Solar charging no longer working

[LeeGee-VW]

Hi All. Just joined yesterday. VW Camper-conversion owner, after some advice.
I've had my VW Camper-conversion for over a year now with no issues at all, she runs like a dream. Recently been noticing issues with the power setup. It has Sargent EC155 PSU, Sargent EC50 panel and a PMW Solar Charge controller and solar panels on the roof. The battery died last week and I got it straight into the mains to charge up to see what was happening. I noticed that the Solar Charge Controller no longer shows the solar panel icon or the arrow to indicating it is charging the battery (I only ever have it set to Leisure Battery). I've checked the connections, panels etc and all looks good. If anyone has any advice it would be most welcomed as I'm pretty stumped now other than starting to swap out components.
Cheers
Lee

 

[Dellmassive]

Welcome to T6F . . . . =]

 

[Dellmassive]

post some pics of your setup . .

do you have a multimeter?

do you have a dc-dc charger?

you do have EHU.

you have Solar + PWM charger.

what leisure battery? and where?




+++++



Have a look over here:



*****************************************************

SOLAR:

• Solar Pwm & Mppt Controllers - How I Done It -
• Mobile Solar Panels ? . . . - How I Did It -
• What Solar Panel & Controller? - How We Done It -
• Solar Panel Cutting Hole In Roof !!! - How We Done It -
• 300w Plus Solar Club -- How I Done It --
• Solar Sheds & Other Non-t6 Solar Projects - How We Done It -
• [Guide] Solar Cables? . . . - How I Did It -

*****************************************************


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[LeeGee-VW]

Hi Dellmassive,

Thanks for the welcome and reply.

My setup is thus from what I can see (photos attached):

• Sargent EC155
• PWM 20A Solar Charge Controller
• Sargent EC50 Control Panel
• Solar panels on pop top roof
• Supperbatt 12v 110AH Leisure battery under drivers seat

I have a multimeter at my disposal, yes. I've checked the solar panel connections and they are not open circuit.
The photo of the Solar Controller is the way it displays now (just the battery symbol) whereas previously it was like my last photo where the solar panel icon and the load icon were both visible and the arrows to show activity.

Cheers!

 

[Dellmassive]

ok cool . .


measure the Volts at the PV panel terminals.

and the Battery feed terminals.




post a pic of the meter readings.

 

[LeeGee-VW]

Thanks for that.

Okay, measured the voltages and attached the photos:

Vp = negligible .009V
Vb = 12.3V

 

[Dellmassive]

ok,

so we have no power coming from the panel / . . . .

take the two PV wires (the two on the left) out the controller and test again. . . with just the bear wires.

see if you get the 0.0v still . .


can you post a few pics of the panel on the roof and any connection to that controller...



(my initial assumption is that the panel has failed and is giving no output)

you will need to follow the PV cables from the panel down.

or from the controller up.

to see if there is a break in the cable . . . or a join closer to the panel.

if the panel tests faulty . . . it will need to be replaced.


but to test you can temporarily hook up a mobile or spare panel and wire into those two PV wire slots (POS and NEG polarity is very important)

 

[LeeGee-VW]

Someone really buried these cables well!! got them traced and all looks good. Got to the connections on the solar panel... thought I might have been the diode in the connection box but bypassed it and still no good. Disconnected the solar cables and checked continuity of them from end to end.. both good. Looks like it's the solar panel. Going to try to get hold of a temporary panel just to test to be on the safe side. If I can't I will have to bite the bullet and purchase new.

Not sure of the wattage of this one, guess I just need to purchase a 12v panel of similar size.

 

[Dellmassive]

yes, . . good work.

looks like a failed panel.

how old is it?

post a pick of the full panel, you can guess the wattage by counting the cells.

most common sizes is 100/120/150/160/200w

going buy that controller i would guess around the 100-120w mark.

 

[Dellmassive]

more info here:


*****************************************************

SOLAR:

• Solar Pwm & Mppt Controllers - How I Done It -
• Mobile Solar Panels ? . . . - How I Did It -
• What Solar Panel & Controller? - How We Done It -
• Solar Panel Cutting Hole In Roof !!! - How We Done It -
• 300w Plus Solar Club -- How I Done It --
• Solar Sheds & Other Non-t6 Solar Projects - How We Done It -
• [Guide] Solar Cables? . . . - How I Did It -

*****************************************************





**************************************************
Dellmassive`s -- "how I Done It" -- Thread
**************************************************
Kit List And Stuff -- How I Done It & What I Use --
**************************************************
VIP Membership | VW T6 Forum - The Dedicated VW Transporter T6 Forum
************************************************
For Sale - Summer-weekend-t6f Limited Edition External Stickers
For Sale - T6F Flags
**************************************************

 

[Dellmassive]

have a look at these:

ECO-WORTHY 130Watt 12 Volt Flexible Monocrystalline Solar Panel for Motorhome RV Boat Roof and Uneven Space : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

ECO-WORTHY 130Watt 12 Volt Flexible Monocrystalline Solar Panel for Motorhome RV Boat Roof and Uneven Space : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

amzn.to

+++

DOKIO Solar Panel 100W 18V Bendable Semi-Flexible Thin Film Monocrystalline Lightweight For Caravan RV Boat Camper Any Other Irregular Surface : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

DOKIO Solar Panel 100W 18V Bendable Semi-Flexible Thin Film Monocrystalline Lightweight For Caravan RV Boat Camper Any Other Irregular Surface : Amazon.co.uk: Business, Industry & Science

amzn.to

+++

100 Watt 12 Volt Flexible Monocrystalline Solar Panel

The 100W Renogy Flexible Solar Panel is a culmination of cutting-edge technology and high-efficiency cells to achieve up to an incredible 248-degree arc of flexibility.

uk.renogy.com

.

LENSUN 150W 12V ETFE Black Flexible Solar Panel with Rubber Strip, PERC 9BB 23.5%+ Efficiency Mono Solar cells, for Campers, RVs, Boats,Camping, Tent

Lensun 50w 60w 80w 100w 120w 150w 12v etfe black flexible solar panel lightweight portable for van car motorhome offroad hood mount battery charge

www.lensunsolar.com

.

12V solar panels charging kits for caravans, motorhomes, boats, yachts, marine

12V solar panel solar charging kits for motorhome caravan boat campervan yacht marine off-grid

www.photonicuniverse.com

++

 

[LeeGee-VW]

Thanks for those. I'll start shopping!

Around 4 years; I've had it 2 years and it was converter by the guy before me 2 years before that.

It's 4 x 9 cells so looks like 160W.

Going to see what my best option is to connect into the existing wires as I won't get the old ones out without causing damage the way they are ran. Either soldering directly onto the blades or maybe using the connectors below (under the pop-top out the way).. will see how it arrives.

 

[Shortbread69]

Newbie to the world of solar panels, so reading this thread with great interest, very useful info.

i am also checking the panel/controller’s output / efficiency on m’y newly purchased three year old T6 conversion.

At the controller, my panel reading is 4.9v, my battery side reading is 12.95v.

i will check continuity etc and the cable to the leisure battery but is this reading of under 5v normal for a 100w flexi panel in blazing sunshine?

obviously my battery does not need topped up at the moment but will the 5v be enough going forward?



thanks for your advice!

G

 

[prog99]

Suspect it’s fully charged.Turn on some gadgets that are attached to the leisure battery and report back, fridges cranked up are particulary good.

 

[Shortbread69]

That’s my plan over the weekend. In fact, removing the panel wires from the controller and testing them at that end gave me around 20 v… so either I need to run the battery down or the controller may be f@cked…

 

[Phil_G]

If the battery is fully charged the controller will take less current so the panel voltage should be high.
Are you sure you're measuring 4.9v wrt ground, you're not measuring from leisure battery pos, in which case 4.9v is good (13.8 float + 4.9 = 18.7 which is a typical panel voltage)
If you're measuring it correctly, a panel reading of 4.9v in sunshine is a duff panel regardless of the battery SOC

 

[Urbanfox]

Hi All. Just joined yesterday. VW Camper-conversion owner, after some advice.
I've had my VW Camper-conversion for over a year now with no issues at all, she runs like a dream. Recently been noticing issues with the power setup. It has Sargent EC155 PSU, Sargent EC50 panel and a PMW Solar Charge controller and solar panels on the roof. The battery died last week and I got it straight into the mains to charge up to see what was happening. I noticed that the Solar Charge Controller no longer shows the solar panel icon or the arrow to indicating it is charging the battery (I only ever have it set to Leisure Battery). I've checked the connections, panels etc and all looks good. If anyone has any advice it would be most welcomed as I'm pretty stumped now other than starting to swap out components.
Cheers
Lee

This guy has also had a problem with a Sargent solar control, they sent him a new one so check out his videos.

 

[Owain]

Looks like i too have been struck down by a "failed" panel. Been working fine for 3 years, then just stopped indicating charging yesterday.

In van i saw 1v with panel fuse disconnected. And as usual thought work just be a short/frayed wire. But wiring looks good.

Voltage at panel on roof with fuse disconnected.

Someone really buried these cables well!! got them traced and all looks good. Got to the connections on the solar panel... thought I might have been the diode in the connection box but bypassed it and still no good. Disconnected the solar cables and checked continuity of them from end to end.. both good. Looks like it's the solar panel. Going to try to get hold of a temporary panel just to test to be on the safe side. If I can't I will have to bite the bullet and purchase new.

Not sure of the wattage of this one, guess I just need to purchase a 12v panel of similar size.

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