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diy solar

Zamp panels to charge goal zero yeti

Dan Sinclair

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Mar 7, 2020
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Ok sometimes you have to deal with your screw ups. Knowing what I have learned from this site and others, my best choice may not have been purchasing the goal zero but it is what it is and I have to deal with it. I own a travel trailer that has Zamp 230 watt suitcase style solar panels, I also own a goal zero 1250 yeti. Is there a way to use the Zamp panels to charge my goal zero without permanently changing either piece of equipment due to the proprietary connections on each. Thanks, Dan
 
The Goal Zero Yeti 1250 has a three charging ports (according to here), two of which you can use to charge from your Zamp, thus:
  1. Connect the raw PV panel output to the power pole charging port [16-48V, up to 20A (320W max)] OR
  2. Connect the SCC output to the power pole chaining port [12V, up to 180A (2100W max)]
You Zamp outputs 37.7Voc from the panel, and 12V (nominal) from the SCC.

Personally I would use the SCC output because you can then use the in-built display to check your PV generation specs, but the choice is yours.

Obviously, you will need appropriate power pole connectors but these are not expensive on Amazon.
 
p.s. Just noticed you don't want to modify the connectors - you can buy adapter 'pig tails' for everything these days, again search Amazon e.g. 'power pole adapter'

For example:

1583605039972.png
 
Ok sometimes you have to deal with your screw ups. Knowing what I have learned from this site and others, my best choice may not have been purchasing the goal zero but it is what it is and I have to deal with it. I own a travel trailer that has Zamp 230 watt suitcase style solar panels, I also own a goal zero 1250 yeti. Is there a way to use the Zamp panels to charge my goal zero without permanently changing either piece of equipment due to the proprietary connections on each. Thanks, Dan
The answer is yes.

I own the Yeti 1250 but I don't own the Zamp 230W suitcase. I researched it a bit online and it looks like @tictag's option #2 is the only way to go. You'll need to use the Yeti's chaining port to bypass its built-in solar charge controller (SCC) since the Zamp suitcase has an integrated SCC (and no apparent way to easily disconnect it to get to the raw panel output).

1) Buy this $14 $20-ish SAE to Anderson SB175 SB50 cable: Amazon link. See later post for Anderson SB50 to SB175 adapter. (Edited Mar 11 2020)
1583619189706.png


2) You may also need to buy an SAE polarity reverse adapter like this three pack for $8. Since I don't own the Zamp or the adapter above I can't be certain that the polarity is correct to do what you want. So this adapter is a hedge. You will need to make sure you have the correct polarity before you make your final connections.
1583619443916.png
 
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Thank you for the responses, I really appreciate the advice however when reading on the goal zero site, it appears that the chaining port on the back of the unit is to chain another goal zero or another battery, am I missing something? How can I be sure that the unit will accept input from a solar panel at this port? Excuse my lack of knowledge on this application :)

Dan
 
Thank you for the responses, I really appreciate the advice however when reading on the goal zero site, it appears that the chaining port on the back of the unit is to chain another goal zero or another battery, am I missing something? How can I be sure that the unit will accept input from a solar panel at this port? Excuse my lack of knowledge on this application :)

Dan
No worries. I use that port all the time to charge my Yeti 1250. It’s just a direct connection to the battery.

Check out the Yeti link in my signature and scroll down to the post where I have some picks of the inside. In the first pic you should be able to see that the Anderson connector positive wires go to the user-accessible fuses then to the battery positive terminal. The negative wires go directly to the battery negative terminal. In the fourth pic I show my Samlex charger (yellow device in background) connected to the Anderson port charging the Yeti. Your Zamp suitcase with integrated SCC plays the same role as my Samlex.

Speaking of your Zamp, can you please take some pictures of the back so we can be sure it’s got the integrated SCC? My answer is predicated on it being the same as the product I saw online. Thanks.
 
Thank you again, I will take a pic when I pick it up along with my new travel trailer. It definitely has an integrated SCC. Appreciate it!
 
Thank you for the responses, I really appreciate the advice however when reading on the goal zero site, it appears that the chaining port on the back of the unit is to chain another goal zero or another battery, am I missing something?
As @Bob142 says, it really is just a direct connection to the Goal Zero's internal battery.

How can I be sure that the unit will accept input from a solar panel at this port?
This just comes down to logic. Ask yourself the question, if I had bog-standard 100AH lead-acid battery in front of me, could I attach a Solar Charge Controller (SCC) to it and charge it up from solar panels? The logical answer is 'Yes', I mean, that is literally what they are designed for. All you're doing here is connecting the SCC on the back of your Zamp panel to the lead-acid battery contained in your Goal Zero, albeit via a funny connector. Your Zamp SCC will charge it up like it would any other battery.

Imho, this is probably the best option, but connecting the raw PV output from your Zamp to the power pole charging port is still at least an option (i.e. Option 1). This basically connects your PV cells directly to the Goal Zero's internal SCC (and then onto the battery), bypassing its own SCC. Your Zamp 230W panel will have a spec sticker on the back but my guess is that it will generate that 230W at around Vmp = 29.2V Imp = 7.9A, which is well within the specification for the Goal Zero's charging port.

Essentially you have the options I highlighted originally, my recommendation would be to go for Option 2.
 
Bob,
Ordered the Anderson/SAE cable from Amazon (it was like $21 not $14 but no problem) however I believe it is a SB50, not a SB175, it is much smaller. I cant seem to find a SB175 to SAE connector Cable. Any ideas where I may be able to purchase? I have googled it but no luck so far. Or can I get a 175 to 50 adapter of some type? Thanks again!

On a side note how long does it take to charge your 1250 with the Samlex 30A? I may have to purchase one of those as well......
Dan
 
I apologize, Dan. I misread the Amazon description (and see that it’s listed at a higher price now). Here’s a link to an Anderson SB50 to SB175 adapter.


As for the Samlex charger, I have the SEC-1230. Depending on how far you discharged the Yeti it should take just a few hours to fully recharge. Keep in mind that I swapped out the lead acid battery in mine for a LiFePO4, so I can’t speak from direct experience since the chemistries are different in how long they take to recharge.
 
Thank You, one more question if I may, I am trying to make dual use for my Zamp portable solar panel. One of my uses is to run a full size refrigerator during a power outage in combination with the goal zero. I did some testing and I believe It seems more than likely I will have to chain another battery to the yeti. In that scenario I would need the SB 175 chaining connector to chain the aux battery losing my now current connection to my Zamp panels. Can I just connect the Zamp to the terminals of the aux battery while it is chained to the yeti, and would the panels charge both batteries in this situation? Thanks in advance!, hope you don’t mind me picking your brain a little more :)
 
Yes, that will work but it won't be ideal*. It's similar but not identical to if you chained a battery to it and had panels connected to the Yeti's built-in SCC to charge while in-use.

*Some more info in case you're interested: Something that GZ doesn't tell people is that with the Yeti we are living with a suboptimal situation when we use the chaining port to add another battery. Because all of the outputs of the Yeti are connected to the internal battery, that one ends up working harder than any battery you chain to it. I don't worry too much about it because the whole reason for having the Yeti is to provide power in an emergency, so as long as it does that I'm satisfied.

There's a good discussion on the effect of different wiring methods for batteries in parallel in this post of the Battery FAQ thread. It's a quick and interesting read if you care to learn more. The Yeti with one or more chained batteries looks like the first diagram in the post. The diagram illustrates the differences when charging a battery. The same effect occurs on discharge.

At the end of the day there's nothing you can do to change the way the chained battery is connected in parallel to the internal one, so just be happy you can add capacity and keep that fridge going!
 
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