Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Solar charge controller
#1
I need help with a diagnosis.   

I have a victron 150/85.    It has 890watts solar panels…2 425s

I have 400ah LiFePo4 battery.  And a victron battery monitor.

I have added additional appliances to my system this year.   So, my daily total usage is running about 180-200Amp.

Over the last 2 weeks I have noticed that according to the App…(victron) I am reaching full very quickly.   This last week…barely 800watts before it shows full.    

This morning I looked about 10am….the victron said the battery voltage was at 14.2 (full) but it also said it was in bulk..
Pushing 0 amps.     But it says it is on.   (State:bulk as opposed to off).    Meanwhile it also says that there is 30 watts from the panels.   (This should be near max for this time and date 550-600watts).   All of this was pretty much dead on 2 weeks ago. But over the last week I see that I am drawing a max total each day of about 800watts yield for the whole day. That seems low to me. A couple weeks ago it was up around 1.8 to 2.0 KWH. Daily.

I looked at everything…the battery monitor said 12.3.   The house display showed 12.1.   

I hooked up the 30amp power cable to the park electricity.   The Renogy battery charger said I was at 12.3.   Agreed with the victron battery monitor.    It has been charging steady since.    Going up a bit every time I look…..currently sitting at 12.71.   Still a long way to go. But 30amp at 110 volts is 275 amps at 12v. So..one hour should be about right.

So…how do I figure out what is going on?    Has the solar charger died?   The data from it does seem pretty messed up.        

I expect that the Renogy battery charger will bring my batts all the way back up to full.    Which eliminates the batteries being the fault.

When the solar charge controlled does not draw the power from the solar panels…there is no current to measure.  Doesn’t mean the panels are failing…just the controller isn’t taking any power.   Or, maybe there isn’t a current for the charge controller to draw.   Hummmm,

How do I determine what is failing?     Is there anyway to test each independently?
1989 Honeywell motorhome
Ford E350 chassis.  460 engine
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)