mikejkay Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 After much contemplation, which involved long periods sitting with hands folded and eyes closed, I have bought a 120w solar panel. While looking at Charge Controller/Regulators I remembered seeing somewhere that some modern motorhomes habitation controllers can deal with the input from a solar panel without the need for a separate device. I have also seen reference to some motorhomes being fitted with the appropriate wiring even if a solar panel is not factory fitted. Does anyone have knowledge of this? Specifically my Chausson Flash S2 (2011 vintage) is fitted with a Nordelettronica NE205_11 controller. The display panel is NE216. The manual makes no reference to solar power whatsoever. If it is relevant I intend to link the controller to both my main and leisure batteries. P.S. Anyone know of a good idiots guide to fitting solar panels to a MH? P.P.S I shall have to think of another excuse for long periods sitting with hands folded and eyes closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky 8 Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 You would better contacting the Manufacturer of your Motorhome, most have a technical contact e mail, My 09 rapido is supposedly fitted with the associated wiring for a Solar panel connection at the main Habitation control panel, but after much searching and reading it would appear the system can suffer lots of glitches and problems so I went for a Solar Panel Controller, Mine charges two 90ah Leisure Batteries via pre installed wiring, when they are fully charged it then charges the engine battery, That charging cable I installed myself, the Hab control panel shows the charge in both leisure and engine Battery. any problems from the solar charging I know I'm only dealing with the circuit I have installed,if you type solar Panel fitting into YouTube you will get numerous visual instructions, it is an easy and straight forward to fit a solar panel, Preparation is the main stay to any job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejkay Posted April 10, 2014 Author Share Posted April 10, 2014 Thanks Corky 8. You have a point about knowing your own wiring. I am concerned about whether connecting charging cables directly to my batteries will, in some way, interfere with the operation of the existing NE205. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
globebuster Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 I have an S2 - with a solar panel, not fitted by me I hasten to add. I guess mines a basic set up, I have nothing to show how it's performing! - although it certainly does the job. I have no regulator, as far as I'm aware - but do have a wiring diagram, which I'm sure shows where to make the connection. I believe all recent Chausson's have a built-in facility for a SP as standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corky 8 Posted April 10, 2014 Share Posted April 10, 2014 mikejkay - 2014-04-10 2:15 PMThanks Corky 8. You have a point about knowing your own wiring. I am concerned about whether connecting charging cables directly to my batteries will, in some way, interfere with the operation of the existing NE205..Mikejkay, If you think about it you already have charging cables going to your Battery ,either from the on board Battery charger when your on Elec hook up or from the engine Altenator via a regulator, My set up is from Solar Panel via factory fitted wiring to my Solar panel regulator ,(my solar Panel will charge 2 sets of batteries) leg one Live + from solar panel through a 20 amp fuse block to Pos + battery post of Habitation Battery no 1, the Neg - side I've connected directly to Habitation Battery No2 Neg - (just to make it use both batteries when charging) , leg 2 poss + to engine battery through 20 amp fuse block then directly to engine Battery Pos + terminal. the Neg - side directly to Neg battery terminal. Ive use 240v 2.5 twin round cable for my battery charging runs which is heavy enough for the charging circuit. this is working well for us. if you look on e bay you can buy a Solar Panel Kit where you get your 120 amp Solar Panel the mounting feet, the regulator and enough cable to do the job. I bought a Bosch Solar Panel kit from here.http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111073984299 . not the cheapest but you only get what you pay for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejkay Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 Corky 8 - So far I've pretty much got the same setup as the one that you referred to on ebay. I'm looking at the same controller with the additional MT-1 LCD display. There is a limited number of controllers available for two batteries. Interesting that you are using 2.5mm cable, I was thinking of 4mm but if you have not had any problems with 2.5mm then I'll probably go for that. The problem is still the possibility that there is existing wiring foe a solar panel. I'd be a bit ***** if I went to all the trouble of routing wires only to find out later that I needn't have bothered! I am still hoping that someone will come up with the definitive answer. Contacting Chausson is a last resort as they tend not to respond to emails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 I had my panels professionally fitted and it was useful because they did a neat job - especially getting through the roof safely and running the cables discretely. But the wiring up isn't rocket science - apart from configuring the solar regualtor to work with the Schaudt Eletroblok, which without the manuals I would never have been able to do. (But Schaudt are helpful and will supply them FOC as pdf files.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
globebuster Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Did you read my earlier post? - possibly not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejkay Posted April 12, 2014 Author Share Posted April 12, 2014 Globebuster If you have a circuit diagram I would be very grateful for a copy.............and/or any info on pre-installed wiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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