T@b 360 solar cable recommendation

BirdCO360

I recently purchased a New 2025 T@b 360 Black Canyon with the basic 100ah 12v BB battery. It has the SAE port to connect a portable solar panel in the outside water cabinet. I need a recommendation for a cable to connect my 400w or 200w portable solar panels. Will it require the reverse polarity adapter? Another MPPT controller? Not a lot of reliable info out there for this. Thanks in advance for advice from someone connecting panels in a similar setup.

Gomers2

I'm not entirely sure of the best way to share links to previous discussions but see if this opens for you. It's the same question

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/bookmark/20218/emZtpSrIvcZ1obnW

Gomers2

Or put the following phrase into the search bar for the forum to see a discussion from June

External Solar Port on T@B 360

qhumberd

https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/222097#Comment_222097

There is a "link" icon on the menu bar at the top of the comment box

Tap it and you get this:

You copy the URL you want to link and then put in a description as text.

it will look like this in the comment:

Link to Discussion

Hope this helps. There is also a longer instruction in the Help - Computer and System Category

pthomas745

You need a separate solar controller to connect a panel to the SAE port on the trailer. A properly wired cable from the controller to the SAE port does not need any "adapter". But, since the internet is convinced the SAE port is somehow "wired backwards" because "reasons"….well, here we are.

I have used the SAE ports and cables on all my various solar parts with no adapters. I simply made sure everything is/was properly wired. A multimeter will show you exactly how the SAE port is wired to the battery. All you have to do is get the proper wire to the right spot.

This is a meter reading the SAE port. On 99.44% of the Tabs, the port is wired this way. In this photo, the plug of an SAE cable must have the "positive" or hot output from the controller or panel "inside the plastic" of the plug.

Back in the "old days" when solar controllers were suddenly being sold to people (like me) with no electrical skills what so ever, you could kill a controller or blow a fuse in a controller by connecting it in "reverse polarity". In my innocence, I figured every cable I bought from Amazon was correct for the SAE port, and the "red" cable should always be the positive "hot" wire. And, was I wrong. Newer controllers usually have "reverse polarity protection" these days, but Victron still has a fuse in most models.

A multimeter will save you a ton of time and fear about this plug.