Another Fitting Solar Panels on a Hymer Question

[OldAgeTravellers]

I quite agree @JJ that is how it should be unless you want to exploit the facilities of the Schaudt Elektroblock and panel then you have to jump through the hoops it puts up. Connecting straight to the batteries will charge the batteries but not show the charge from the panels without adding another meter and could confuse the panel so it thinks the batteries are empty when they are not.
I would have preferred to use the controller that Andy favours as I did on my last van but it could not talk to the EBL so I had to pay twice as much for the Votronic but that does have tha advantage that it will use the +S terminal of the AES fridge so that it will automatically switch the fridge to Solar if there is excess charge from the panels.
Unfortunately this new to me Hymer is quite a learning curve a bit like modern cars which are becoming so complex that it is increasingly more difficult to work on them. Today's "grease monkeys" wear rubber gloves and fix everything with a laptop which tells them which board to swap. Was it better when a large hammer and a can of grease fixed everything? Simpler perhaps.
Steve

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

If they're anything like CBE pins they won't take over 2.5 and will need soldering too
5.3 is probably the diameter including insulation rather than CSA

Thanks Andy, you are probably right, 5.3 is an odd size so probably is the insulation. If I have to make the short "Y" piece from 2.5mm it will not be disastrous as each leg will only be taking a maximum of 15 amp and then only when parked in the Sahara.
Steve

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Hi Guys,
I finally got all the bits together and decided I understood the EBL enough to sort it all out.
Installation went well and after inserting the final fuse to the panels "We have energy cap'n. As Scotty would say"

I have three 100watt panels so have used the Votronic MPP 350 DuoDig controller to connect to my EBL101

With a parallel connection from the output of the Votronic to pin1 -ve & pin3 +ve of BL6 and pin1 -ve & pin2 +ve of BL7 and a 15A fuse in the Solar and Zusatz-Ladegerat (Extra Charger) fuse points as suggested by Udo Lang.

The +ve engine battery output of the Votronic I put to Pin 2 on BL6. Not sure if this is necessary as I thought the EBL should handle the engine battery charging but the facility was there so I used it.

Each panel is producing a charge ok on the panel as I uncovered them one by one and watched the current increase each time.

I connected the EBL Data output of the Votronic to pin 1 on BL10 but The panel is not showing the sun symbol and separate charge rate.

The Panel is a DT203 branded Hymer. Repeatably pressing menu on the setting screen gives the final screen as H2.02 which I presume is the software version. It also only shows the Voltage of the engine and habitation batteries and the charge current not the Ah or % charge which the Hymer manual says it should.

1. Does the panel have a hidden setting screen where the Solar Functions and charge levels can be activated?
   
   
2. Can I test that there is signal to pin1 BL10 with a volt meter just in case there is a bad connection or broken wire.
   
   
3. Can plugs be pulled out on the EBL101 to test connections or should the battery switch be turned off first or the batteries disconnected or both.
   
   
4. I have a manual for the DT201B is there a downloadable manual for the DT203 in English?
   

I sent these questions to Udo Lang who opened the email but has not responded yet which is unusual as he is usually so prompt with his replies.

So if anybody knows any of the answers I would be grateful. It is not a problem as it is all charging ok but it would be nice to have the panel giving the information the Hymer manual says it should.

One interesting point. The Votronic controller has an AES output for the +S connection on the fridge so as to switch it to battery if there is enough sun. The fridge was still working on solar power at 5:30 yesterday evening when the sun was very low, ok we are in the south of France but it bodes well for Morocco.

Thanks to everybody for their help with this project.

Steve

 

[SandraL]

Dt203 has a service menu. It is this that enables the solar facility. To enter it you must
Have switched the 12v off on the dt203
Then press menu and ok together for at least 5 seconds.
It will request a pin number. Hymer use 8251.
Press the ok button and first digit flashes, use + or- keys to getcorrect number and confirm by pressing ok, 2nd digit flashes etc.
Now you are into what you can do. Solar is parameter 4. The flashing symbol can be selected on or off using + -. Press ok to confirm.
The symbol stops flashing and using menue next symbol can be selected.
To exit press 12v button or wait 30 seconds.
Be careful as you can turn things off you want
Thanks for the above to a guy calked davesport.
As am typing on tablet have abbreiviated but you get the idea.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Thanks very much for that @SandraL I will have a go tomorrow.
Steve

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[JeanLuc]

You can download a user manual for the DT203 from the Schaudt website.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Thanks @SandraL & @JeanLuc Sorry not to answer before, Motorhome friends turned up unexpectedly and have been entertaining. @SandraL instructions worked well and the parameters have been put in and I now have the smiley sun symbol. However I put in the battery size as 180ah but the maximum it reaches when fully charged on the panel is 144 ah. Is this usual? Downloaded the manual thanks after figuring out the German.
Thanks for all the help.
Steve

 

[Mr Mousy]

@OldAgeTravellers

I connected the EBL Data output of the Votronic to pin 1 on BL10 but The panel is not showing the sun symbol and separate charge rate.

Hi, I hope you can help me as the difficulty I have with the solar display of the Hymer DT201 panel is similar to the one you describe above. I have set the display panel up as described by @SandraL

My Votronic MPP250 connected to the electroblock and it is charging the batteries.
The 'solar display' on the DT201 does not show any input - I have made the connection from the MPP250 to the BL10 input on the electroblock using the cable I brought from Votronic (item 2007).

Attached are a few photos which may help.

Any ideas how to solve the problem?

Thanks Martin

 

[SandraL]

You have shown pic of wire from votronic to ebl, is there a cable to the left of 4f bl10 ? It is 7f bl9 and takes the signal from the ebl101 to the dt 201 panel.to display current from solar panel. It is a 3 wire cable, solar leisure batt current display is on pin 7 of 7f bl9. Hope I got that right, just looking at the ebl101 manual, back page schematic.

 

[Mr Mousy]

@SandraL
Thanks for your reply, you are correct to the left of 4f BL10 is 7f BL9 which is not used.
The cable supplied by Voltronic has a 4f connector with a single wire connected to pin 1, I have connected this to BL10 as it fits! You mention a three wire cable which I cannot see. Do you think if I connect the single wire from the MPP to pin 7 of BL9 the solar display will work? Thanks

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[SandraL]

Sounds like the cable from ebl101 7fbl9 to the dt201 is missing. It arrives on rear of the dt201 on socket x6, you need pin6 to display the solar charge to living battery.
Manuals can be downloaded from the schaudt website. On our van this cable had already been installed.

 

[Mr Mousy]

@SandraL
Thank you so much for your last post. I've had a look around all the cables by the electroblock and to my great joy there was one not plugged in (never been plugged in)! So it's now plugged into 7fBL9 and the solar display works. Absolutely brilliant. Thank you again for your help. A further question... Will my vehicle battery be charged up as the system is set up or do I need to make other wiring changes. Thank you for the 3rd time (I am really chuffed).

 

[Manic]

You would need to wire the Votronic ‘11 start’ connector to your engine battery to get 1amp charge, I think.
( I’m talking about my set-up which has analogue gauges )

 

[SandraL]

Your votronic output cables , if going via the ebl, should be connected to 3fbl6 on the ebl.
Pin 1 is negative
Pin2 is starter batt
Pin 3 is leisure batt
This will get the starter batt charged.
To check use dt panel volts reading for starter batt. With engine off a reading of over 13.4 ish will indicate some charge. Wait a whike after switching engine off before che king.

 

[mitzimad]

With three panels i would use a decent sized ip rated box sika fix to the roof and bring all the wires in through glands then drill straight down obviously mount box at desired entry point

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[Mr Mousy]

@SandraL

Thank you for the extra info. I have made the connection from '+II start' on the mpp250 to EBL101 p2 on BL6 as you suggest. There is no solar charge showing to the starter battery on the DT201 display but I'm not worrying about that as I am still so chuffed at getting the solar displayed on the DT201. In the MPP instructions they refer to having a negative connection to the starter battery. I guess this is already looked after by the EBL. Regards Martin

 

[SandraL]

No, the votronics only has signal wire for leisure batt charge, so no info available for amps to starter batt.