Where to get solar panels fitted ooop North?

[barryd]

Go acoustic , save yourself a fortune

LOL! Actually generally I do take just a battered old cheap acoustic. past few years when we have been over in Flamborough for a few weeks as Kev says I did take Abbey Road studios with me. However its all USB powered now so I can run it all off a laptop thats just plugged into a 12v adaptor. Bass, lead, acoustic, mics, guitar pedals and a full synth (midi keyboard) all work off grid. The problem is storing the feckers. Drives Mrs D mad so they wont be going "on tour" this year.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I thought you meant it only had 1 x 90ah and whats wrong with supporting Donkeys?

Nowt mate nice on toast of a winters morning

 

[Pudsey Bear]

LOL! Actually generally I do take just a battered old cheap acoustic. past few years when we have been over in Flamborough for a few weeks as Kev says I did take Abbey Road studios with me. However its all USB powered now so I can run it all off a laptop thats just plugged into a 12v adaptor. Bass, lead, acoustic, mics, guitar pedals and a full synth (midi keyboard) all work off grid. The problem is storing the feckers. Drives Mrs D mad so they wont be going "on tour" this year.

Put them on the roof mate, might improve what you drag kicking and screaming out of the poor buggers.

Just sayin what everyone else is thinking.

 

[winks]

Yes it is. I never mentioned the dealers name though as its not advertised yet and with vans in demand you dont know who is reading it but any feedback on them would be useful. The guy I dealt with seemed ok and so far has been pretty helpful. After they emailed me the photos of the roof I sent a reply mentioning that I want the van weighed at a local weighbridge so will see how they respond to that. They offer you a couple of nights on their site at handover so presumably they will have to put a gas bottle in it. Ill be getting an LPG refillable fitted anyway with a Calor backup. Maybe even an underslung tank. I am talking to Autogas 2000 in Thirsk about that.

Ooops, sorry never gave it a thought. I've changed it now. Wouldn't want it snaffled from under your nose.

Anyhoo, I've just had this back from my cousin :-

Mark maintenance & Reegan sales were only ones who knew what's going on & really helpful. Boss clueless. But a lot of people rate them for after sales & they've been ok on the whole.

Cheers

H

 

[barryd]

Ooops, sorry never gave it a thought. I've changed it now. Wouldn't want it snaffled from under your nose.

Anyhoo, I've just had this back from my cousin :-

Mark maintenance & Reegan sales were only ones who knew what's going on & really helpful. Boss clueless. But a lot of people rate them for after sales & they've been ok on the whole.

Cheers

H

Appreciate that thanks. My overall experience of motorhome dealers everywhere apart from Peter and his team from Johns Cross whenever I needed advice or bits has never been that great. They hate me. Ill walk into a dealer to enquire about a van and you get the gleaming Swiss Tony smile which hilariously quickly fades when you start talking about available user Payloads, axle weights, habitation checks etc. The previous owner has been extremely helpful with messages back and forth on Facebook. He was a really lucky find.

I just had a quote from AIB as well with a discount and they have tailored it for me for on the road parking if it dont fit on the drive and the storage place up the road from me. £377 all in inc six months EU travel and breakdown. For a £43k motorhome I think thats pretty good.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Appreciate that thanks. My overall experience of motorhome dealers everywhere apart from Peter and his team from Johns Cross whenever I needed advice or bits has never been that great. They hate me. Ill walk into a dealer to enquire about a van and you get the gleaming Swiss Tony smile which hilariously quickly fades when you start talking about available user Payloads, axle weights, habitation checks etc. The previous owner has been extremely helpful with messages back and forth on Facebook. He was a really lucky find.

I just had a quote from AIB as well with a discount and they have tailored it for me for on the road parking if it dont fit on the drive and the storage place up the road from me. £377 all in inc six months EU travel and breakdown. For a £43k motorhome I think thats pretty good.

Not a fan, but agree they have given a good quote there Barfs.

 

[longsword]

I am very close to getting a new van! in anticipation of that I am wondering about Solar. Our current van has a single 100w panel charging a single 125ah battery and its been perfect. This van has 2 x 90ah batteries so I reckon ill need 2 x 100w or 2 x 80w panels and an MPPT controller. Last time I bought all the gear myself and my local motorhome fixer did it. I might go down that route again but thought I would ask on here for a recommendation. Is this something @wildebus does? Also I think I might want to move my aging but still functioning Camos Dome from the old van to the new so I might want that fitting also.

I would want an MPPT controller that shows me all the Watts going in and out etc.

I live near Preston, and Rhino Installs are my “go to” people - or more accurately- person. He installed my solar panel and all the necessary bits, has a workshop where you can relax and wait, have a coffee etc. He is busy, but that’s because he’s popular.

 

[wildebus]

Just one thing while I am on. I presume all swift motorhomes are strong enough on the roof to walk on and fit panels? Just wondered why there was no rear ladder on this one. There are also no obvious holes in the roof either apart from where the TV aerial is. Ill need a feed for the panels and the Camos Dome but presumably the fitters will know all about that?

Probably easier to use a telescopic ladder and work from the side for fitting? I have a rear ladder on mine but I almost always use a telescopic one on the side when I want to access the roof as seems much safer! (hence one reason why never bothered with tiliting systems ).
Using an cable entry box and just drilling a hole for the cables to go into is safe enough. When you (or fitters) are making the holes, might be worth thinking if you want to fit an external 4G Antenna as well as the satellite dish? run the cables for that at the same time and fit a multiway entry box to save having more than one hole made.
I'd be inclined to have a solar panel to the side of the middle vent (and ahead of the ariel), and then fill the space between middle vent and rear deflector with panels, bearing in mind a little distance needed from the ariel to take account of shadowing at start/end of the day.

 

[Canalsman]

I live near Preston, and Rhino Installs are my “go to” people - or more accurately- person. He installed my solar panel and all the necessary bits, has a workshop where you can relax and wait, have a coffee etc. He is busy, but that’s because he’s popular.

As recommended by me earlier in this thread ...

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I think it should be compulsory for Barry to DIY it on video, it'd take our minds off all the crap in the world and give us a laugh, he could even make a musical out of it, wadda ya think Barry.

 

[barryd]

I think it should be compulsory for Barry to DIY it on video, it'd take our minds off all the crap in the world and give us a laugh, he could even make a musical out of it, wadda ya think Barry.

Cheers Kev. Here is a special gift for you I only reserve for my special friends and those that are super helpful. https://tinyurl.com/bdpjckmc

 

[Pudsey Bear]

No good deed goes unpunished, so go boil ye haed.

 

[Helzie]

Rhino Installs near Preston:

Rhino Installs - Motorhome and Caravan services. Fitting Service for Motorhomes, Caravans, Campervans, Vans and more...

Rhino Installs Approved Workshop for Motorhomes and Caravans. All accessories supplied and fitted, We Advise, Supply, Install. We specialise in Motorhome services, Caravan Services and installations.

www.rhinoinstalls.co.uk

I have used them three times, absolutely excellent. Very highly rated by everybody.

Quite a lead time because they're good!

I agree. We used Rhino Installs last month to replace our twin AGM batteries with a lithium battery, to install two solar panels (with MPPT controller) and to upgrade the 25A B2B with a 60A version. Very happy.

 

[argoose]

Just one thing while I am on. I presume all swift motorhomes are strong enough on the roof to walk on and fit panels? Just wondered why there was no rear ladder on this one. There are also no obvious holes in the roof either apart from where the TV aerial is. Ill need a feed for the panels and the Camos Dome but presumably the fitters will know all about that?

Yes roof is strong enough up too where the roof starts to curve upwards.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I used to go on van roofs, but I'm not sure its a good idea on newer lightweight vans, I would but only on 12mm ply to spread the load and make it less slippy.

 

[dave and mary]

Just seen this post so thought I would tell you about our experience last week over here in Spain, we lost our solar panel in the very high winds on the A7. It had been Glued on there for almost 7 years, so just a warning do not rely on the sikafix ( spelt wrong ) alone use a few screws or some other method apart from just glue.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Always a question mark whether to screw them down or not, if the proper procedure is followed screws should not be needed, but a lot of times I've seen panels on vans we've bought have not been stuck down properly.

From your avatar I assume you have a Ducato PVC, I would screw down on those simply because the paint was never applied properly on earlier bodies, and that is vital if only sticking down, on a coach-built body if done properly it should be more than up to it.

 

[trevskoda]

You are only gluing to a thin paint surface, use brackets and bold through, I used fence panel brackets as could not be bothered making alloy ones, all this was done before the internal ceiling was fitted, I also used a boat deck gland for the cables which I found better than the silly plastic white ones on ebay.

 

[Canalsman]

You are only gluing to a thin paint surface, use brackets and bold through, I used fence panel brackets as could not be bothered making alloy ones, all this was done before the internal ceiling was fitted, I also used a boat deck gland for the cables which I found better than the silly plastic white ones on ebay.View attachment 108458

It depends on the construction.

My coachbuilt has a glass fibre roof so bonding to the gel coat should be perfectly adequate.

That said the installer did use four screws per panel for added security. A large blog of Sikaflex was left above the screwheads to guard against leaks.

 

[barryd]

Sadly I learned today despite my emails being ignored that when someone eventually called me back the van sold this morning so we can forget that one now. Going to look at a Bailey Approach 760 SE thats come up next week which apparently already has Solar on it. It was another one on my list and I know it will take a rack and scooter.