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Post by learner on Sept 15, 2016 16:08:45 GMT -8
I bought the 50 watt kit with a charge controller included, and wiring. I connected everything to a 35 amp battery and a 300 watt pure sine inverter. My purpose is to charge / power my cell phones, ipads, small TVs, LED lights etc If the lights go out. I want to find out if this size system will do what I want it for or should I add batteries, panels?
Now my questions. The solar panel has a positive and a negative lead coming off it. The charge controller has a positive and negative panel input. The panel to controller wire that came with the kit has one end raw and other end has a connector. These 2 wires are also positive and negative. They are like extension cords that plug between the panel and charge controller. Because of the connectors i plugged the negative extension wire into the positive wire from the panel, and the raw end into the positive input on the charge controller. So the positive output from the panel goes to the positive input of the controller. Same with the negative panel wire. Problem, it doesn't charge. The charge controller I have shows icons with a numeric number. Like an icon of a battery and a percent charged. When its charging it is supposed to show an icon of a solar panel. It never shows its charging. The compression screw terminals of the charge controller didn't seem to want to accept the designated wires. I jammed them in and wonder now if I damaged something. The battery / inverter side works fine.
So did I plug the wires in correctly? Any comments or advice on the potential damage to the charge controler is appreciated. Actually any advise is appreciated as I'm new to building electricity stuff. I'm usually content to flip a switch and not worry about how it works.
Thank you
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Post by jsb2000 on Sept 16, 2016 6:12:26 GMT -8
First, I would check the connections from the panels to the extension wires that go to the controller. Unplug them and plug them in again a few times. Then, disconnect the wires from the controller and check for voltage from the bare ends with a voltmeter. If, in sunlight, you don't read any voltage then you may have a bad lead, a bad connector, or a bad panel.
To check the panel, disconnect the extension wires and measure voltage right from the panel connectors. If you don't see voltage, then you have a bad panel and you should contact Renogy for further instructions. If you do see voltage, check that the extension wires are good with an ohmmeter.
One other thing: You didn't mention that you connected the batteries to the controller BEFORE connecting the solar panels. Did you? If not, then the controller may not have initialized properly and may not be accepting power from the panels because of it. Stop, disconnect everything, and start over with the battery connections being the first thing you do.
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Post by cosmicboss on Sept 16, 2016 6:30:28 GMT -8
Hi learner,
It appears you have couple of things going on here.
1) I think you connected the wires correctly. Regardless of what the "extension" cables are labeled you should always make sure that the positive lead on the panel ends up connected to the positive input of the controller. It sounds like you did that.
2) With regards to the controller not taking the wire leads. Sometimes you have to turn the screws on the controller's input terminals first before the wires go in. I noticed on mine that they were tightened almost all the way, and appeared to have the necessary room for the wires to fit, but when I used a screw driver and gave them a couple of twists it revealed a chamber like (hole/socket) moving part inside the controller's input terminals. It is supposed to grab the entire bundle of wires inside the cable so that it is not the screw tip pressing against them in the hole as you tighten the screws. Kind of like a mini vise.
3) From what I understand some charge controllers have an auto sensing feature for the battery bank to sense what kind of voltage they will be operating at. For this to happen the batteries have to be connected first, and before any power from the panels starts flowing to the controller. If you did not do it this way, then disconnect the panels and battery and wait a couple of minutes (5-10). Then reconnect the battery to the controller first, and wait for it to initialize/start up. Lastly connect the panels to the controller, and see if that fixes your problem.
I hope this helps you.
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Learner(Guest quick reply)
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Post by Learner(Guest quick reply) on Sept 17, 2016 10:05:09 GMT -8
Thank you both for the replys. I did discover the problem, while I was checking all the connections. One lead from the panel to the input compression screw was not connecting. The "mini vise" compression screw is damaged were it will not tighten down on the wire. After i wedged a piece of wood to hold the wire against the screw the charging icon came on. Long term I suppose I'll buy another controller. New question now. When it was not charging the LCD display displayed percent battery charged (like 75%). Now it displays percent not charged (like 25%) Is this normal? Probably is, as it is correct numbers , just different. Again, thanks for your help. Watching a battery charge is not the most fun I've ever had but it kinda grabs you, or am I going crazy?
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Post by cosmicboss on Sept 19, 2016 5:21:28 GMT -8
Glad that solved your problem, but you should try and get this fixed fast as it sounds like it may disconnect again or cause a weak connection. Weak connections are not good as it may cause repeated micro arching which leads to the conductor overheating and the insulation melting at best, and at worst causing a fire.
I also hope you have installed all the necessary fuses.
Keep safe.
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Post by learner on Sept 24, 2016 21:38:56 GMT -8
Thank you for your help again. But the question now is- as the battery is charging, the volt meter on my controller would read out like 60%, then 80%, then 70%, then 75%, etc. When the battery is at 100%, it will go immediately to 60% under load. I can't beieve it dumps 40% in 1 minute. Also when charged to 100% it will periodically drop to 70 or 80 then charge up again. I thouht there was a triclle charge mode in the controler? The voltage and "percent dis-charged) jumps around and does not seem to charge or dis charge evenly. Is this normal? As always any info you can give is appreciated.
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