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Broken charge controller?
By mettleramiel, Section Solar Posted on Sun Apr 13th, 2008 at 05:30:09 AM MST
Hopeing it's not

Today I went to turn on my inverter so I could watch a little TV. While the remote switch said that it was on, the TV didn't work. I went outside to check everything out and the inverter was on but not doing anythings. I then noticed that my batteries were full, TOO full. The controller was saying that they were over 15v and that 2.5 amps were still going in. Once I disconnected the panels, the inverter worked just fine, obviously, it has some problem with that much power going in to it.
So, the question before my batteries are destroyed is, why would the controller still charge the batteries when they were clearly done? Is that not the whole purpose of the controller, to stop power going to the batts once they are full? Here's a pic of the little guy. I hope she isn't broken because I got her for free and don't currently have the funds for a replacement of that quality. It's a soltec powersource 20A. Came from an RV, I assume. Can't find any info on it either.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l301/mettleramiel/PICT0476.jpg

Broken charge controller? | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 editorial)

Re: Broken charge controller? (3.00 / 0) (#1)
by Flux on Sun Apr 13th, 2008 at 02:34:51 AM MST
(User Info)

Either it is broken, wrongly connected or set up for the wrong voltage.

Was it used on a 24v system before?. I don't know the thing so I have no idea if it can be set for more than one voltage.

Flux

Re: Broken charge controller? (3.00 / 0) (#2)
by snowcrow on Sun Apr 13th, 2008 at 05:54:43 AM MST
(User Info)

I checked out soltec and did not find any charge controllers. They just sell inverters, converters, and UPS units!? You may want to start look for something more suited to your needs. These items are made in china, so chances are it probably is toast! (:\

Ghurd does offer a cheap solution, for the time being, in the form of a Dump Control / LVD Circuit kit, if you're interested?

http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2007/8/24/172521/889

Blessings, Snow Crow

Re: Broken charge controller? (3.00 / 0) (#3)
by mettleramiel on Sun Apr 13th, 2008 at 09:48:25 AM MST
(User Info)

They used to sell RV kits that came with panels, batteries and the controller, you couldn't buy them separately. They have since been bought out by another company and seemingly made all their previous products just dissapear off the face of the earth.

[ Parent ]

Re: Broken charge controller? (3.00 / 0) (#4)
by dnix71 (yahoo.com 'dnix71') on Thu May 8th, 2008 at 05:33:11 PM MST
(User Info)

First, check to make sure the panel leads to the controller are tight and the controller cables to the batteries are clean and tight. My controller was acting odd one day (overcharging and cutting out, but the battery voltage wasn't all that high). It turns out the thumb screw holding the panel leads wasn't completely tight.

You can get charge controllers separately from ebay. I actually have two spares because I bought 4 Harbor Freight solar kits on sale and the panels in real life don't put out the 45 watts the controller can handle. I've got 12 "15 watt" panels feeding two controllers feeding two batteries in parallel.

Broken charge controller? | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 editorial)

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