Howdy,
Need to run solar wire from roof to battery compartment on 2001 U320. Was thinking of running from fridge vent but that's quite a distance from battery compartment not to mention wrong side. Am I missing something obvious or so that my only option?
It would have been difficult to run ours to the house batteries so I just made a hole next to the fridge compartment and ran the 4 wires to the controller right below and then the large cables directly down to the main electrical bus. It works great. See the 250 amp fusible link in the photo. I also ran breakers above between the panels and the controller and the controller and the bus.
In the roof photo, the flex is shown running between the panels and goes down through the roof just to the rear and next to the small vent. The main electrical bus has the solar connection near the bottom of the photo.
Naturally, I could have run the solar panel wires all the way down to the bus but I wanted the controller and breakers where I could see ithem and be able to toggle the breakers. I shut everything down at night. I also have twin digital voltmeters on the dash where I can watch both house and engine batteries.
All this was installed in 2008.
Pierce
Do you have a slide that puts the refrigerator on the passenger side?
Mine comes down behind the pantry
That would be quite a trick. :D Much easier to organize the solar panel wiring and electrical flex on the roof so it goes down a convenient location of your choice. Once you identify the aluminum tubing in the roof, it's easy to make a clean hole down to an accessible location inside the coach. Bringing the solar down to the inverter cables for a connection would also be a good option.
I could have brought the solar panel wires down behind the vanity mirror/sink in the bathroom on the opposite side of the coach and connected to the inverter 12V cables.
Pierce
A lot depends on the wire size you need to bring down. I installed 1600W of solar and used series/parallel connection, which allowed me to bring down four 10 gauge wires, two for each bank of four panels. I used an existing hole in the roof on the driver's side that was for a satellite dish that was no longer used. The hole had to be enlarged to about 1/2" or maybe slightly more, and then I mounted this cable entry device over the hole:
Amazon.com: Cutting Edge Power Solar Panel Weatherproof Cable Wire Entry... (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08K77RZML/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1)
I made sure to use plenty of silicone around the wires where they went through the roof so they will not move or rub. I mounted the cable entry device with 3M VHB tape and sealed it with 3M 4000 adhesive sealant. The wires come down in the space between the front cabinets and the exterior wall of the motorhome. From there I ran them down along the front window pillar, where some existing wires were run, to below the dash and then out to the underside of the coach, where I was able to add them to the existing wire bundle that runs toward the back, and then branched them into the battery and electrical compartments. If I had to do it again, I would not run them down the window pillar; the space is very tight and it was difficult to get all the trim back in place. In my coach the cabinet on the side wall above the driver's seat has cables that run through it under a false bottom and then into a vertical wooden cover where the thermostat and slide controls are mounted. Cables run down behind that cover to the underside of the coach; I thought running them down the pillar would be easier, but in retrospect this second method would have been better.
Your coach may not be set up quite the same, but I am sure you can find some way of running them down on the driver's side if you look hard. Don't be afraid to make a small hole in the roof for cable entry if you need to and one is not already there, as was the case with our coach. There are lots of much larger holes already on the roof; as long as you seal it well you should not have a problem. If you decide to do something like what I have described, PM me and I will help any way I can. I wish I had taken pictures as I went along, but I was in a hurry to get it done.
Check out how Roger ( home 2 from Hastings ) did his as you have the same coach. Very good writeup.