Dokio 110w gives zero amps

[John Dearing]

Hi I've followed a previous thread about linking Dokio 110w solar panel to EBL 30 Block 6 on my Hymer Ayers Rock to trickle charge leisure battery. Wired the 2-wire cable from the Dokio controller to pin 1 (negative-black) and pin 3 (positive-red) using 3 way MTL connector an diet about 14v BUT zero amps - so I presume its' not charging the leisure battery. Any ideas what's wrong? Thanks if you can help.

 

[Jev88]

You can start by putting your multimeter on the pos and neg of the wires coming from the solar panel? What do you get?

 

[John Dearing]

I don’t have a multimeter - only the solar controller provided with the folding panel - On there it shows Load 0.0 amp.

 

[Jev88]

First thing i tell anyone to buy for their Motorhome is a multimeter - about £10 - £20 on high street, amazon, halfords etc.... It is perfect for situations like this where many people in FUN will offer advice but we can help best if you have some measuring tools to hand.
This isn't a criticism of you ! All new MH should be supplied with one as the onboard readouts are often useless or misleading (especially older systems).

p.s. not familiar with every controller but LOAD on my controller tells me what is connected to the two LOAD connectors - nothing to do with the charge going in or out - it tells you what other load you have placed on it - in my bus i have an additional USB socket plug next to solar controller and so if i plugged my phone in to charge i would then see a LOAD.

 

[autorouter]

Wired the 2-wire cable from the Dokio controller to pin 1 (negative-black) and pin 3 (positive-red) using 3 way MTL connector an diet about 14v BUT zero amps - so I presume its' not charging the leisure battery. Any ideas what's wrong?

First thing to check is that you have inserted a fuse into the 'Solar' fuse slot on the EBL30. That fuse links internally between the 3-way MNL connector and the leisure battery feed. If it's missing or blown, Pin3 is not linked internally.

Also, to pick up on what Jev88 says, the 'Load' is almost never used in a motorhome. the solar goes straight to the leisure battery, and all the habitation loads go from the leisure battery, not the 'Load' terminals of the controller. So I would expect the load amps to be zero permanently, nothing to worry about.

A multimeter is a good idea, about a tenner from any DIY store.

If you measure between a negative point and the terminals of the fuse slot, with the 3-way MNL connector disconnected, then one of the terminals should be at the leisure battery voltage, and the other should show nothing. If you then plug in the 3-way MNL connector, the other terminal should now show the solar controller output voltage. Inserting a fuse, say 15A, will connect the solar controller to the leisure battery.

A good convenient negative point is Pin1 of the 3-way MNL connector.

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[Guigsy]

Is the battery already full?