2552 Delivery

After much anticipation we picked up our new 2552 PC last week at Elkhart.  We stayed one night near the factory to make a more detailed check for any issues before returning to Virginia.  I had prepared a checklist of things to look at before departing the area.  We found a few very minor cosmetic things that we decided to have addressed by the factory while in the area.  We arrived at the factory not long after they open at 6:00 am.  Bobby quickly took care of us.  I must say all the Phoenix employees including sales and shop people were amazingly helpful.  My impression was they truly wanted to please the customer.

I had the factory mount two 160 watt solar panels on the roof so my project now is to complete the wiring and do some other small projects and take it on the road for a shakedown cruise.

Was you on I 77 last saturday going home ? I saw a PC coming home from the beach to Milton WV

Congrats

Hope to see you in FL in the winter

Judi

Congratulations. How exciting.  We have found the entire crew there to be extremely helpful even afterwards   Whether it be on the phone or in person

Fandj what brand and size are the panels you had installed?  I'm looking at a 2552 and would like 2 to 4 panels but I am unsure what will fit.

I ordered two 160 watt Grape Solar panels. http://grapesolar.com/docs/GS-S-160-Fab8.pdf   I had them mounted along each side just behind the AC.  I think there is room for two more same size panels just ahead of the AC.  I had a Morningstar MPPT solar controller which I mounted in the sink cabinet.  I provided 4 gauge cable which the factory installed from the panel area to the sink cabinet.  I installed the 2 panels in parallel.  I installed the larger cable so if I want to install 2 more panels in the future the cable will be adequate.

After picking up the 2552 in June we went on a two month trip out west.  We depended on the solar panels for most of our battery charging and was pleased with the performance.  I installed a Victron power management meter to keep up with charging, usage, and state of charge which I would recommend a Victron, Trimetric, or similar meter to anyone depending on solar for most of their charging needs.   If I installed two more panels I would want to expand my battery storage capacity either by adding two more 6 volt batteries (not sure where I would put them) or replace the wet cell batteries with a Lithium battery (expensive).  Based on our usage adding 2 more panels (640 watts total) would have limited benefit without addressing the battery capacity.

Thanks!
I am thinking 480 or 640 watts of solar, so 3 or 4 panels.  I read elsewhere that the factory can build out the battery tray to fit 4 6 volts, at least on some models.  But that is just what I read, no confirmation from PC yet.

I am debating on whether to ask PC to do the install or just prep for solar by pulling in the wire and adding a combiner box.

Does anyone know what panels they use if they supply them?