Issues with new solar power system on motorhome

[rls106]

Hi, I have recently had a new 300w solar power system fitted to my motorhome controlled by a Victron 100/30 MPPT. I also had a 110ah lithium battery fitted at same time.
For about 4 weeks (good sunlight ) worked well. I am currently on a c&CC site for ten days (little sunlight). First day and night tv and lights worked fine but night before last at 10.15pm all power stopped. The following morning around 7.30am started again although Victron app showed battery voltage at 8.9 v. This climbed during the day to 11.9v with tv and lights working. At about 7.30pm last night tv wouldn’t come on and no power to charging sockets. Lights stayed on for about 10 minutes and then went off.
So far this morning no power. Victron app can’t be accessed as seems to be powered off.
Is this normal? I was led to believe by installer that even on cloudy days system would produce sufficient charge to last for days.
Any help appreciated.

 

[Diabalo]

It looks like the engine is charging your habitation battery. If you have no power to your 240v sockets I would doubt that you will have power to the onboard charger. You need to work out why you have no 240v, check trips etc.

 

[AdrianChen]

Engine running power working. Victron now showing 12.08v. So increased by 4v in little under 5 minutes! Can this be right?

That as Lenny says is the charging voltage, worth giving it a little longer to see if the voltage goes up more, it will drop back when you turn the engine off, but hopefully to a slightly higher voltage than before. If so go for a good drive....

 

[autorouter]

Engine running power working. Victron now showing 12.08v. So increased by 4v in little under 5 minutes! Can this be right?

Yes, you are seeing the voltage forced by the alternator which is charging the battery. Charging voltage is definitely not an indication of how charged the battery is. It is an indication of what the charger is forcing the voltage to.

Don't confuse charging voltage with resting voltage. When a battery is not being charged and has no loads running from it, is it 'resting'. As if it was taken out and isolated on a workbench. In that case the resting voltage gradually settles to a stable value, which does reflect the state of charge of the battery. But if you have solar and ehu connected, you will not see a resting voltage. You will just see what the charger is forcing the battery voltage to be.

You have said that your 240V supply to the MH is working, and you have run your TV off the 240V supply. But there's no sign of life from the EHU charger. From what you've said, it's possible that it has never worked, and the solar has been doing all the charging up to now.

So, is the charger connected and switched on? If it is, there will be a fuse on its output to the battery - is that still OK?

 

[1967bowesj]

Might help in the search for your charger if you list what make and model van you have.
Many funsters are here to help!

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[rls106]

Even better I found a couple of 3 pin chargers i

Can you get the site office to charge your phone or let you call the installer - They should remember what kit you have, and give better advice....

n my kit so I can charge via

Might help in the search for your charger if you list what make and model van you have.
Many funsters are here to help!

The van is a 1995 Compass Drifter 360e on a Peugeot Boxer chassis.

 

[headlight]

It sounds like the OP has 2 problems.
The mains charger isn't working, tripped switch, blown fuse, not turned on or broken ?
The battery BMS is not shutting the battery down to protect it like it should.
Using a multimeter will help trace faults.
£10 will get you one.
I never travel without a multimeter.

 

[1967bowesj]

Even better I found a couple of 3 pin chargers i

n my kit so I can charge via

The van is a 1995 Compass Drifter 360e on a Peugeot Boxer chassis.

Where is battery and does the interior layout look like this?
There could be a change over switch on one of the two black panels that are on the side of the wardrobe, older builds had some strange wiring

There could be fuses on the longer one also.

 

[rls106]

Photos of battery box attached. Should I be looking elsewhere for a charger. Engine been off for some time and voltage seems to be holding at around 12.75 v. Still no sunlight and plentiful cloud cover.

 

[AdrianChen]

It sounds like the OP has 2 problems.
The mains charger isn't working, tripped switch, blown fuse, not turned on or broken ?
The battery BMS is not shutting the battery down to protect it like it should.
Using a multimeter will help trace faults.
£10 will get you one.
I never travel without a multimeter.

Think the bms might be fine, voltages shown on the Solar controller at 7v I think are not from the battery, but reflect an internal voltage in the controller output. fingers crossed! So I think it is just a charging issue and the poor output of solar right now has not been enough....

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[rls106]

Where is battery and does the interior layout look like this?
There could be a change over switch on one of the two black panels that are on the side of the wardrobe, older builds had some strange wiring

There could be fuses on the longer one also.

That is almost exactly what my interior looks like. The battery is under the rear facing seat by the table. I only have one black panel on wall. See photos.

 

[headlight]

rls106 what is your Victron app showing as even in dull weather the solar can increase the battery voltage without doing much actual charging.

 

[AdrianChen]

Photos of battery box attached. Should I be looking elsewhere for a charger. Engine been off for some time and voltage seems to be holding at around 12.75 v. Still no sunlight and plentiful cloud cover.

View attachment 825281 View attachment 825282 View attachment 825284

Yes I can see you have the non bluetooth version of the battery, and there is an inverter next to the battery (which is best turned off when not on EHU unless needed - they can have a constant draw on the battery when on).

Cant see a charger in there, but someone who knows Compass will know how they are wired and where it is

I take it the big fuse on the positive cable from the battery is OK? and the smaller blade fuse on the smaller red

 

[rls106]

Yes I can see you have the non bluetooth version of the battery, and there is an inverter next to the battery (which is best turned off when not on EHU unless needed - they can have a constant draw on the battery when on).

Cant see a charger in there, but someone who knows Compass will know how they are wired and where it is

I take it the big fuse on the positive cable from the battery is OK? and the smaller blade fuse on the smaller red

All fuses ok. I have never used the inverter.

 

[rls106]

rls106 what is your Victron app showing as even in dull weather the solar can increase the battery voltage without doing much actual charging.

Current screen shots of Victron app attached

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[Lenny HB]

The mains charger on a Compass of the age will be a constant 13.8v and probably only 10 amp. It will never get a lithium anywhere near fully charged and the high current draw a lithium can take may have blown the charger or at the least any fuses in the charging circuit.

 

[Riverbankannie]

What does the rocker switch on your panel do, labelled cab, aux and off?

 

[Lenny HB]

Just seen jour pics, when you get it working the first thing I would do is change those battery terminal clamps for some decent solid brass ones.

Those quick release clamps are cheap pressed steel construction, totally unsuitable, particularly with lithium where high charge & discharge currents are involved. I'm surprised any fitter would have left them in use.

 

[Lenny HB]

What does the rocker switch on your panel do, labelled cab, aux and off?

Allows you to switch to the starter battery to power the hab electrics a hang over from caravans

 

[AdrianChen]

Probably been altered by now but here is some wiring diag's from an old manual- If the only charger is the original it's output is 13.8v fixed, so I hope its been changed at some point, what the manual doesn't say is where it is!

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[AdrianChen]

The mains charger on a Compass of the age will be a constant 13.8v and probably only 10 amp. It will never get a lithium anywhere near fully charged and the high current draw a lithium can take may have blown the charger or at the least any fuses in the charging circuit.

Saw this after my last post - spot on as usual!

 

[headlight]

Current screen shots of Victron app attached

View attachment 825296 View attachment 825297 and enjoy

Current screen shots of Victron app attached

View attachment 825296 View attachment 825297

It looks to me that the leisure battery voltage you are seeing is because it is receiving some charge from the solar.
That won't be the real voltage of the battery.

 

[GeoffnDee]

rls106 , As has been suggested , have you checked that the mains supply to your charger is on at the Motorhome mains supply RCD

 

[1967bowesj]

That is almost exactly what my interior looks like. The battery is under the rear facing seat by the table. I only have one black panel on wall. See photos.

View attachment 825288 View attachment 825289 View attachment 825292

You are looking for something like the below.
It could be in the wardrobe, I would have expected it under the seat where battery is but it could be anywhere. My old van had it under front seat!
If you find it there should be a small switch on the side, possibly been switched off when you had work done.
As Lenny has said it won’t get lithium to the level it needs but might get it most the way there and give solar a chance to finish it till you can sort a true lithium profile charger.

 

[Janine]

You are looking for something like the below.
It could be in the wardrobe, I would have expected it under the seat where battery is but it could be anywhere. My old van had it under front seat!
If you find it there should be a small switch on the side, possibly been switched off when you had work done.
As Lenny has said it won’t get lithium to the level it needs but might get it most the way there and give solar a chance to finish it till you can sort a true lithium profile charger.

View attachment 825334

Mine is under the wardrobe floor accessed by a small round hole.

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[FrankNicklin]

Mines in the back of the wardrobe on our Swift.

 

[Outdoors Dad]

Maybe this is just a maybe! That whoever installed the lithium setup disconnected the wire from the aux/vehicle battery switch or even turned off mains charger. I done this on my install after advice from funsters and slowly rely on b2b and solar.

 

[autorouter]

If the charger is one of those that puts out s fixed voltage of 13.8V, then it's probably best to get a new charger anyway. First thing is to find where the charger is, and how it gets its mains input, and where it sends the output. Then it should be fairly easy to substitute a modern multistage intelligent charger with settable profiles including lithium.

There are various brands, but maybe a Victron BlueSmart IP65 15A charger would be a good option. The 15A output would not be very different from the existing charger, so could run through the same wiring. It's true that the battery would take a much faster rate of charge, but I always find that if you're on EHU it tends to be for at least 12 hours, which is more than enough to refill the battery even if it's flat. So a faster charger isn't as much benefit as you might think. The 'IP65' version will fit into a smaller space than the Victron Bluesmart IP22 charger, but if space isn't a problem then the IP22 version is a bit cheaper.

12V VICTRON ENERGY 15A 7 STAGE SMART BATTERY CHARGER WITH BLUETOOTH CONTROL - Alpha Batteries

Smart 7 Stage Bluetooth Control Charger by Victron

www.alpha-batteries.co.uk

 

[1967bowesj]

If the charger is one of those that puts out s fixed voltage of 13.8V, then it's probably best to get a new charger anyway. First thing is to find where the charger is, and how it gets its mains input, and where it sends the output. Then it should be fairly easy to substitute a modern multistage intelligent charger with settable profiles including lithium.

There are various brands, but maybe a Victron BlueSmart IP65 15A charger would be a good option. The 15A output would not be very different from the existing charger, so could run through the same wiring. It's true that the battery would take a much faster rate of charge, but I always find that if you're on EHU it tends to be for at least 12 hours, which is more than enough to refill the battery even if it's flat. So a faster charger isn't as much benefit as you might think. The 'IP65' version will fit into a smaller space than the Victron Bluesmart IP22 charger, but is space isn't a problem then the IP22 version is a bit cheaper.

12V VICTRON ENERGY 15A 7 STAGE SMART BATTERY CHARGER WITH BLUETOOTH CONTROL - Alpha Batteries

Smart 7 Stage Bluetooth Control Charger by Victron

www.alpha-batteries.co.uk

autorouter
Not a bad shout that charger, it’s cheaper than a replacement zig charger unit!

Op could even run that from a socket which he could do straight away without the time or risk of finding out if the wiring to original charger from mains is working

 

[rls106]

I spoke to installer today. Van going in again when I get back. He has suggested fitting a 20amp charger. Further cost but if it works should be worth it. I’m going to have a hunt around for a charger in the morning. In the meantime sticking on EHU.

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[monzer]

A lot to go over in this thread but is the battery goosed? You will be best to try and work out exactly what is all needed before the van goes back in.