[thefinnisher]

I would love to hear how other Metris owners decided to pull their cables from the roof mounted solar panels into the van. I have been thinking about this myself and still in the planning stage.

I saw some plastic plugs right below the roof rails. Two in the front rail gap, and one very close to the center rail support. These seem to have a threaded nut inside and I'm not sure if you could lead the wires through there... It may not be ideal as the rail probably collects more water, but maybe with the right type of sealant it would work.

If you have photos of how you did it, please share. Thank you in advance!

 

[focus805]

I've thought about using those plug openings too. I have a cargo, so the threaded inserts from the roof are visible inside. You might try looking for a wire gland that would fit the existing roof plug threads. I suspect it would be one wire per hole if you're using 10 AWG solar.

I am phobic about cutting Metris, so my CRL windows (and soon MaxxFan) will be the only cuts or holes in the body or chassis. I've decided against roof mounted solar, opting instead to tote my measly single panel inside and set it up outside or on the roof as needed at proper angle, etc. The 10 AWG solar will exit just below the driver's side taillight.

I'd be really interested in your ultimate solution -- Take a look at this post: Any Existing Hole/Gap to Push Shore Power Plug Through?

 

[RansomRidge]

I did my solar back in 2017 so I can't recall all of the details- ie whether I had to enlarge the hole for this wire gland. I do recall that it was a tight fit for the 2 10 ga wires. I used some scrap high density plastic as a base and sealed everything with 3M 5200. My panel is held in place on the roof rack with brackets and with some small brackets glued to the roof with 5200.

 

[Tree95]

I used those holes. One wire per hole with some sealant. No issues after four years.

 

[thefinnisher]

These comments are super helpful, thank you!

focus805, I have a passenger van so I don't see the inside ceiling yet until I remove the headliner. Do these threaded inserts from the inner ceiling perspective have some plugs in them as well? I'm going to try to be very conservative and not cut into anything I don't need to. I think I will have a pretty good (slightly different than I've seen) solution for attaching solar panels. I'll be sure to share it on this forum when I'm done.

RansomRidge, that photo is invaluable to me. What an elegant solution.

Yes, depending on the wire gauge maybe use both inserts. Now I just need to find those wire glands for purchase and figure out the rest.

 

[RansomRidge]

Just do a search on Amazon for "rv solar wire glands" and you'll see plenty of options that look more elegant than my install. But I'm not sure they'd fit under the roof rail. I bought my wire gland at a local solar shop.

If you remove one of the plugs you should be able to see if there is anything else on the inside. I seriously doubt you'll find another plug on the inside.

 

[icerabbit]

For reference, this is what the inside of those locations looks like in a cargo van.

A cargo van has six of these exposed in the cargo space, but some of these are, I believe, in use for the roof rails on top.

Two of the black inserts on the roof, correspond with these two things, at the forward side of the sliding door(s).

There is one black insert on the roof forward of the foot base of the middle of the rail, with then two of these inside, at the rear of the sliding door. ( forward one should be open, rear one, I think is used for holding the rail)

Two in the far back, underneath where the rail mounts down.

 

[Luther Vandross]

I used those holes. One wire per hole with some sealant. No issues after four years.

Helpful, thank you! Do you happen to recall if you encountered reverse threaded torx bolts going through the ceiling to the housings for the plugs? I spent a lot of time today wrestling (and possibly stripping) those.

 

[Luther Vandross]

I did my solar back in 2017 so I can't recall all of the details- ie whether I had to enlarge the hole for this wire gland. I do recall that it was a tight fit for the 2 10 ga wires. I used some scrap high density plastic as a base and sealed everything with 3M 5200. My panel is held in place on the roof rack with brackets and with some small brackets glued to the roof with 5200.

Asked this down the chain as well but wanted to check with you. Do you happen to recall if the interior torx bolts were reverse-threaded? Spent a lot of time wrestling with one of them yesterday...

 

[RansomRidge]

Asked this down the chain as well but wanted to check with you. Do you happen to recall if the interior torx bolts were reverse-threaded? Spent a lot of time wrestling with one of them yesterday...

I do not recall any problems removing the plugs. Sorry, but I don't recall if they were reverse threaded.

 

[Luther Vandross]

Not to worry, thanks for getting back.

 

[Luther Vandross]

Stripped one of those dang bolts all the way to, um, striptown. Sucked it up and drilled a hole in the roof which made me feel like I was finally making a difference in the world. Any thoughts on going through the car wash with a flexible panel and a butyl-taped wire gland*?

*a word which grosses me out every I see it.