Upgraded MPPT and now not harvesting any solar ? (1 Viewer)

[Ridgeway]

Bit confused, not that it takes much these days

Decided to increase the number of PV panels (see here) finally added 2 x 100w panels more wired in series as so to mange the 4mm cables with the higher voltage but maintaining the same amps, output is around 120-130v now from the panels in decent sun.

As i was close to the limits of the existing Victron 100/50 controller i decided at the same time to upgrade that to a Victron 150/45, all seemed like a straight forward swap out.

Now though i get those 120-130v coming to the controller from the panels but for some reason non of it seems to go to my batteries .

It’s all been installed for a few weeks but with some trips being moving almost every day and then the B2B taking over and some days on EHU i actually didn’t notice it. Now though as we are 4 days off-grid then i soon twigged that the batteries are not being topped up

Main dashboard from the MPPT:

Settings for the MPPT:

Dashboard for the BMV-712

So what am i doing wrong

 

[VXman]

I'll let someone else diagnose your issue but I'm 120 volts is way too much. 100watts solar gives maximum of 18 volts.

 

[MichaelT]

Try turning charger enabled off then after 30 seconds on to see it will force it to bulk charge. If not disconnect the +ve solar lead and reconnect to see if it resets it. I had similar when I added a 2nd battery.

 

[DandG5515]

Blown fuse between controller and battery. Battery should read same as output from mppt, hence mppt going straight to float.

 

[Jev88]

Did you connect battery First, before solar?

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[funflair]

You seem to have two different battery voltages, I suspect the one that says 13.99 is wrong and is putting the controller into “float” I don’t know why it’s wrong though.

 

[JJ]

Has the upgraded controller ever worked?
I bought a Victron MPPT controller and it was faulty from new...

...so was my Victron Inverter...

JJ

 

[Ridgeway]

Has the upgraded controller ever worked?
I bought a Victron MPPT controller and it was faulty from new...

...so was my Victron Inverter...

JJ

Not that i know of, must admit that i installed it all a few weeks back, did some basic tests ie power from the panels seemed good and then put the van away, should have done a more in depth test.

 

[Ridgeway]

Did you connect battery First, before solar?

Battery then PV array

 

[Ridgeway]

Blown fuse between controller and battery. Battery should read same as output from mppt, hence mppt going straight to float.

That’s a good thought, I’ll have a look at the BMS as i assume the MPPT goes to that before the batteries.

I will check if the power is arriving to the BMS

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[Ridgeway]

Try turning charger enabled off then after 30 seconds on to see it will force it to bulk charge. If not disconnect the +ve solar lead and reconnect to see if it resets it. I had similar when I added a 2nd battery.

Ok trying that now.

It seems some times being on a site without power forces you to fix things

 

[Ridgeway]

I'll let someone else diagnose your issue but I'm 120 volts is way too much. 100watts solar gives maximum of 18 volts.

It seems in line with the calculations for the 4 panels, approx 450w in total.

 

[Lenny HB]

As Martin says different voltages, the solar says battery at 13.99v & Shunt says 13.08.
As there is no current flowing in the solar controller and over 6 amps is being taken out of the batteries it looks like the controller is not connected to the batteries.
Lose connection or fuse blown?

Or if all the panels are in series shade on one panel you will lose all output, that is why parallel is preferred for Motorhomes.

Also float float voltage is too high should be between 13.5 to 13.8 depending on battery type.

 

[MichaelT]

It seems in line with the calculations for the 4 panels, approx 450w in total.

I've got 4×100w panels and get about 20v max

 

[Ridgeway]

Ok trying that now.

It seems some times being on a site without power forces you to fix things

OK tried this twice. First time it quickly flicked to absorption and then back to float, second time it switched to bulk and then immediately back to float.

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[Ridgeway]

As Martin says different voltages, the solar says battery at 13.99v & Shunt says 13.08.
As there is no current flowing in the solar controller and over 6 amps is being taken out of the batteries it looks like the controller is not connected to the batteries.
Lose connection or fuse blown?

Or if all the panels are in series shade on one panel you will lose all output, that is why parallel is preferred for Motorhomes.

Also float float voltage is too high should be between 13.5 to 13.8 depending on battery type.

Checking any fuses from between MPPT and BMS now. Currently all the panels are in full sun, couldn’t be any stronger. Reason i went series was due to cable size, it was a compromise vs what you wrote above.

Yes just float is normally at 13.5 (factory) but just tested it at 14 to see if that would force anything, seems not.

I’m guessing it’s a fuse some where.

 

[Lenny HB]

What is length of cable fro panels to controller?

 

[VXman]

It seems in line with the calculations for the 4 panels, approx 450w in total.

Not if you connect in parallel which is the normal way.

 

[Ridgeway]

What is length of cable fro panels to controller?

5m +/-

 

[Ridgeway]

Uhhhm,

25amp fuse…

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[funflair]

Uhhhm,

View attachment 931131

25amp fuse…

Not man enough for 450 watts of panel in full sun, but you worked that out yourself

 

[MichaelT]

Not man enough for 450 watts of panel in full sun, but you worked that out yourself

No we have 40a on ours

 

[A S R]

Looks like a 52 amp fuse to me!

 

[funflair]

No we have 40a on ours

But 40 is a lot more than 25 hopefully the wiring is good regulator to batteries.

 

[Ridgeway]

Not man enough for 450 watts of panel in full sun, but you worked that out yourself

Thanks Martin, think the biggest i have with me is a 30amp, lets hope it doesn’t get too sunny.

What would you suggest, 40amp once I’m back ?

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[funflair]

Thanks Martin, think the biggest i have with me is a 30amp, lets hope it doesn’t get too sunny.

What would you suggest, 40amp once I’m back ?

I think 40 should be OK but double check that the wiring looks half decent, it should on a N+B, 30 might hold as hot panels are not as efficient as cooler ones and full panel wattage is quite rare in my experience.

 

[Ridgeway]

Looking better:

 

[suavecarve]

You could look back at your history within the app for 30 days and see when it was failing to provide solar

 

[Ridgeway]

And people think twice about MHF subscription costs

2 mins on here and MHF sorted out more Ridgeway muppetry

 

[Ridgeway]

.

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