2021 T@B 400 no solar

Polanskyster

Can anyone with a 2021 T@B400 confirm that the wires to my solar charge controller are correct?  I am able to sync my phone to the bluetooth but I am showing zero (0) as the amount of charge to the battery.  Also the history section in the app is blank/no activity.  The blue light is on so I think the battery wires are correct.  Is there something I need to adjust in the app?  Please assist.  Thank you

BTW this device is behind bottom draw under the 3 way refrigerator. 

85Redwood

@Polanskyster...my solar wires (PV) have white going to negative and green going to positive...my panels show a nice charging history in the Victron app.  It appears that your wires need to be switched...best to do this at night.

cottonmouth

I had a similar issue on mine. Go in the bathroom. There is a panel in the shelf area on the wardrobe wall. Remove the screws and pull the panel out. You should see wires. Find the white and green wires that should go up to the solar panel and pull them out (unless they are in fact hooked up ). Mine were not hooked to the solar panel. From there I had to remove the Jenson radio, pull the wires from the solar panel (already had the crimps on) and strip and crimp the wires from the Victron there.

Polanskyster

Thanks so much Cottonmouth.  I'm confused where the panel is that needs to be removed.  Which wall is the wardrobe wall(I have a three way refrigerator)? Is it the left of the sink or behind the behind the shelves over the sink?  After you pull the wires how do you connect them to the wires in back of the Jenson radio. How do you take the radio off?  How long did it take you to do this?  

Does it matter which color wires go to the PV of the smart controller or should I switch them as 85Redwood suggested?

How did you come about figuring this out?  Is there another source of information?

cottonmouth

I have the wardrobe instead of the 3-way fridge. I have a sense the wiring is in the same place. Look above the sink on the top shelf. There should be a panel on the left side. It would lead to behind the fridge. Unscrew the two small screws and remove the panel. There will be a lot of wires. You want to look for the green and white one that are connected to your Victron controller. They should run up to the solar panel. Mine were not connected to the solar.

cottonmouth

It did not take me long at all. Creed from NuCamp guided me to where to look. If they are not connected, you need to take the face off the Jensen radio. It just pulls/snaps off. I used a small screwdriver to pry it off. You then unscrew the radio and pull it out. It's a very tight fit. I had to pry a bit with a screwdriver, and then slide it out. From there just reach into the hole and pull out the pigtails from the solar (up and to the left). The crimps should already be on them. Pull out the wires you found earlier. You'll be able to see in there easily to where the panel was you removed earlier. You'll need to strip them and crimp them in the solar panel pigtails.

cottonmouth

I just looked at my controller. I think 85Redwood is correct. On mine, the white is in the (-) and the green is in the (+). Yours appears to be switched.

Polanskyster

Thanks so much,  I will give it a go tomorrow.

Polanskyster

I switched the wires.  I opened the left side panel.  My wires were connected so there was no need to remove the radio.  I'm assuming that the app is not showing a charge from the sun because my battery's are fully charged from being plugged in to electric.  I will continue to monitor.  Thanks

Denny16

Here is what my MPPT controller wiring looks like.  The panel creates DC voltage, and it does matter which wires go to the + and - connections.  Coming from the solar panel, green is positive (+) wire, and green is the +/positive wire going back to,the battery.  

This is opposite of most DC marine wiring where green I have had experience with, where green is used for negative (-) side of the circuit and red is positive (+).  Green is also ground on house wiring.  On the TaB400 green is ground on the AC wiring.

cheers

N7SHG_Ham

I would disconnect those wires and find out which is + and - using a multimeter. Once you know, then place them in the correct terminal on controller, no need to guess which wire is which from day to day at the factory. You can also see if they connected the batt terminal correctly too, but if reversed you would likely be letting smoke out of components

Denny16

I did and the green is +/positive, this is consistent throughout the TaB DC Solar system, amongst all the TaB400sI have seen.  But I agree, best to check first to make sure.
cheers

Polanskyster

My solar wires were not connected.  Today I found the RED and white wires In back of the sink panel and connected them to the RED and white wires in back of the radio.  Easy fix.  Hard to believe I had to do this to a brand new RV.  Guess that’s why they say buy used.😃
Thank you cottonmouth.

Denny16

Glad you got it sorted.  Meter the solar wires to make sure the polarity is correct.
cheers

cottonmouth

Polanskyster said:

My solar wires were not connected.  Today I found the RED and white wires In back of the sink panel and connected them to the RED and white wires in back of the radio.  Easy fix.  Hard to believe I had to do this to a brand new RV.  Guess that’s why they say buy used.😃
Thank you cottonmouth.

Ha! I almost corrected the Green wire SNAFU after I went back through my photos and emails to Creed. I forgot the Green wire runs down to a pigtail with the RED wire that runs behind the sink panel and up to the solar panel. But then I saw the reversed polarity and figured that was the answer. As Denny said, make sure the Green (+) goes into the (+) PV slot on controller.

Denny16

Yes, this is not good, having a red wire from the solar panel connect to a green wire to the controller, they should be consistent with the wire color. If red is used close by for something else, than use yellow or orange, save green for negative/ground connections. Cheers