Preferred Solar Wiring route

[dirtanddogfur]

I am about to mount solar panels on the roof of my SMB poptop. I am wondering about the 'best' way to wire the panels.


I thought I would drill the bulkhead outside the cloth and then run the wiring under the head liner from the outside in. Then, run the wire down the existing, factory wiring thingy. My only concern is the heavy gauge of the solar wire. I am concerned it might not be clean under the headliner or it might leave a way for 'stuff' to get in.



Has anyone done this differently?

 

[boywonder]

I thought I would drill the bulkhead outside the cloth and then run the wiring under the head liner from the outside in. Then, run the wire down the existing, factory wiring thingy.

Yes, exactly how I did mine..although I changed the plastic wire loom for a braided loom for better aesthetics and flexibility, but that's another story. You should be able to stuff two more wires in the loom.

 

[dirtanddogfur]

Cool, thanks. That is the plan, then.

 

[geoffff]

Glad you two are in agreement!

I'm not sure I can picture exactly what you are thinking, though. Would you be up for posting photos?

Looks like I need to do the same thing on a van in the near future.

 

[boywonder]

I'm not sure I can picture exactly what you are thinking, though.

Additional detail.......

Poke hole(s) for solar wires outboard of the canvas.....ie...don't drill a hole through the roof into the interior. This way if there happens to be a leak it's outside. You can do this anywhere around the perimeter of the penthouse roof although some places are better than others for wire routing depending on where your panels are mounted (fore-aft) and where your SMB wire loom is located.

My loom is rear passenger side some are front driver's side. The wires penetrate the roof roughly above the barn doors because that's what made sense for my panel location.

Mount/seal cable gland, strain reliefs etc in a watertight manner to the top of the roof and run the solar wires through the gland and roof..they are now hanging below the roof outside of the canvas.

In my case I ran the wires into the cabin between the underside of the roof and above the canvas.....once inside they are above the headliner-between headliner and the underside of the penthouse. Run the wires to the wire loom to get them "downstairs" to your solar controller.

If you leave a little bit of slack in the wires under the roof where they enter the cabin any water that could possibly get on them will drip off where they sag, ie that point is lower than where the wires slide between the canvas and the underside of the roof.

 

[Besags]

Solar wire

Here are a couple of pictures on how the solar wires come into my 2007 RB50 E-350. The wires penetrate the roof through the Scanstrut outside the canvas. Then the wires loop back up and slip between the roof and the canvas to the inside and through the hole in the ceiling. After this the go down the drivers side door pillar behind the seat into the van interior.

 

[geoffff]

Additional detail.......

Thank you, these details are great.

 

[dirtanddogfur]

Completed this this weekend. Pretty painless. The Scanstrut bulkhead is easy to install. Seems like a pretty good system.



Thanks for everyones help! :b5:

 

[The Gabe]

Thanks, guys! This is some great information!!

 

[Big_ern_101]

I consider the way Colorado Camper Van runs the wiring to be the premier way of doing it
-Hole to exterior is in fiberglass roof, right rear corner. INSIDE the living quarters.
-Wiring is encased in a color-matched cloth sheath that contains the roof actuator wires, the wiring for the lights, the solar or any other pass-thru wiring to the roof, and the fan wires.
-Wiring collapses along with canvas when roof is collapsed.
-Only one (1) hole through anything, once the wiring is inside through the roof, it stays within the confines of the interior to its final termination point(s).

The reason I feel this is the superior way is threefold.
-the flat fiberglass roof is easier to seal a bulkhead to than the curved rear steel corner of the existing van roof
-there is no chance of the wiring becoming pinched or bound on something external to the vehicle
-there is only one entrance point (one through the fiberglass) vs two (one through the fiberglass and one through the steel). Any opportunities you have to not drill holes in something should be realized.

 

[geoffff]

Happen to have a photo of this?

 

[1der]

We have CCV tops on our rigs and I have installed pass throughs on both CCV and SMB tops.

CCV there really is no option but to go through into the interior because the canvas attaches to the inboard vertical sides of the fiberglass top which is covered in the gray liner material. So, back corner down through the sock or front corner zip tied to the lifting arms works really well. Add to this that the CCV top has more clearance between the bed cushions and the fiberglass top and this solution works wonderfully. Using the shrouded pass through makes for an excellent waterproof path to the inside.

The SMB tops are different. The canvas attaches to the horizontal inside surface of the top and the inside top surface is pretty much all covered in panels for the lifting arms. Passing the solar wires through the fiberglass top itself is actually much easier outboard of the canvas and then looping the wires over the top of the canvas from outside to inside at a corner. The wires can come down through a sock or other where it can then route is way into the cabin mounted controller.