I have two 120w panels on the roof of the van and a portable 120w which I have not used yet. The roof panels have a 40amp in line fuse near the batteries, should the portable panel also be fused? It come with alligator clips inferring it can be connected directly but I am not sure this would be a good idea.
My second question is, the portable panel has a regulator on it but when I measure voltage going in and voltage out I get the same reading, with the second load outlet there is no voltage output, do I not understand how these things work or is it a dud? (I know the best thing to do is to bypass the regulator and connect to the vans regulator but it's position in the van makes this very difficult)
I will very much appreciate and advice or guidance members can offer.
Rowan.
-- Edited by Gus1949 on Wednesday 31st of December 2014 05:20:26 PM
exa41 said
07:03 PM Dec 31, 2014
Hi Rowan , what voltage do you have . maybe its getting close to maximum charge and cant take any more resulting in a float condition.
Peter_n_Margaret said
07:37 PM Dec 31, 2014
There should be fuses near the battery to protect against short circuits in the wiring, but no fuses are required between the panels and the regulator, because the output of the panels is self limiting and the wires must carry all of the possible current.
Cheers,
Peter
Gus1949 said
08:57 AM Jan 2, 2015
EXA41 on the day I tested the panel it was sending 20.1 volts to the controller and the reading on the exit side of the controller (the feed that would have gone to the battery IF it was connected) was 20.1 volts. The controller was not changing the voltage at all but there was a 0.4 amp drop in ampage. This suggests to me that the controller is a dud but there may be something I just don't understand about controllers.
oldtrack123 said
11:48 AM Jan 2, 2015
Gus1949 wrote:
EXA41 on the day I tested the panel it was sending 20.1 volts to the controller and the reading on the exit side of the controller (the feed that would have gone to the battery IF it was connected) was 20.1 volts. The controller was not changing the voltage at all but there was a 0.4 amp drop in ampage. This suggests to me that the controller is a dud but there may be something I just don't understand about controllers.
HI Gus
The problem could also be an open circuit in the battery circuit
Try connecting the battery
PeterQ
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Friday 2nd of January 2015 11:50:24 AM
Aus-Kiwi said
01:08 PM Jan 2, 2015
I would fit a breaker, fuse so I have some form of isolation..
in transit said
03:52 PM Jan 2, 2015
EXA41 on the day I tested the panel it was sending 20.1 volts to the controller and the reading on the exit side of the controller (the feed that would have gone to the battery IF it was connected) was 20.1 volts.
Mine reads like that. I understand that a load (ie battery) is required to give the input voltage to the battery. When you connect the battery and measure the voltage across the battery terminals it should be 12 to 15V depending on the battery state of charge. If it is 20V or more then the regulator might be a dual voltage 12/24V model. Most of these are auto-sensing so that would be unusual.
Re the alligator clips: I cut them off and replaced them with genuine Anderson plugs and then put short fly leads with Anderson plugs permanently attached to both the van and house batteries so I can feed solar into either.
Good luck
Peter_n_Margaret said
01:00 AM Jan 6, 2015
Aus-Kiwi wrote:
I would fit a breaker, fuse so I have some form of isolation..
A switch is the best devise to do that.
Cheers,
Peter
Aus-Kiwi said
12:38 AM Jan 7, 2015
Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
Aus-Kiwi wrote:
I would fit a breaker, fuse so I have some form of isolation..
A switch is the best devise to do that.
Cheers,
Peter
YES..Killing two birds with one stone.. Its not like your protecting wire size etc..
I have two 120w panels on the roof of the van and a portable 120w which I have not used yet. The roof panels have a 40amp in line fuse near the batteries, should the portable panel also be fused? It come with alligator clips inferring it can be connected directly but I am not sure this would be a good idea.
My second question is, the portable panel has a regulator on it but when I measure voltage going in and voltage out I get the same reading, with the second load outlet there is no voltage output, do I not understand how these things work or is it a dud? (I know the best thing to do is to bypass the regulator and connect to the vans regulator but it's position in the van makes this very difficult)
I will very much appreciate and advice or guidance members can offer.
Rowan.
-- Edited by Gus1949 on Wednesday 31st of December 2014 05:20:26 PM
Cheers,
Peter
EXA41 on the day I tested the panel it was sending 20.1 volts to the controller and the reading on the exit side of the controller (the feed that would have gone to the battery IF it was connected) was 20.1 volts. The controller was not changing the voltage at all but there was a 0.4 amp drop in ampage. This suggests to me that the controller is a dud but there may be something I just don't understand about controllers.
HI Gus
The problem could also be an open circuit in the battery circuit
Try connecting the battery
PeterQ
-- Edited by oldtrack123 on Friday 2nd of January 2015 11:50:24 AM
EXA41 on the day I tested the panel it was sending 20.1 volts to the controller and the reading on the exit side of the controller (the feed that would have gone to the battery IF it was connected) was 20.1 volts.
Mine reads like that. I understand that a load (ie battery) is required to give the input voltage to the battery. When you connect the battery and measure the voltage across the battery terminals it should be 12 to 15V depending on the battery state of charge. If it is 20V or more then the regulator might be a dual voltage 12/24V model. Most of these are auto-sensing so that would be unusual.
Re the alligator clips: I cut them off and replaced them with genuine Anderson plugs and then put short fly leads with Anderson plugs permanently attached to both the van and house batteries so I can feed solar into either.
Good luck
A switch is the best devise to do that.
Cheers,
Peter
YES..Killing two birds with one stone.. Its not like your protecting wire size etc..