Rockwood 2022 2509s Small Solar Upgrade

I upgraded the solar on my 2022 Rockwood 2509s with a 300Ah LiFePO4 battery and 400 more watts of solar. This is probably the largest I can go before I have to change out the charge controller and other components.
All the tings I bought for this project:
Battery x 1: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09...
Battery Wire x 1: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...
Battery Cable Ends x 1 : www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09...
Solar Panels x 4: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Solar Panel Mounting Brackets x 4: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06...
3M VHB tape x 1: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
Solar Panel Branch x 5: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Solar Panel Fuse 15A x 5: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
Solar Extension Wire 3ft x 3: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...

[@AlphaG33k]

Literally watched this whole video just to find out how you attached it to the roof, just to find out you taped it down and called it good.

[@joe84bmw]

My thoughts exactly 🤣

[@iamrobcrawford]

This is the best explanation for how to reroute the wires that I have seen. Gives me the confidence to try it myself. Thanks for posting this!

[@davidburns1404]

Very clear detailed video…thanks for sharing.

[@aguyandhiscomputer]

Good video. Jealous of the taller front baggage doors on the new trailers. Adam

[@MultiPartizan1]

Great setup i have similar trailer Rockwood 2606ws with Go Power solar kit looking into adding additional solar panels with no holes in the roof excellent idea on 3M tape, Go power looks like good quality product but major problem is charge controler they provided us with it is PWM charger which is useless compared to MPPT charge controlers, i have Epever MPPT on my shed 200w solar with two deep cycle batteries recharge time is much quicker and you can actually see 14V and above when charging You will be able to get 30-50% more out of your solar system, 50-60amp CHARGING on 14V .

[@evilbatman6063]

Awesome video. Thank you. Question: why did you move the inverter negative to the trailer ground and the other end of the inverter negative to the battery? Why not one negative connection to the battery that goes directly to the inverter negative and then have a common ground wired to a busbar? I ask only as I do not want to blow anything up. (I have a victron MPPT controller and grounded it separately)

[@David-rx2to]

I don't know enough about electricity and solar to understand everything you said regarding the solar panels/voltages/amps/parallel vs.series, etc... but, I have a 2021 Geo Pro 19FD, which I suspect has the same solar charge controller as your trailer. It came with the 190W GoPower panel and the GP-PWM-30-UL solar charge controller. I spoke with a customer service rep at GoPower and he told me not to exceed 485W of solar on the roof. He said that was the limit of what the controller could handle, and more importantly, the limit of what the wires inside the trailer walls feeding the controller could handle. I could handle changing out the charge controller if I wanted more solar up top, but I don't know what I'd be getting into with the wires in the walls. I was disappointed as I was planning on adding 420W to the 190W, to feed my 200AH lithium battery bank. I was looking at purchasing two 210W Newpowa panels from Amazon ($207 each). Have you found a way around the limits of the wiring and the SCC, or are you "over paneling" because even in the best of solar conditions, solar panels will only produce about 80% of their rated output? (600W x 80% = 480W) Thanks for the tip about VHB tape...I was worried about drilling into my roof.

[@kl281072]

what is the wiring like to work with?. I am looking at exporting one of these into New Zealand. Which means I would have to rewire the existing cables to meet New Zealand's standards. Did you find wires being stuck because they were cable tied or wires you couldn't pull through?

[@user-bo1bx2qp5z]

Hello, Had a question, I'm upgrading from a geo pro to a 2509S and love what you did for the battery upgrade and solar. Did the same for my geo pro. My 2509S is not made yet. My question is: could you have installed the new battery on the side with the inverter? or was there no room? also, looking at buying a 300AH with built in heater, is it safe to have it on its side like that?

[@jssumner82]

Hi Ian. I like your use of 3M VHB permanent adhesive tape. I hope you will periodically give us an update on how well and how long the 3M tape holds up. I would think the roof membrane is glued down as well, so while the 3M adhesive may not break down, I worry the adhesive under the roof membrane may fail in time. Keep us posted and best of luck. I really like your approach.

[@renof2505]

I have the same concern. I think I would add the roof sealant over the brackets for the extra adhesion and to protect the tape.

[@da7heaven]

@@renof2505 ditto, I'm concerned about roof membrane coming loose, we've all seen that happen on other rigs.

[@MrIandalton]

@@da7heaven I added some screws to the top. It held up for the year but I thought extra was not bad. It took all of 30 minutes to screw them in and seal them up.

[@mannyb4959]

@@MrIandalton do you know if there is a pdf for the cross beam location from rockwood? We would like to add some panels making sure we hit supports. Don't want a panel being ripped off by high cross winds.

[@MrIandalton]

@@mannyb4959 I do not, but I took this on a 3800 mile trip across the west in some really intense windy situations with zero issues. The tape and the screws held on perfectly.

[@bobdrawbaugh4207]

Thanks for the video. Very helpful. What did you do for water? Did you carry a full tank, or find it closer to your camp site?

[@MrIandalton]

Depends on the situation. We’ve travels with a full take many times when we boondock.

[@baywatch3707]

How has the tape been working

[@brandontimmer7313]

Thanks for the video! Do you have the 12v fridge? I have a2022 on order with the 12v fridge and I’ll have 480 watts of solar. Wondering if that’ll be enough. Thanks

[@renof2505]

I believe all of them that came with the solar had the 12V fridge. If you did not have the 12V fridge you would likely not need the 12V fridge. I have the same trailer and wish it had the propane fridge. The 12V takes ~7.5A and seems to run all the time.

[@michaelburke9153]

@@renof2505 I had a propane/electric shore power fridge on a former motor home. Problem with that is they seemed to break a lot. I put 3 cooling units in mine in less than 8 years. At $400 a pop, that is a lot. I'd be better off with ice chests LOL. I now have the 12 volt fridge in my 2209S and, yes, although it draws power, I'm hoping it won't break down as often. I'm also adding 400 more watts of power connected to 200AHrs of Lithium Iron Phosphate as it fits in the original spot LOL. I hope this is enough as well.

[@bobbyd6864]

Hey Ian, I realize this video is a year old, but I had a question. Why didn't you leave the battery on the tongue of the trailer? It would have cut you wire run significantly or perhaps put the battery on the same side as the converter? I have the same trailer and I'm contemplating doing exactly what you have done.

[@MrIandalton]

Three reasons: 1. The size of the battery is a bit bigger. 2. I keep the trailer at a storage unit and wanted to create a less attractive target. 3. These batteries should not operate in below freezing temps. Some have heaters, but to keep everything solid when we camp in winter, inside offers a lot more thermal control.

[@shaneboudreaux5611]

Did you replace the charge controller the research I did said it won’t work with lithium batteries please let me know I have the same rig and want to upgrade to lithium

[@brandonyoung181]

You don’t have to switch the charger, it just charges slow with lithium. The solar controller will do lithium though, just have to switch the charge profile. I got a separate Victron charger and hooked my battery up to it and it charges great.

[@stevejonhson4947]

Thanks Ian! How did you connect the solar power controller to the battery and did you keep the GoPower controller?

[@MrIandalton]

I just kept the same controller in place. There was no need to play with the controller. When I do that upgrade, I'll make a video showing how I do it.

[@Bronco2Cj]

@@MrIandalton Can you now run the AC off of the batteries?

[@aguyandhiscomputer]

4:12 Found the missing nut on the ground 🙂

[@MrIandalton]

Ahhhh, that’s where it was! Now I need to figure out what thing it belongs too…

[@aguyandhiscomputer]

Why the water fill hose shares a hole with the power wires is beyond me. 🙄

[@MrIandalton]

It get worse, the solar charge controller shares the same space as the sink hoses and water heater. That's going to change real soon.