Solar panel appears dead on 2024 Tab 400 Boondock - appreciate some input

vttj · August 30

Lot of info on this board and I am a bit mixed with issues that impact other years. Appreciate the thoughts.

I bought a used 2024 Tab 400 Boondcock this month. Was assured all is working 100% but have determined now the solar is not working. This model has the convenience package with the 100ah Battle Born and what I assume is the SunFlare Flex 310 W panel. Running MPPT100/30 Victron.

I have removed all service panels under bed and inspected fuses and wiring. I unhooked the solar panel leads into the Victron MPPT controller. I have zero voltage out of the SunFlare panel. I removed the inline fuse and test the wires behind the fuse holder what should be directly into the solar panel and still zero volts. There is no visible burns or defects on the solar panel on the roof.

I then hooked up a suit case 100W solar panel directly to the Victron MPPT controller and instantly get 60W and now the battery is charging. I obviously get voltage directly out of that panel on a similar test as I tried with the SunFlare.

In the app there is no history of solar charging (something I should have tested before buying but did not). I am now getting data on the history chart and actually adding to the battery capacity.

Does anyone know where the solar panel wire on this model comes into the roof of the camper? Do I need to remove the fridge to get to it as maybe there is an issue at the point of the attachment to the solar panel or do I likely just have to replace the entire panel? Is that a job recommended for the dealer or do it yourself?

So with all the background. I have bought this camper 2nd hand. I read the panels are 25 year warranty (I think), does that apply to 2nd owner? I assume I get no support from Nucamp due to its now under 2nd owner and more than 1 year old?

Any comments welcome.

vttj · August 30

I removed the fridge and with a small digital scope can see into the space above the fridge that housed the radio. The red and white wire go straight to the roof. There is another splice in this section and for good measure I confirmed the splice was not the issues. Assume these wires go direct to the solar panel I have 0 Volts. I think I got a dead panel so to my previous points any chance with warranty?

Sharon_is_SAM · August 30

Generally, the various appliances have their own warranty. I would check the Sunflare website. If no joy, email help@nucamprv.com. It is a holiday weekend, so, be patient.

xdr · August 30

Interesting…we just had the exact same issue with our 24 400 BlackCanyon. The panels made good power up to July of this year and then nothing. I did catch the failure on the Victron history though. Did the same troubleshooting you did but with email assistance from Creede at NuCamp. We ended up at a dealer who verified the panels had failed and we are now waiting the replacements to come in. The dealer told us we were the third 2024 400 that they had seen with this issue.

NuCamp has been very helpful and responsive. We have not had to deal with Sunflare at all.

Bill&Suze · September 1

We had the same problem a year ago with our two month old 400 BD. Our dealer's service guys quickly determined that both panels had failed and were replaced under warranty.

andytabrv · September 2

Had panel failure in my 2024 400 earlier this year and had them replaced under warranty (I think warrantied thorugh the manufacturer of the panel.)

vttj · September 6

I called Nucamp and they directed me to take it into dealer for a look. I have appointment mid month.

1963122 · September 8

Our 2024 Tab 400 also had a Solar Panel failure. Our NuCamp dealer in PA has already contacted NuCamp and we are awaiting replacement panels from the factory. We were told hopefully by this month. Time will tell

xdr · September 26

anyone receive their new panels yet? We are still waiting…4 weeks now and no eta on the panels.

vttj · October 6

Nucamp approved the warranty to fix my panels after dealer confirmed panel is the issue. Nucamp stated they are waiting for the new ones to come in. The dealer said they had campers on the lot still waiting replacement panels as well but existing customer are taking priority. At this point I have the camper back from dealer still enjoying it during the season as we wait on the panel to arrive. I figure it will be a winter repair for the dealer. By the way dealer says this is not an easy repair.

AnOldUR · October 6

vttj said:

By the way dealer says this is not an easy repair.

From a DYI experience doing this, I agree. Curious though. Did the dealer quote the hours required for the job?

schwartzki · October 7

When I was at the service center I had inquired about retrofitting the 310w in the front location to add additional solar to my trailer and the arrival date for the panels was Nov and talking to a couple other folks dropping their trailers off there was a 24 that had bad panels.

B0atguy · October 7

Our 2024 310w solar panel , athough not completely "dead" the output seems very diminished since it was new . Barely getting over 100w out of it now, when new was 250w + . Its at NuCamp now, and they are going to check the panel for us while it in for service / warranty .
Just an FYI , we got an estimate to add an additional 310w panel to the front of our 400 (black canyon option ) , and the NuCamp quote was approx $2k . We decided to forgo the additional 310 panel on the 400 and just get a portable 400w panel that will work on both our 400 , and our Ford Transit camper van when needed.

AnOldUR · October 8

B0atguy said:

Barely getting over 100w out of it now, when new was 250w + . Its at NuCamp now, and they are going to check the panel for us while it in for service / warranty .

Our new 310W is still working well, but hearing reports like this has me concerned about the recent addition of one of these panels. Please follow up with what nuCamp service finds the problem to be.

Trudy · November 9

How did it go for those of you who have had bad or dead 310w Sunflare solar panels replaced? I am considering buying a used 2025 Tab400 BD which has 1 original panel and 1 additionally installed panel by the current owner. But now I am very worried about buying a problem. I called Nucamp and they confirmed that there was a bad batch of Sunflare panels and initially they weren't recording the panel serial numbers on the Tabs that they sold. The panels are affixed to the roof with 3M very high bond double sided tape and so very difficult to remove to see the serial numbers. Sunflare has issued a recall but is quite backlogged in it's effort to supply new panels to RV manufacturers as well as replacement panels for the defective ones which leads to months of delays in getting a new panel. Nucamp said it doesn't matter if you are out of the initial 1 year warranty as Sunflare warranties the panels for 10 years. Nucamp handles the communication with Sunflare, and the replacement is performed by your local Nucamp dealer. So maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel, but do I want to risk acquiring this problem?

AnOldUR · November 9

@Trudy
Just emailed nuCamp with the serial number from my 310W panel. Will report back when a reply is received.

B0atguy · November 9

Our 2024 400 is at NuCamp right now for some warranty work , including checking our 310w solar panel . Seemed like it has had some diminished output since we purchased approx 1.5 years ago . They did confirm they checked the panel , and apparently it was ok . Guess it was just my imagination .
I have been on the fence about adding the second 310w solar panel (Black Canyon) as I can really use the 620w of solar since adding 900ah of Lithium batteries .
While my unit is still at NuCamp , they did e-mail me (about 2 weeks ago) and confirm that they did have some new panels come in , and if I wanted them to install the second panel .
After a generous discount on the panel , parts and labor (NuCamp customer goodwill / customer service for having to bring our 400 back to the factory for warranty work, that only NuCamp could do ) , we decided to have them install panel #2 . We are approx 5-6 hours from NuCamp each way , so I figured it was either now or never to have the factory install the panel . Not even attempting that panel install myself ! Its all about the wiring run through the existing ceiling that I was basing my decision to not install myself . Hope it was worth it .
Due to pick-up our 400 this week sometime, so will let you all know how it goes !

I am a little relieved to hear that the panels themselves have a 10 year warranty . That is HUGE !

Bill&Suze · November 9

Hi @Trudy, two months after we bought our '24 400 BD two summers ago both panels failed. Our dealer took care of the replacement (no cost to us since we were still under warranty). The process probably took at most three weeks once their tech guys declared the panels kaput. Most of that time was waiting for Sunflare to deliver to our dealer. The actual installation was maybe two or three days. The Sunflare panel troubles began back then so I wonder if Sunflare had fixed their panel problem by the time the '25 Nucamp 400 BD became available. If the original panel on the camper you are considering were to fail, hopefully you will have retained the original owner's warranty period. One way or the other, though, a dealer could do the replacement job easily.

AnOldUR · November 9

B0atguy said:

... They did confirm they checked the panel , and apparently it was ok . Guess it was just my imagination.

Since it's been reported here that nuCamp did not record the panel serial numbers in the past and that the label containing that number can not be seen after the panel is installed, did nuCamp tell you how they verified that your panel was not from the bad batch?

Trudy · November 9

The Nucamp person said that the owner has to wait until symptoms develop on the panel, such as burn spots or in the charging performance which gradually declines and then quits altogether. I don't find that very reassuring...

B0atguy · November 9

AnOldUR said:

B0atguy said:

... They did confirm they checked the panel , and apparently it was ok . Guess it was just my imagination.

Since it's been reported here that nuCamp did not record the panel serial numbers in the past and that the label containing that number can not be seen after the panel is installed, did nuCamp tell you how they verified that your panel was not from the bad batch?

The warranty invoice just said it was tested , and is was ok . I never had burn or hot spots on this panel , i just thought the output was lower than when it was new .
I am assuming they tested it to be ok . If there was any question , I would hope they would have replaced it since they had the panels on hand now, and they were already installing an additional panel on my 400 . I have faith in NuCamp, that they are confident the existing panel was ok .

Trudy · November 10

That's how it starts with the defective panels, lower output than usual. It then declines until it is completely dead. Don't let your gard down. Start keeping a log of it.

B0atguy · November 10

It was my understanding that the troubled panels were installed on 2025 models . At least the ones that were "burning" . There is a recall letter somewhere that noted that. Also , the panels in question all had the problems as soon as they were powered up . If they pass the power up phase, they should be ok. At least that is what Sunflare was reporting .

xdr · November 11

So we are now ~70 days waiting for our replacement panels to arrive at our dealer. Anyone else having the long wait time?

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Solar panel appears dead on 2024 Tab 400 Boondock - appreciate some input

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