Where has it gone!

Cal54

Cal54

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Southport, UK
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Leisuredrive Renoir
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Since 1996
Parked my van up outside my flat and have noticed that one of my solar panels has disappeared!! A stupid question I realise, but could this have been stolen? It was on the van at Easter at Chester, as the roof was cleaned by a friend, and I certainly haven’t heard anything flying off the roof whilst I’ve been travelling.

I now need to find someone in the area who can supply and fit a replacement 😟

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Ouch! At least you haven’t had anyone chase you down the motorway claiming your panel damaged their vehicle. Not a nice thing to happen to you but I guess if your wires are intact it will be a reasonably easy fix 👍
 
😳😳

It can’t be helped fixing over the ribs in the roof, much less area to seal to, not sure how you get round that

I would say fell off, based on cable damage , but could have been pulled off I guess, hard to tell, but like you , I would like to think I would have realised if it came off while moving, or somebody would have flagged you down

As for replacement , one panel might do, it’s all we have on ours , just to get cables tidied up and make sure there has been no movement where the cables go through the roof
 
irnbru said:
Ouch! At least you haven’t had anyone chase you down the motorway claiming your panel damaged their vehicle. Not a nice thing to happen to you but I guess if your wires are intact it will be a reasonably easy fix 👍
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Or went through someone's windscreen and sliced their head off.

I know lots of people trust the Sika but I never have. I always add mechanical fixings as well.

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Look on the bright side - at least you can clean that bit of roof :)

Even if some scroat had decided to pull it off, I suspect unlikely, the point is that the adhesive to the brackets failed. Common problem with the plastic brackets. I'd be checking the security of the remaining panel.

The panel lost is at front of van so likely to have had the highest wind buffeting uplift effects. But I would have thought, even with driving noises, you'd become aware that the noises were changing as it started to lift off. I know my panel in similar crosswise front position gets a lot of buffeting. That is held down with Sikaflex and two long angular brackets full length of the short sides stuck to the roof ribs, and for belt and braces an angle bracket centre front stuck and self tap screwed to the roof (not that self tapping screws will hold much given thin nature of the steel roof).
 
Jeepers....now I'm having intense anxiety about ours flipping off whilst driving!! I'm hoping factory fitted may be more secure, if not please just lie to me!!
Had gas locker floor go on our old van, and calor gas flying down road so now I'm paranoid of our van shedding its gear!!
 
my wifi aerial fell off going down the m5, fortunately it stayed attached to the wiring and just hung down the side, the sikaflex had stayed stuck to roof but stainless bracket had pulled off sikaflex
 
Ours came off when driving on the M6 several years ago. We were quite anxious incase it caused an accident but police and highways had no records of any. They seemed more interested in trying to help us find it but it was never recovered.

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Blinking heck Carol! You'd think you'd notice that flying off. Hopefully it was on a quiet road. If both had gone you'd suspect theft. Are you usually at the back when you're convoying?😉
 
If the Mc plug that is left on the roof is intact and has been unclipped from its mating end then I would say the panel has been stolen, it woont uncouple itself.We were at chester a few years back and some vans reported thefts of solar panels.
 
Bad news about losing one. Judging by the frayed wires I'd suspect it came off naturally. The wire connectors can come undone if they're not completely pushed in, but will still establish an electrical connection.

I'd definitely check the other panel and either redo the adhesive or at least add a couple of supporting beads. Just for piece of mind.

Good luck, hope the other panel is ok.

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Looking at the remaining one it's not surprising it went AWOL and I don't think the other one is going to stay there very long. Dreadful fitting job, Stika has been squashed down there should be 2 - 3mm thick and the wiring is just awful.
When using plastic brackets you have to use the correct grade of PU adhesive (Stika) not all work on plastic.

I would remove the existing panel and refit with aluminum brackets.
 
I worried when I fitted my big panel as I only ordered 25mm aluminium angle by mistake instead of 35mm. I do however have about 3 metres of the stuff holding it to the roof that was cleaned with solvent and roughed up. I also used tile spacers to ensure a 4mm bed.

It hasn’t moved and still seems very very solid.

Thank heavens nothing was behind you. You can check properly the remaining one now and get them done so they never move again. 👍
 
donkey said:
My guess would be that it has blown off the back. It appears to have been fixed by four plastic corner brackets. They are notorious for detaching from the adhesive.

Geoff
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It is at the front.I'm amazed that it has missed both roof lights & the aerial?
 
From recent experience of the common plastic corner mountings coming unbonded from the roof I would never rely on adhesive alone. One mounting on my solar panel had come completely unattached from the bonding but luckily I always bolt them through the roof as well as the adhesive.

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rod_vw said:
From recent experience of the common plastic corner mountings coming unbonded from the roof I would never rely on adhesive alone. One mounting on my solar panel had come completely unattached from the bonding but luckily I always bolt them through the roof as well as the adhesive.
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Nothing wrong with using PU adhesive to fix them providing the correct adhesive is use for the materials being fixed and it's done correctly.

Nearly all the ones that come off are mounted using plastic brackets with the incorrect adhesive.
 
Lenny HB said:
I would remove the existing panel and refit with aluminum brackets.
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The other panel has full width type supports so much better than the corner ones, I agree it needs checking but it may actually be okay. I suspect that the rear panel was a later addition hence the different fixings.
 
Minxy said:
The other panel has full width type supports so much better than the corner ones, I agree it needs checking but it may actually be okay. I suspect that the rear panel was a later addition hence the different fixings.
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Full width but bridging the gaps. Also if sika applied using the same method ie around the edges could be even worse?

I don't know for sure. But if one has fecked off, I would be highly suspicious that the other one might be considering it's options as well...

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Kannon Fodda said:
Are you sure? I think the photo angle is deceptive. Door mirrors are the giveaway.
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Ah yes, I didn't spot them on my phone ... It is a very deceptive photo isn't it!

I hate using a phone for stuff like this ... things are much clearer on a laptop! 🤪
 
Edit already spotted..
 
They were indeed fitted at different times by different people. The original panel which is still up there was fitted by Dave Newell about 8 years ago. The missing panel was added a couple of years later by a company that were fitting them at one of the Warner shows.
When I find a company to fit a new one I will get them to check the fixing of the other panel. As I mentioned in my original post everything seemed fine at Easter when a friend cleaned the roof for me!
Yes it was across the front of the roof.
What is the consensus of opinion regarding fitting a flexi panel instead - would it be more secure as the profile would be a lot thinner?
 
Flexi panels are generally considered inferior to rigid panels due to a much higher failure rate.
Also the warranty and output guarantees tend to be much shorter.
A rigid panel properly secured, ie correct adhesive and preparation should be fine.
Also if your concerned you can get wind deflectors which will channel the wind away from the panel.

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