Did you try to connect your Renogy solar suitcase to your RV using the Solar ready or solar on the side connector, and see a b01 error, or it just won’t charge?
We had the same problem. Here are two ways to solve the problem in a few minutes. Plus, if you try this and you have a Lance-brand travel trailer, stay tuned at the end for another fix that you may need in addition to these steps.
First, about our Renogy solar suitcase. This is a 100 watt 12-volt off-grid portable solar kit. It has a built-in kickstand so you can position it however you need to maximum sun exposure. It’s waterproof and comes with it’s own 20Amp charge controller. This is a great solar kit. There’s a link below if you want to get it.
Renogy 100 Watt Portable Solar Panel Suitcase: https://amzn.to/35T4j98
Next, makes sure you have the Solar on the Side plug for your travel trailer.
In order to plug in the Renogy solar suitcase to the Solar on the side plug on your trailer, you’ll need an adapter, called an MC4 to SAE Adapter. If, like me, you may already have one of these, or maybe one shipped with your Renogy solar suitcase. However, even if you already have one of these, you’ll still get the same b01 error message. The b01 error message (which sometimes looks like 601) means “no battery connected”.
Why? Well, the company that provides the Solar on the Side adapter wants you to buy their solar equipment, and so they made their connectors work for their own equipment.
But maybe you already have your own solar panels, or maybe you want a really high-quality, durable unit like the Renogy solar suitcase. No problem. Here are two super-easy ways to solve this problem.
Video tutorial:
Option 1
Buy a Reverse Polarity SAE adapter. These guys are just $10 on Amazon, and you just plug them into your Solar on the side before you plug in your panels. Honestly, this is the easiest solution, but not so useful if you’re already camping.
MC4 Connector to SAE Adapter: https://amzn.to/3qweKXX
Option 2
If you don’t want to buy anything else, in three steps you can quickly reverse the polarity of the wires connected to your solar on the side plug. Here how that works:
1. Open up the wiring panel and find the wires coming from the Solar on the side connection.
2. Cut the wires, and strip off the ends.
3. Connect the red to black and black to red wires. I really like using electrical wire connector screw terminals linked below.
4. Close up your panel.
Electrical Screw Wire Connectors: https://amzn.to/39GN5gs
That’s it. Now, you can connect your Renogy solar suitcase panels directly to your trailer using the Solar on the side connection, and that pesky b01 error is gone and now showing that your Renogy solar panels are charging your battery.
Ok, now if you have a Lance travel trailer, if your Renogy shows the same error message after you reverse the polarity, here may be an extra step. The Lance has two fuses on the other side of the travel trailer, behind another body panel. It may be that while switching the polarity of the Solar on the Side, you accidentally blew one of these fuses. Here’s how to check and replace it.
Go to the other side of your Lance travel trailer and open the panel just inside the storage bay underneath the batter. There are likely to be two fuses, a 30-amp and 15-amp fuse. You open them by sliding the red cap off of the fuse protector. Check the fuse. If it’s blown, you’ll need to replace the fuse with an equivalent amp fuse. These fuses are very inexpensive. There’s a link down below to the fuse kit we keep in our trailer.
Extra Fuse Kit: https://amzn.to/39EQNHi
Thanks for reading! Hopefully this quick guide was exactly what you were looking for. If you want a more in-depth tutorial with video walkthroughs, check out the Youtube video linked above.
And remember, Travel Smart. Live Better.