Is my Solar prioritising starter battery ?

[Ed Scratcher]

Hi, recently had a solar panel professionally installed including controller and 2 new 110ah leisure batteries (not lithium).
My control panel shows starter battery constantly at 14v, but the leisure batteries dropping to 12.5v when parked on my drive not on hook -up.
Is this to be expected/normal? My knowledge of vehicle electrics is poor.
Hoping for the usual helpful comments please…Ed

 

[StillGoing]

Which solar controller do you have?

 

[autorouter]

My control panel shows starter battery constantly at 14v, but the leisure batteries dropping to 12.5v when parked on my drive not on hook -up.
Is this to be expected/normal? My knowledge of vehicle electrics is poor.

My first guess would be the same as yours. I'm assuming you have a dual solar controller with 'Battery1' and 'Battery2' output terminals. Do you have a multimeter? You could measure the voltages of the starter battery and leisure battery. Then measure what the voltages are at the 'Battery1' and 'Battery2' terminals of the solar controller. That will tell you which battery is connected to which solar controller terminals.

Most solar controllers have Battery1 as the leisure battery, and Battery2 as the starter battery. I think you'll find the batteries are connected to the wrong solar controller outputs.

 

[IRHP]

Check continuity from batt 1 and 2 at the controller to each battery. Read the controller manual to find out which is leisure and which is engine battery.

 

[Ed Scratcher]

Thanks all for your thoughts and suggestions. I don’t have a multimeter (or know how to use one). But as IRHP suggests I could visually check the controller (an NDS 320w dual MPPT) against the manual.
Now my suspicions are confirmed I feel more confident in going back to the installer with my original question.

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[IRHP]

Thanks all for your thoughts and suggestions. I don’t have a multimeter (or know how to use one). But as IRHP suggests I could visually check the controller (an NDS 320w dual MPPT) against the manual.
Now my suspicions are confirmed I feel more confident in going back to the installer with my original question

When it's sunny and charging you could disconnect the feed from the controller to one of the batteries. See which battery drops down to below 13v or so after an hour.

 

[StillGoing]

Thanks all for your thoughts and suggestions. I don’t have a multimeter (or know how to use one). But as IRHP suggests I could visually check the controller (an NDS 320w dual MPPT) against the manual.
Now my suspicions are confirmed I feel more confident in going back to the installer with my original question.

Please treat yourself to a multimeter - they are not expensive - and ask someone to show you how to use it. It will be so useful and save you money in the future.

 

[Ed Scratcher]

I will get a multimeter, been meaning to for ages.
But I paid the right price for a professional install, so I will give him a chance to look at it before I start probing.
Thanks all, love the support from this forum. Ed.

 

[ontheroadagain]

The NDS controllers only start to charge the starter battery when the voltage falls below 12.5V.
If the voltage of your leisure battery falls below 12.5V and then suddenly starts to rise, it would indicate that they have been wired incorrectly to the controller. As above, a multimeter will tell you what is going on.

 

[autorouter]

There's a number of threads describing how to use a multimeter to measure battery voltages. For example this one.

Leisure Battery Not Charging When Driving

Evening everyone I’m new to this so be gentle We have a 2014 Elddis Majestic 165 A year ago we put her in for a delam repair on the floor it was under warranty but a two week job turned into a 3 month nightmare! Never go back. So when we finally got her back the leisure battery was flat as it...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

Youtube videos are usually good too.

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[pappajohn]

I will get a multimeter, been meaning to for ages.
But I paid the right price for a professional install, so I will give him a chance to look at it before I start probing.
Thanks all, love the support from this forum. Ed.

It would be far better to confirm the connections are reversed BEFORE going back and bending the installers lug hole

 

[Ed Scratcher]

Well papaJohn, if I establish the connections are reversed - ie incorrect, is it my job to put it right? If they are not reversed there could still be something wrong with the install?
I have no intention to bend anyone’s lug hole. But the installer is a reasonable guy and just down the road. So a polite question seems fair to me before I start fiddling.

 

[IRHP]

It they are reversed it would take 2 mins to swap them over.

 

[Ed Scratcher]

It they are reversed it would take 2 mins to swap them over.

OK fair comment, I will take a look, I am hesitant to ‘fiddle’ in case I make things worse, and access is poor. But maybe it is simple enough for me to correct. So I will give it a go.
Now a a question for those who maybe think I am a moaner, or unfair to my installer.

If I fix it - do I mention it to the installer, or accept he may do the same to his next customer?

 

[Nirvanauk]

I would take it back to the installer with a nice smile on my face.

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