Flexible Panel Advice

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Originally Posted by Tombie

I’ve had those flexible 120w units..
I’ve had 4 sets of 4 units - eg replaced them 4 times

I now have 2 Victron rigid panels at 130w each and do better and without the hassles of them crazing, cracking or just failing.

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Right. Scratch them. Thanks Mike

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Originally Posted by John_D4

Not really sure. At the moment I need to lie on the bed and bench press it up. Lighter is better in this scenario. After you raise it a certain height the springs on the scissor lift will take over and lift the roof the rest of the way.

TUFF TRACK ESCAPE / Far Horizon Campers

(Oh my goodness, that price has jumped by $10,000 in 3 years. Gotta love the Covid tax)

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Can you put gas struts on it to assist?

We have panels and a pop top and the gas struts needed replacing with higher pressure units to accomodate and then all good

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Originally Posted by Tombie

Can you put gas struts on it to assist?

We have panels and a pop top and the gas struts needed replacing with higher pressure units to accomodate and then all good

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Gas struts would help with the initial 20cm or so of lift that occurs before the springs take over?

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Originally Posted by John_D4

Gas struts would help with the initial 20cm or so of lift that occurs before the springs take over?

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Yes they should. If there’s a suitable mounting point.

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Originally Posted by Tombie

Yes they should. If there’s a suitable mounting point.

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Interesting. I would have thought that the struts would need to lift a small amount before the mechanical advantage of the struts takes over

Some of the cheaper panels on Ebay are very light. Sure, they're not putting out their stated wattage, but they're enough to keep a deep cycle battery charged to run the fridge and other things. I have a cheapie "120"W (probably 2/3 of this in reality) rigid panel mounted permanently to the D2 roof, connected to a deep cycle battery which is permanently in the rear footwell. This set-up has worked great for 5 years so far, although I realise the aesthetics wouldn't suit everyone!

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Originally Posted by John_D4

Interesting. I would have thought that the struts would need to lift a small amount before the mechanical advantage of the struts takes over

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You’ll still need to “bump” the roof to start the lift, shouldn’t take too much effort and then it will go.

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Originally Posted by Tombie

You’ll still need to “bump” the roof to start the lift, shouldn’t take too much effort and then it will go.

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Hmm interesting, hasn’t thought of that. Any idea how I’d calculate the amount of poundage required in the struts?