No charge from Solar panel

[OllieGBR]

So, van has returned from its kitchen fit.
All electrics now hooked up and every thing is working well, (so impressed with the Victron kit) except that I can't get my generated power to the battery.
Kicking out 100W, the BVM reports no influx of juice.

There's a plethora of settings in both the BVM and smart solar, weirdly no option for Lithium battery?

Are there some secret settings that need to be unlocked before I can realise the power of the sun?

 

[Dellmassive]

According to your screenshot.

Your 100w is being converted to a 7.4A charge to the battery.



The smart solar has a setting in the cog icon for a lithium profile.

Do you have a victron BMV also? If so post a screen shot of that.


Also post a screen shot of the solar mppt above setting page.

 

[Dellmassive]

Here the mppt in demo mode on the app.

Settings, battery, profile.

 

[Dellmassive]

For the BMV712 you need to manually set these settings for lithium.

Victron has a setup page and YT vid on it.

Also look at the smartshunt install guide....

...

 

[OllieGBR]

Thanks @Dellmassive - correct battery now set.

Has not enabled charge though.
I will look through the YouTube videos you recommend.
I can’t see how the shunt would Influence the charging?

 

[Dellmassive]

whats not showing charging?

The BMV? . . . screen shot both for us to see.

 

[OllieGBR]

whats not showing charging?

The BMV? . . . screen shot both for us to see.

Sorry - I’ve been desperately trying to finish and pack the van all day yesterday. It’s been a 10 month journey to this point and we’re finally ready for our first trip.
I did some investigation too - and when I’m settled at the first campsite will add some screen shots and further detail.
Thanks all!

 

[OllieGBR]

Ok. Update;

We managed a full 24 hour holiday before having to head home.
My son broke his collarbone at Bike Park Wales and cant really camp!
I’ll have some time to investigate over the next few weeks now.

 

[Dellmassive]

ouch . . . .

hope he gets well. . . . without to much pain.

was he doing some down hill madness?

 

[OllieGBR]

We were on Norkle to the uplift. Supposed to be a relatively easy run but was quite aggressive and boom. Holiday over.

 

[Pete C]

Gutted for you.

Pete

 

[OllieGBR]

OK, back to the topic at hand - I've been a little distracted as new EV was delivered yesterday

The van has been left with the fridge on for 24 hours, a few light unknowingly also left on for 24 hours. It was a very sunny day here yesterday and we were out all day.
I wake up this morning and the battery is at 100%????

Should the BVM also show when there's positive watts being seen pumped into the battery?

Waiting for the sun to hit the solar panel to test again this morning.
I've watched a few setup video's on the Victron kit - only minor tweaks made thus far.

 

[Dellmassive]

yes the BMV will show + and - watts going in and out of the battery.

provided its wired in correctly !!


ie, if the solar mppt is wired direct to the battery and not via the shunt then the BMV will not register the power in from solar.

if thats the case, that is wrong and needs to be changed.

post some pics of your wires,

fusebox,
mppt,
bmv,
battery

etc etc and well take a look.

 

[OllieGBR]

So after speaking with the boss of the converting company, this has not been wired correctly. I worry that he said the shunt was put on the positive side of the battery.
I’m going to cut all these cable ties and work out what’s going on!!

 

[Dellmassive]

Well thats not good....

The victron wire guide is self explanatory....

Battery bank negitive to shunt.

Other side of shunt to body ground.

ALL other grounds in van 12v system to chassis ground.

Thats why your shunt readings are wrong.

Can you post a few pics of the battery as well.

 

[Dellmassive]

Also some pics of the other side of that panel.

 

[OllieGBR]

Well thats not good....

The victron wire guide is self explanatory....

Battery bank negitive to shunt.

Other side of shunt to body ground.

ALL other grounds in van 12v system to chassis ground.

Thats why your shunt readings are wrong.

Can you post a few pics of the battery as well.

battery has many direct negative connections including the Orion-Tr Smart DC DC charger, MPPT and other smaller electrical components. The AC battery charger does route it’s ground to the shunt.

 

[Dellmassive]

yeh, unfortunately thats all totally wrong.

id also get a couple of bus-bars to sort that lot out . . . . way too many connections of the battery (will cause high resistance and heat build up - not good for a Lifepo4)

also wheres the main protection fuse for that battery !!!

 

[OllieGBR]

Ok. It’s partially wired correctly.
I’ve just added the negative from the MPPT battery connection to the North side of the shunt and finally the solar is working!!
Correct LEDs displayed too

I have a measly 11W detected by the BVM

 

[Dellmassive]

have a quick loot at this . .

Diagrams, Schematics & Wires -- How I Done It --

Diagrams, Schematics & Wires -- How I Done It -- ************************************************** Dellmassive`s -- "how I Done It" -- Thread ************************************************** Kit List And Stuff -- How I Done It & What I Use --...

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