We have some suitcase panels with our AC200P Bluetti and have wanted to add a couple of 200w panels to the roof and this has been a great "how to" video for this process with fairly readily available items. I feel much more confident in being able to do this myself now. Thanks.
Hi thanks for the very in-depth instructions on how to do this because I actually will be picking up my new van the end of October and probably doing this in the near future.
That's one sweet solar panel install 👌 only change I would have made is to have used a stack of washers as the spacer just to better spread the load, but that's just me, goid job 😊
New sub, I recently got the same van and this is just what I was looking for. I appreciate you sharing the step by step instructions, good video and related information, links. This is what I will do. I like the low profile solar. I'll check your other vids and look forward to more. Thanks
@@BuildingVanLife Can you please help me first, do you have a link to identify the correct "brackets" you improvised for the roof mounting of your solar panels, you said you got them at Ace Hardware? Also, can you please tell me exactly what model and length Promaster you have and any specifics about the mounting rails you purchased for the roof? I'd like to buy those but in the reviews on Amazon a number of people commented that they did not fit their Promaster, the cost of returning them is almost as much as the cost of the rails themselves, this is a mistake I don't want to make. I have a 159" wheelbase Promaster 2500 with extended length. I'd like to ensure these rails will fit my van. Thank you for an excellent video and anything else you can share.
@@sheri4673 I had the 159 wb non extended 2500. They will fit the van. I only had to drill one additional hole for the mounting to fit. It’s not hard to do. Link for the rails is in the description
@@BuildingVanLife Thank you very much, that is also my van. Can you tell me if you've found any kind of a cargo carrier that attaches easily to this, I need extra storage space for clothes and a couple larger items like sleeping bags that I do not want to compress but I definitely want to avoid drilling additional holes in the van- these rails are perfect for that reason. If you have any recommendation to share I'd appreciate it. Thank you very much for your reply!
Do you remember what the pieces are called that you got from Ace Hardware? I’m stealing your plans and that is the missing piece. You made the absolute BEST solar setup I’ve seen man! Appreciate the help man!
Can the roof rails you used be mounted to the back of the van as opposed to mounting to the front? I want to build a roof deck that begins at the back of the van.
Was able to add another 200 watts up front on either side of the Maxx fan. The key was to mount the side angles on top of the cross pieces in order to accommodate the wider width. Max watts is 565 because I ran them in parallel. The most I’ve seen so far is 500
Greetings! Love the channel, you are my number one source for my info on building my van! On that rack rail system you installed. I see that you used the front 3 anchor points on both sides of the roof, could you have used the back 3 instead of the front 3?
Are the two solar panel crossbars from home depot, one inch by one inch and what type of metal are they, are they painted? Thanks for the details, I will do this soon.
Good afternoon! Great video, one question…..could you post a link for the y branch connectors? When I clink on the link it brings me to the wrong setup… thanks!
Hi the cross bars can be purchased from Home Depot. It is aluminum 1” 1/2 angle 1/8” thickness. Usually located in the isle that has the screws. Sorry if I didn’t specify that in the video.
Several of the reviews on the rails indicated they did not fit the extended Promaster (we have the 3500 high roof extended) but I am assuming that they meant it didn't run the entire length of the van? We are setting up an AC up front and Maxair fan in back so would be setting up our panels just like you did so should work for us?!
I have the 2500 159 wb. They do not run the whole length but it should fit and the worst case scenario is you can just drill an additional hole in the track so it lines up with the bolts on your roof. It wouldn’t be hard to do.
@@BuildingVanLife That's amazing how you managed to nail the subfloor down without the crossbeams moving on you, but i supposed the tapinging helped. I know you mentioned the exposure to the elements for not nailing it down but any reason for not gluing them? I imagined not doing neither could cause some squeaking, no?
Thank You! Could you consider responding with the measurements of the placement of the hole you cut in the roof from the back and the side of the van. We have a Promaster 3500 159 extended. We intend to duplicate your setup but we missed this step when installing the fans. We want to do this step while we wait for the other solar materials and continue work in the inside of the van.
Side to side it's centered. I sold the van so I can only go off my notes. Front the back of the van to the front of the rear fan is 33''. You can't go off that though. You need to get the exact measurements of your solar panels online and make a cardboard cut out and place it on the roof. Then install your fans so you know everything is going to fit.
Thanks for the detailed instructions! Your videos are awesome! How did you glued down the box for the solar wires? Did you only use butyl tape and lap seal only?
Thank you. I love the setup!! Wondering if you can help me, what do you call the mounting bracket that you cut to go in the channel. You’ve mentioned that you got it from Ace Hardware store. Thanks again!
@@paulreyes660 hmm I don’t know the name. It was just a piece of metal they had that was the right width. You may just have to walk through the isles. It’s not a big store. Maybe even Home Depot may have something similar in hardware. You can ask for a piece of metal with square cut outs for carriage bolts to sit in. The one I used was not designed for this
Great work and content brother! Question : I noticed the rails don't extend all the way to the back , is there a way to extend them & utilize the whole roof space of a 2500/3500 Promaster? It seems weatherguard rails are just 115'' long.
Unfortunately from weather guard they only come in that length. You could also try using the rear three mourning points on the van instead of the front three. You would just have to drill out for the brackets. Or you could buy two and cut them down to meet in the middle of a bracket. My rear fan is kind of blocking where it would be extended to so It wasn’t worth trying to extend them for me.
I know you made this 2 years ago, and I really like your setup. Unfortunately, if I tried to do this, I would surely mess it up. Would you consider doing this for someone else, and if so, what would you charge?
@@BuildingVanLife Couldn't you use one 30A fuse after the Y splitter? I have 2 Renogy 200 watt panels that I'm about to put on my 2021 Ram 3500 extended. I really like the way you did yours, and I'm probably gonna copy. Unless I can bring it to you???
@@BuildingVanLife what was the length of yours? I've been looking at some 200watt that's 58x27. I'm just trying to figure ask this out as I wait for my disability to start coming. So I'm trying to get things planned out on what to get and do. I know I can't do it all my self sadly
We have a 3500 pro master extended and I'd like to put a AC in front and a max air in back did you have room on yours to have that and solar if you wanted?
Yeh if you did one fan and ac it would fit for sure. It’s similar to having two fans like I did. I recommend the 200 watt rich solar panel then you just need two of them to have 400 watts
@@BuildingVanLife okay great yeah we were looking at two 300 watt lol like everyone else is saying so grateful for your post this is my husband and I first try just sold the fancy RV to go Van so in between panic it's nice to see your video
I just noticed in your Amazon list the panels used here were 12 volt I ordered 24 volt . Is this ok? Amazon product details said it could charge a 12volt or 24 volt battery? Any help would be appreciated
yes you can use 24 volt panels but they must be wired in parallel to work with the charge controller that can only handle a max of 25 volts. If you went series then it would be 48 volts and the charge controller wont work
This is the link. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N1NRRXK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01N1NRRXK&linkCode=as2&tag=buildingvanli-20&linkId=38fd77897832127b7e68ebeafaa3520c Looks like it’s unavailable at the moment but maybe you can find it on Amazon from another seller
When you were putting in the floor insulation, were the 1x2's glued to the floor or screwed to the floor of the van. it looks like the 3 plywood pieces were screwed to the 1x2's but I'm wondering about those 1x2's and how they were secured. Thanks
No it’s floating. I explain in the next episode that later in the build I will have things screwed into both the walls and floor so that’s it’s completely locked in. You definitely don’t want to screw though the van metal floor. It’s just a thin piece of metal going under the van.
this is the most low profile set up possible, in fact you can see in the video i had to slightly raise it so it wasn't touching the van. Driving a cargo van in general is not the most aerodynamic thing so there is already a lot of wind noise. I didn't even notice any increase at all after adding the panels.
Check out my updated video for this roof rack install!!! ruclips.net/video/Q_9hZAVETXM/видео.html
Excellent! Appreciate you walking us to the whole process
Thanks for very detailed install for solar panels
You’re welcome!
Very nice I’m going to do the same set up thank you.
We have some suitcase panels with our AC200P Bluetti and have wanted to add a couple of 200w panels to the roof and this has been a great "how to" video for this process with fairly readily available items. I feel much more confident in being able to do this myself now. Thanks.
Thanks for putting this installation together. Helped me a lot!
Glad it helped
Excellent video and build series. Best Promaster build series I've come across. Thanks for taking the time and sharing.
Thank you very much
I wonder if some “theft resistant bolts” would be a good idea.
yeh you could add that
Genius roof rail kit!
Hi thanks for the very in-depth instructions on how to do this because I actually will be picking up my new van the end of October and probably doing this in the near future.
Glad it helped. More videos to come.
That's one sweet solar panel install 👌 only change I would have made is to have used a stack of washers as the spacer just to better spread the load, but that's just me, goid job 😊
New subscriber here brother! I’ll be getting me an exact van next week and I’ll be using a lot of your knowlege to build my van. Thanks
Very nice! Welcome!
I found your video this morning and feel more confidant about attempting the roof rack myself. Very well done for a tutorial.
Thank You!!
Thank you, if you run into any issues you can always send questions on here.
Great video dude :) i always use a shortened drill if drilling somewhere where i may destroy something underneath, saves a lot of agro
Man Ram could have made life simpler (and cheaper!) for anyone wanting to mount racks to their roofs by just making those studs threaded! Great job!
New sub, I recently got the same van and this is just what I was looking for. I appreciate you sharing the step by step instructions, good video and related information, links.
This is what I will do. I like the low profile solar. I'll check your other vids and look forward to more. Thanks
that's great! welcome aboard. If you run into any issues just comment on a video and i'll try to help
@@BuildingVanLife Can you please help me first, do you have a link to identify the correct "brackets" you improvised for the roof mounting of your solar panels, you said you got them at Ace Hardware? Also, can you please tell me exactly what model and length Promaster you have and any specifics about the mounting rails you purchased for the roof? I'd like to buy those but in the reviews on Amazon a number of people commented that they did not fit their Promaster, the cost of returning them is almost as much as the cost of the rails themselves, this is a mistake I don't want to make. I have a 159" wheelbase Promaster 2500 with extended length. I'd like to ensure these rails will fit my van. Thank you for an excellent video and anything else you can share.
@@sheri4673 I had the 159 wb non extended 2500. They will fit the van. I only had to drill one additional hole for the mounting to fit. It’s not hard to do. Link for the rails is in the description
@@BuildingVanLife Thank you very much, that is also my van. Can you tell me if you've found any kind of a cargo carrier that attaches easily to this, I need extra storage space for clothes and a couple larger items like sleeping bags that I do not want to compress but I definitely want to avoid drilling additional holes in the van- these rails are perfect for that reason. If you have any recommendation to share I'd appreciate it. Thank you very much for your reply!
@@sheri4673 not sure i haven't used any cargo carriers
Do you remember what the pieces are called that you got from Ace Hardware? I’m stealing your plans and that is the missing piece. You made the absolute BEST solar setup I’ve seen man! Appreciate the help man!
Thank you, I don't remember the name but maybe you can pull up the video and show them the part in the store.
What's the measurement from center of strut to center of strut?
Could've gotten 4 mounts from each
Why not use Unistrut available at Lowes at $36 for 10'. 🤷♂️
Can the roof rails you used be mounted to the back of the van as opposed to mounting to the front? I want to build a roof deck that begins at the back of the van.
Yes you could slide them where ever you want especially if you make your own holes in it too
Was able to add another 200 watts up front on either side of the Maxx fan. The key was to mount the side angles on top of the cross pieces in order to accommodate the wider width. Max watts is 565 because I ran them in parallel. The most I’ve seen so far is 500
Cool. Don’t forget to check that your charge controller can handle your set up
Those ladders are expensive now
Greetings! Love the channel, you are my number one source for my info on building my van!
On that rack rail system you installed. I see that you used the front 3 anchor points on both sides of the roof, could you have used the back 3 instead of the front 3?
If the rear fan wasnt where it is, it would be possible. Not with where I have the fan
What size of wood did you use to mount the Maxx fan to? Was it a 1x4...length for each of the four sides?
They are 1x3 pine from Home Depot
Are the two solar panel crossbars from home depot, one inch by one inch and what type of metal are they, are they painted? Thanks for the details, I will do this soon.
Yes it’s Home Depot and it’s 1”1/2 x 1”1/2 and it’s aluminum
@@BuildingVanLife thank you!
Good afternoon! Great video, one question…..could you post a link for the y branch connectors? When I clink on the link it brings me to the wrong setup… thanks!
Thanks for letting me know. Here is the correct link, I'll update it in the description as well. amzn.to/3AFWtwg
I was at ace hardware yesterday and made those metal braces- again can’t thank you enough for your meticulous detail- great work!
We got the same kit you got and the same rails but there are no cross bars with it. What did you use for the cross bars?
Hi the cross bars can be purchased from Home Depot. It is aluminum 1” 1/2 angle 1/8” thickness. Usually located in the isle that has the screws. Sorry if I didn’t specify that in the video.
Where are you located at? awesome video
Newport Beach California
Several of the reviews on the rails indicated they did not fit the extended Promaster (we have the 3500 high roof extended) but I am assuming that they meant it didn't run the entire length of the van? We are setting up an AC up front and Maxair fan in back so would be setting up our panels just like you did so should work for us?!
I have the 2500 159 wb. They do not run the whole length but it should fit and the worst case scenario is you can just drill an additional hole in the track so it lines up with the bolts on your roof. It wouldn’t be hard to do.
I don't see your crossbars in the material list - where did you get them ?
They are from Home Depot.
Where did you purchase your crossbars? TY Love your channel!
Thank you they are from Home Depot
Thank You! Got them today!!!!@@BuildingVanLife
We were asking wether you secured the floor crossbeams down to the van. It sounds like you didn't nail or glue them down at all correct?
correct
@@BuildingVanLife That's amazing how you managed to nail the subfloor down without the crossbeams moving on you, but i supposed the tapinging helped. I know you mentioned the exposure to the elements for not nailing it down but any reason for not gluing them? I imagined not doing neither could cause some squeaking, no?
Thank You! Could you consider responding with the measurements of the placement of the hole you cut in the roof from the back and the side of the van. We have a Promaster 3500 159 extended. We intend to duplicate your setup but we missed this step when installing the fans. We want to do this step while we wait for the other solar materials and continue work in the inside of the van.
Side to side it's centered. I sold the van so I can only go off my notes. Front the back of the van to the front of the rear fan is 33''. You can't go off that though. You need to get the exact measurements of your solar panels online and make a cardboard cut out and place it on the roof. Then install your fans so you know everything is going to fit.
also I dont have the extended, so you will have more room up top. The hole should be 14 1/8th by 14 1/8th square .
🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
Thanks for the detailed instructions! Your videos are awesome! How did you glued down the box for the solar wires? Did you only use butyl tape and lap seal only?
Thanks yeh I used butyl tape and actually pl marine sealant from Home Depot. It’s a little thicker/stronger and easier to work with
Thank you. I love the setup!! Wondering if you can help me, what do you call the mounting bracket that you cut to go in the channel. You’ve mentioned that you got it from Ace Hardware store. Thanks again!
@@paulreyes660 hmm I don’t know the name. It was just a piece of metal they had that was the right width. You may just have to walk through the isles. It’s not a big store. Maybe even Home Depot may have something similar in hardware. You can ask for a piece of metal with square cut outs for carriage bolts to sit in. The one I used was not designed for this
Where did you get 200 watt panels?
Here you go, 200 Watt Solar Panel amzn.to/3CM3Bs3 Links for everything are usually in the description of my videos
Great work and content brother!
Question : I noticed the rails don't extend all the way to the back , is there a way to extend them & utilize the whole roof space of a 2500/3500 Promaster? It seems weatherguard rails are just 115'' long.
Unfortunately from weather guard they only come in that length. You could also try using the rear three mourning points on the van instead of the front three. You would just have to drill out for the brackets. Or you could buy two and cut them down to meet in the middle of a bracket. My rear fan is kind of blocking where it would be extended to so It wasn’t worth trying to extend them for me.
What did you use for connecting the solar panels to the side weatherguard mounting kit? Is that just aluminum L- channel?
yes from home depot, i go over that in the newer version of this video as well here: ruclips.net/video/Q_9hZAVETXM/видео.html
I know you made this 2 years ago, and I really like your setup. Unfortunately, if I tried to do this, I would surely mess it up. Would you consider doing this for someone else, and if so, what would you charge?
Sorry I don't have the time at the moment
@@BuildingVanLife I understand. Thanks for replying.
Hi! Thanks for the video! It REALLY helped me! One question - what exactly is the 30A Fuse used for??
Glad it helped. The fuse will be a protection against a fire if a short circuit occurs.
@@BuildingVanLife Couldn't you use one 30A fuse after the Y splitter? I have 2 Renogy 200 watt panels that I'm about to put on my 2021 Ram 3500 extended. I really like the way you did yours, and I'm probably gonna copy. Unless I can bring it to you???
@@josephsalazar2465 Yeh i suppose you could I’m not sure
Hey Schnider I don't see the link to the 20 ft solar extension cable, can you post it here?
Here you go amzn.to/3ybgN7r
You will need two
Did not know you can twist the fixing mushrooms! How are the fixed in the roof? Ist it not gonna leak when you twist them?
They are designed for this exact purpose. They can’t leak.
Why didn't you put the panels sideways from left to right? And is there enough room to put 4 of them panels and 2 Max Air fans?
It would go past the edge of the van
@@BuildingVanLife what was the length of yours? I've been looking at some 200watt that's 58x27. I'm just trying to figure ask this out as I wait for my disability to start coming. So I'm trying to get things planned out on what to get and do. I know I can't do it all my self sadly
What is the reason you take the hanger pins out of the ladder?
Instructions State too. You could leave them in I suppose but it’s looked much cleaner with it out.
We have a 3500 pro master extended and I'd like to put a AC in front and a max air in back did you have room on yours to have that and solar if you wanted?
Yeh if you did one fan and ac it would fit for sure. It’s similar to having two fans like I did. I recommend the 200 watt rich solar panel then you just need two of them to have 400 watts
@@BuildingVanLife okay great yeah we were looking at two 300 watt lol like everyone else is saying so grateful for your post this is my husband and I first try just sold the fancy RV to go Van so in between panic it's nice to see your video
Where did you get the Pro master mounting clips ?please
@@sandragraham4905 I go over that in the video around 645
How did you connect the 4 corners of the roof vent butyl tape stripes, did you over lap them or simply but them all together?
I’m not really understanding what you mean
I just noticed in your Amazon list the panels used here were 12 volt I ordered 24 volt . Is this ok? Amazon product details said it could charge a 12volt or 24 volt battery? Any help would be appreciated
yes you can use 24 volt panels but they must be wired in parallel to work with the charge controller that can only handle a max of 25 volts. If you went series then it would be 48 volts and the charge controller wont work
Where's the link to where you bought t he s solar panel mounts
This is the link. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N1NRRXK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B01N1NRRXK&linkCode=as2&tag=buildingvanli-20&linkId=38fd77897832127b7e68ebeafaa3520c Looks like it’s unavailable at the moment but maybe you can find it on Amazon from another seller
When you were putting in the floor insulation, were the 1x2's glued to the floor or screwed to the floor of the van. it looks like the 3 plywood pieces were screwed to the 1x2's but I'm wondering about those 1x2's and how they were secured. Thanks
No it’s floating. I explain in the next episode that later in the build I will have things screwed into both the walls and floor so that’s it’s completely locked in. You definitely don’t want to screw though the van metal floor. It’s just a thin piece of metal going under the van.
Do you know the name of the bracket things you got at ace hardware to slide onto the rails for the solar panel mounting? Gonna use your same system:)
I don’t know the name
This is awesome I have a 1500 Promaster so I just ordered this for my solar panels. Where did you get the cross bars from?
It’s just aluminum pieces from Home Depot
Ok awesome thank you.
Hi, I didn’t see the mounting plates in your list of items. Can you put them in the list or reply? Thank you in advance.
the mounting brackets are included with the roof rail kit, the only thing that's not included are the crossbars which i got from home depot
Oh unless you are referring to the metal piece that holds the carriage bolts ? Those are from ace hardware. No link for those either.
@@BuildingVanLife nope it was the mounting plates
Which thickness are you using for the angle iron?
1/8th thick
@@BuildingVanLife awesome! Thanks a ton
I'm curious how much wind noise comes from this install? I've had roof racks on mini vans that made a lot of noise.
this is the most low profile set up possible, in fact you can see in the video i had to slightly raise it so it wasn't touching the van. Driving a cargo van in general is not the most aerodynamic thing so there is already a lot of wind noise. I didn't even notice any increase at all after adding the panels.
@@BuildingVanLife Awesome that's what I wanted to know. Thank you!
Do you think you could have fit 3 of the same size panels between your fans? (do you have 81" between the fans)
with the overhang of the vent cover i am not able to fit 3
it's 400 watts already though
What is the link roof brakes solar panel
Not sure what you’re asking
How have the RICH PV been performing? We got the same ones which we are about to mount.
I found they weren’t living quite up to the claimed 200 watts.
@@BuildingVanLife what are they banking? Did you upgrade to some others?
@@MannyWC I was getting about 110 each panel. I sold this van but I’ll probably try something different on the next one
@@BuildingVanLife sorry last ? Did you run them parallel or in series? For them to draw so little- that is enough to get your money back imo.
@@MannyWC in parallel