house batteries, no inverter to make 120v from the house batteries
And also came with some kind of battery isolator to charge the house battery from the alternator
It might have been disconnected or even removed
But it was there when the RV left the factory

I only have TWO black wires coming into the house battery (and two white).. But the two black are combined into ONE before they connect to the battery.

I assumed it was either:
1. One from the house charger and one from the engine alternator
2. One from the house charger and the other goes BACK to the power converter/inverter to draw power FROM the battery when needed.

Do some research. Here is a place to start: https://freecampsites.net/adding-solar/

MrWizard wrote:
you say converted
is this factory built RV
or a home built VAN conversion, with out an RV body

factory built
look on the frame down by the starter
GM has a habit of routing the battery and alternator cable to terminal block on the passenger side frame rail on 454 engines

Sorry... I don't know much about RVs but... it is for SURE an '84 Chevy G30 and it was built by a Canadian company called Esquire Inc? (I think)

you say converted
is this factory built RV
or a home built VAN conversion, with out an RV body

factory built
look on the frame down by the starter
GM has a habit of routing the battery and alternator cable to terminal block on the passenger side frame rail on 454 engines

look for this


trace the main heavy wire coming from the alternator to where it stops

if you don't have the diode box or the relay then some one removed it
looked for some taped up or cut off wires going from hose battery to the engine compartment

0.6v wont charge anything
your looking for 13.6 to 14.4 across the plus/minus this will indicate charging voltage reaching the battery

So, I don't see anything that looks like if may be a battery isolator under the hood. There really is not much room for anything under there. It was converted from a '84 Chevy G30 and the engine area is tight! Still, it may be there somewhere?

When I put a meter on the house lines without the battery connected, there did seem to be "some" charge there? But it was like .5, then .6, .7, .8... It seemed to increase but really slowly. Nothing like what I get from the house charger. Maybe it is supposed to send a really small current? Maybe I was getting a reading from something else.

As far as solar... I was planning on just one 100w panel. I am only using a small amount of electricity from the house battery and only for a few hours at most. So I expect the battery to be barely drained AND that I will have ALL day for the panel to recharge it. It is mostly just running two or three, small LED lights that use like .5 amps. And I guess the water pump when I flush the toilet.