200 watt wobble board

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Location
Kalgoorlie, WA
When i built our trailer a cuppla yrs ago i put a 200 watt panel up the front of the frame,just layed flat,not ideal but i thought being so large it will still give us enough power on most trips,on its maiden voyage we got to nullagine from Kal,i was checking bits on the trailer and was shocked to see the glass on the panel was totally shattered,being such a large panel with the wind etc it just wobbled and shattered the glass all over,it made it home and was still working ok it seemed,so i sika flexed two bits of alluminium rhs to the back of it,held togethor until now but probably not working to max potential.
So a bit of a heads up,ill never buy a panel for a trailer that big again,to much flex in them,just made up new mounts for two 100w and angled for a wind deflector,park west nth west roughly and we should get a bit more out of these in the arvo i think being angled also....
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Mate great post :Y: :Y: ..................... another example of what may look like a great idea at the time, turns pear shaped once put into practice. Do you reckon definitely wind or vibration also had a play in it ? I ask as have one on the roof of canopy (160 watt size) and has done a few big trips with no prob so far (fingers crossed) but I also have it mounted on rubber isolators and being on a fiberglass canopy would also absorb a lot more vibration than trailer mounted I should think ?. Have to agree I think several smaller panels are a better idea with the plus factor being, that if one packs up you don't lose all solar :Y:
Have a portable solar panel also, which I find you can get a lot more out of by being able to move it around as the day progresses. Best part about mounting though, is you don't have to work out how or where to pack / carry the buggers. Plus as you have mounted, you gain the benefit of a wind deflector also. Have looked at the roll up type, but apart from cost factor they also come with issues.
 
Dave we had the same problem on our 260 watt panel we mounted on the camper trailer. A rock landed on ours first tho. I have poured UV stabilised 2 pack resin over the whole thing now. Still works fine and we also put a couple of bits of rubber block under neath to support the panel when it is stowed away. Next time I replace the panel it will be with the type without the tempered glass. Once bitten twice shy.

Cheers

Doug
 
Bogger im sure it was the wind pressure,when i seen it at nullagine i then realised how badly it flexed cause i was a bit dumbfounded as to why it happened,press in the middle a bit and it just flexed up or down,didnt even cross my mind when i fitted it,hardly any dirt up to the nullagine from here so im sure it wasnt vibrations,yours is prob ok you have it on a solid roof,no pressure from underneath,that panels about 1600x800,the length is the issue i reckon,if i put these on before hand i think it would of been fine
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and yeah i agree smaller ones linked up in case ya have failures is a better option
we got 120 fold outs to but geez some of them rollouts are lookin good now,prices have come down heaps hey.....
 
Rockhunter62 said:
Dave we had the same problem on our 260 watt panel we mounted on the camper trailer. A rock landed on ours first tho. I have poured UV stabilised 2 pack resin over the whole thing now. Still works fine and we also put a couple of bits of rubber block under neath to support the panel when it is stowed away. Next time I replace the panel it will be with the type without the tempered glass. Once bitten twice shy.

Cheers

Doug

the flexible ones doug?
i wanted to go that route but in the end id have to mount it or them on some backing so there goes my weight saving plan i thought,prob end up the same,a single 260w,that must be huge....
 
might be time to replace it,i thought ours was still working fine but i plugged just one new 100 in cuppla days ago,layin flat on the trailer box within a few minutes had 14.6 volts,the shattered one i never seen above 13.8 i reckon,just sortin plugs and wires out will have both in series and running this arvo,will report back.....
 
Doug that's two have appeared to gone the same way ? Here is mine ..................... like new ? It has done quite a few 5000 k trips since being up there and I also have an air gap under it ? Only thing is on those isolator mounts and also fibreglass which is going to take a lot of the shock vibration out. Again good post GC as could save people a heap of bucks in avoiding replacement :Y:

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Goldchaser1 said:
bogger can see how much flex is in that board for interest sake

glass not the frame......

i mean panel lol

Bugger all actually it's pretty rigid. You can press on centre of panel and it actually compresses rubber isolators more so than flex the panel itself :)

The panel is 1200 x 550 ................... this may be the key to it not occurring going on the size of the two panels that have the problem ?
Definitely food for thought on fitting multiple panels instead of one large panel. :Y: :Y: :Y:
 
Bogger said:
Goldchaser1 said:
bogger can see how much flex is in that board for interest sake

glass not the frame......

i mean panel lol

Bugger all actually it's pretty rigid. You can press on centre of panel and it actually compresses rubber isolators more so than flex the panel itself :)

The panel is 1200 x 550 ................... this may be the key to it not occurring going on the size of the two panels that have the problem ?
Definitely food for thought on fitting multiple panels instead of one large panel. :Y: :Y: :Y:

Oh ok bogger mines 810 wide,dougs 1000,no wonder yours is rigid,
hooked mine up and the controllers telling me i have 7.5-7.7amps going in,panels putting out 43.5 volts seemed good,wasnt over the moon really with the amps,checked a few connections etc but not bolted down yet so a cuppla blocks under them lifted 6 got them straight to 8.64 odd so just the winter sun and the angle,reckon theyd go 9.5-10 under perfect conditions by the looks,im stoked.....
 
Well cracked a bushchook and sat down,few minutes later crash bang,should not of left them perched on blocks,panels look ok,some rewiring needed :mad:
 
Goldchaser1 said:
Well cracked a bushchook and sat down,few minutes later crash bang,should not of left them perched on blocks,panels look ok,some rewiring needed :mad:

BUGGER :( Give them both a VOC check ? Would be also interesting between the old and new ?
:Y:
 
Bogger said:
Goldchaser1 said:
Well cracked a bushchook and sat down,few minutes later crash bang,should not of left them perched on blocks,panels look ok,some rewiring needed :mad:

BUGGER :( Give them both a VOC check ? Would be also interesting between the old and new ?
:Y:
unplugged them real quick was worried a panel might of got shorted,only broke the pos wire off the pair,fixed and bolted in,will check voc tomorrow but all seems normal on the regulator.....
 
Reckon a rock might have caused the break mate, or just the jarring motion from the trailer bouncing in potholes etc.
My van has a big panel on it and it's been fine for many trips, but it probably doesn't get bounced like a light trailer, that might be the difference.
You can get flexible panels too, they are dearer and not as hardy as the surface scratches easily, no idea on how that effects output though.
 
Well all lookin good,extended trip coming up so just goin over a few bits and pieces,put a anderson plug near the batteries for our fold outs also,so 320 watts of panels all up im hoping to keep 80 waco going,lights,waterpump and charge uhfs and detectors etc,bought this the other day also for backup,hopefully not needed.....
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Should do it GC ................ running an 80 and a 40 and a 120 panel nearly keeps them going. Just need to add the fold out every now and then to bring it back up. But I do use the 40 litre for butter, milk and drinks etc that saves opening up the 80 and letting the paddock in every time :eek: That's one thing I like about the new 80 litre waeco in that it has the two separate lids. :Y:
 
Bogger said:
Should do it GC ................ running an 80 and a 40 and a 120 panel nearly keeps them going. Just need to add the fold out every now and then to bring it back up. But I do use the 40 litre for butter, milk and drinks etc that saves opening up the 80 and letting the paddock in every time :eek: That's one thing I like about the new 80 litre waeco in that it has the two separate lids. :Y:

thats pretty good going bogger,we seem to be just unable to keep in front of the power usage normally,batteries slowly head towards 12.0 volts over 4-5 days but near all our trips are that length between work so where ok,i dont get the fold outs fired up unless its cloudy,on paper we should shite it in now i think.
was down at bcf the other day and had a squizz at the new wacos,they look good,not overly impressed with ours but fixed im hoping shell be ok for a few yrs at least,engels were sitting next to the wacos,id have to go an engel next,rolls royces i think... :)
 

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