Electrical Solar Panel not charging battery

[bluesky]

We recently took ownership of a new Expanda 16-49-3 OB. Going through all the checks to ensure that everything is ok before our first trip, we can’t see any evidence that the solar power is charging the battery at all.


When the Display Mode button on the regulator (TPS 1230) is pressed to see the incoming Amps from the solar panel, the reading always indicates “00.0A”. When I mentioned this to Jayco they indicated that the solar panel won’t charge the battery if the battery is already charged. That does seem reasonable, but I still would have expected to see an indication of the solar panel output - whether the regulator passes it on to the battery or not.


As a test to see whether there would be a point when the solar panel would start charging the battery, I left the LED lights, radio and TV on for most of the day (total combined draw of 7.2 amps). After 6 hours, the battery voltage and estimated time remaining all decreased (voltage from 12.7 down to 12, and Time Remaining from 13 hours to 4 hours), but still no indication of any charge being received from the solar panel.


Can anyone please confirm the process of how the battery is charged from solar? Does your regulator give a reading of the power being generated? Does it sound like there is something defective in my solar/battery setup?


1. Regulator and Drifter indicates 12.7 volts

2. Regulator doesn't indicate any amps received from solar panel

3. After 6 hours with appliances on, voltage and time remaining has dropped, yet still no indication of any Amps received from solar panel (on a sunny day)

 

[Crusty181]

Ive not taken a huge amount of notice of the solar regulator mostly because its at the back of one of the overhead cabinets. It makes no sense that the input would read zero if the battery is charged, because with a smart charger there should be some input fluctuating through chargers cycles which would be indicated on the regulator, if it goes through the Setec .... thats something I presumed it does. My van is undercover, but I assume it may get some solar reading on the regulator.

I suspect theres a issue because with a 7ah draw the regulator would show current almost immediately. You could pull the regulator off the wall and put the multimeter onto the inputs

If no-one else chimes in I have a look

 

[Axl]

Something is certainly not right, id be checking the wiring from the panel to the reg. Your solar wont go through the Setec it will go directly from the panel to the reg then from the reg directly to the battery.

What you were told by Jayco is rubbish, whoever told you that obviously has no idea and should not be in a position to offer you advice, even when the battery is fully charged the reg will go into float mode and supply 13.7-13.8 volts.

Be careful using a multi meter at the reg if you get it wrong you will fry the reg, I cant remember how to test it safely but ill see if I can track it down.

 

[mfexpanda]

Our Jayco came with the same regulator and I hated it . It gives you no real info so I replaced it with a different one that gives you all the info you need

 

[Axl]

@bluesky here is a some info on how to measure the current that is coming form your panel/s http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=2236.0 (scroll down to measuring current), you need to be careful using a multi meter near your regulator as you could blow the reg or the meter and potentially end up with a fire.

Check all the wiring is in place first and if it is I would say that the reg has possibly died and you may need a new one. They are not overly dear and as @mfexpanda has said the units used by Jayco aren't all that good, buying a good MPPT reg will offer you more info and possibly a better charge rate when required..

 

[Jaybird]

I Have the same Regulator in my Jayco, I've just been and had a look and it is exactly the same. I cant remember ever seeing it with input and I guess I just presumed it was because the battery was charged.
Found this link and it works in it. Never seen it do that in mine.

 

[Axl]

I Have the same Regulator in my Jayco, I've just been and had a look and it is exactly the same. I cant remember ever seeing it with input and I guess I just presumed it was because the battery was charged.
Found this link and it works in it. Never seen it do that in mine.

@Jaybird what voltage does your reg show? At 12.7v is it is assumed that a battery is fully charged but the reg should go into float mode with a fully charged battery and still supply 13.7-13.8v in full sun. My dad has one of these regulators in his Discovery and it is kept under cover but there are no sides on the structure and even after a year of sitting out of the sun the voltage showing on his reg was still 13.1v which means the panel is still producing.

The table below gives you an idea of the SOC of your battery at a certain volt reading, mind you this is for a battery that has been at rest for several hours. If you are charging your battery using solar all the times as Jaycos are set up to do you will see higher readings on the reg.

The reg in the YouTube clip you have found is in float mode, hench the amps/hr delivered and volts jumping all over the place.

By the way you should never take a deep cycle battery under 50% or 12v if you can avoid it as this shortens the life of the battery dramatically.

@bluesky I would be plugging your van into mains power and giving your battery a good top up via the Setec until you sort out your solar issues.

 

[JohngQld]

Hi @bluesky,
It definitely appears as something is amiss. Your good quality pictures show the battery is down to 12 volts, obviously not being charged from above the roof. If you have a multimeter or can get one from Jaycar, Dick Smith or Supercheap for under $20, select the Volts range and place the red probe in the first screw hole and the black probe in the second screw hole of the TPS 1230. Hopefully out in the sun we should see upward of 13 volts. If we see nothing, something is not connected further up the chain. If you see 15 to 18 volts, my guess is the regulator is faulty and requires replacement by Jayco.
If you read 0 Volts, a quick look at the junction box which is in the cupboard above the dinette area, is in order. If you have the van on power, please disconnect it before going further. There is 240 volts in this box if you have a roof mounted air con, even if you don't, best to remove the power. The link below is to what 12Enjoy found when he lost his solar charging. Remove the cover and check the Red and Black from both the top and the bottom of the connector strip. Try pulling on each to see if they are secure or not, but at no stage let them short Please post a picture of what you find here. Again there should be more than 13 volts here if the panel is connected and going. If it looks ok and still zero volts, the connector box on the roof or panel wiring is as fault. At that stage back to the dealer.
One last point is your 3 way fridge. On 12 volts, it alone can pull 15 amps on its own when switched to DC mode. Not sure how Jayco have it wired, just ensure that it is off while doing your tests.
Let us know what you find.

Please click this link
12enjoy's New addition to the family

John

 

[Jaybird]

Hi Axl, My regulator voltage is always showing around the 13.7/13.8 in full sun and the battery is good. But like the OP on the second setting I have never seen any incoming indication from solar to battery even when we are using the power. Maybe because we are all LED and gas the battery stays full.

 

[Axl]

Hi Axl, My regulator voltage is always showing around the 13.7/13.8 in full sun and the battery is good. But like the OP on the second setting I have never seen any incoming indication from solar to battery even when we are using the power. Maybe because we are all LED and gas the battery stays full.

Sounds like your solar set up is doing exactly what it is supposed to @Jaybird, as you have said using gas and LED lights the drain from the battery wont be much which is probably why you don't see anything coming in.

 

[bluesky]

Thanks very much for all your suggestions so far - much appreciated!

After running the battery down to 12v yesterday with a few appliances on (actually 12.1v when I switched everything off), I left all the appliances off the whole day today to see if the solar would recover any charge on the battery. Sadly it was still exactly the same voltage at 6pm.

@JohngQld: I do have a multimeter but didn’t want to start messing about too much myself – the caravan is only a week old! But I understand your advice on checking the voltage across the solar panel connections on the reg – will hopefully get a chance to check that at the end of the day tomorrow.

@Axl: Jayco had suggested that I run the battery down to confirm whether the solar is charging (which I have now done … and it failed), but I was going to leave the 240V out for now so that I at least have an uncharged battery to confirm any further steps Jayco may suggest with respect to the solar panel. Do you think it’s at risk having it at 12.1v (with no load) – or should I rather plug the 240V in?

I’m contacting Jayco tomorrow with the results of the weekends tests so will hopefully see what the next steps are.

 

[bluesky]

@JohngQld - oh my word !!! I had a look at the link you provided (12enjoy's New addition to the family). If that's how Jayco do their wiring then I'm seriously worried!

I had to have a quick look myself and removed the 4 screws that hold the termination box in place, but the cover won't come off at all. It feels like it has been glued in there - which is hard to believe, but after looking at that wiring mess I could believe anything now. I don't want to force anything off myself so will rather leave that up to Jayco.

 

[Axl]

@Axl: Jayco had suggested that I run the battery down to confirm whether the solar is charging (which I have now done … and it failed), but I was going to leave the 240V out for now so that I at least have an uncharged battery to confirm any further steps Jayco may suggest with respect to the solar panel. Do you think it’s at risk having it at 12.1v (with no load) – or should I rather plug the 240V in?

I’m contacting Jayco tomorrow with the results of the weekends tests so will hopefully see what the next steps are.[/QUOTE]

I didn't realise we were talking about a brand new van as you've said ring Jayco and let them deal with it however I wouldn't leave your battery at half charge plug it in and charge it back up, the guys at Jayco can soon turn on some appliances to see if the solar is working.

 

[Drover]

More than likely the panel is not connected knowing the wonderfull wiring they do........................I would be using the multi meter and work from reg to panel seeing what shows if nothing between reg and panel then they have not connected it I would say. Putting the meter between the reg and panel should show you up to about 19v, only 2 wires if you connect the wrong way the meter will show a "-" next to the numbers.


Of course unplug 240v lead from van when ever working on it.

 

[bluesky]

Just an update on this …


After I passed the results of my tests of the previous weekend back to Jayco they acknowledged that there did seem to be a problem. They thought that it sounded like a wiring issue - “connection from panel wired to the wrong side of the shunt” were their words. They were fully booked up for the next 4 weeks or so, but suggested that if I brought the van in then it could be a quick 5 minute job for them to resolve. I was hoping that a technician could rather come out to us, rather than doing a 100km round trip with the caravan – but sadly they don’t do callouts.


So I took the day off on Thursday and we took the van to Jayco. The technician removed the reg and his opinion seemed to change with respect to it being a wiring issue. With the reg disconnected he tested the voltage received from the solar panel and said it was very low, and thoughts turned to an issue with the panel itself. However, he couldn’t conclusively confirm the fault as we unfortunately picked one of the very rare rainy and cloudy Perth days and there was not much sunshine going around at the time. Whereas the technician said that even in cloudy conditions there should still be a fair enough voltage being received, he said it didn’t make it easy to quickly confirm the issue conclusively.


We then ran out of the short amount of time that they allocated for this potential quick fix and Jayco then suggested that this will rather be looked at when the van comes in for its first service (after 1,000km). We are going away in a few weeks but fortunately don’t have a real need for the solar just yet. Our trip will notch up the 1,000km so we will get it booked in when we return. Jayco also indicated that they would take readings from the panel on a good sunny day and may pass that on to Coast to Coast who can then advise what needs to be done (so I assume Coast to Coast is the aftermarket installer of Jayco solar panels?)


I did my own quick voltage test at home today (partially cloudy day). This was against the 2 left most connections of the reg (mains power disconnected). I got a reading of 13.2V – however this also happens to be the exact same reading that the Drifter panel indicates for my battery so I don’t expect that this has any bearing on the output from the solar panel – at least as things currently are. Just to confirm this, I covered up the solar panel completely and the reading still remained at 13.2V. When Jayco did this test they had the reg disconnected though. I guess I could unscrew the two wires from the reg and re-test, but I can’t see that leading to any resolution of the issue at this point anyway so I may as well wait for the first service to be done.


So as much as I had hoped to get this sorted asap, I’ve now set this aside with the thought that it will get sorted a bit later in the year, without the issue impeding on any immediate plans.

 

[HiTech⚓️Mariner]

Wondering how this was resolved as having an identical problem

 

[ShaneT]

I replied to your other post HiTech but in case you miss it
Disconnect the panels and reg from the wiring and do a continuity check between the 2 wires (+ and -), sounds like they have put a screw through your wiring. or undo all the screws in the wall above where the reg is mounted until you get full power and then just leave that screw out till you can get it replaced under warranty. I would almost put money on it that's the problem....you wouldn't be the first.

 

[R+R]

I note your comments. I have a Silverline and the TPS 1230 regulator always shows what output is coming from my 2 x150Watt panels, regardless of whether batteries are fully charged or not. Our caravan is now 13 months old.
However, yesterday at home the regulator showed zero for the first time ever - a very hot day. I suspect a regulator problem. I did turn the 240 volt power off and on and also the caravan power on the Drifter panel. It was during this sequence of events that the regulator suddenly read zero! I am unsure of why this would happen, but assume the panels are no longer inputting power to batteries.
Rob

 

[R+R]

I note your comments. I have a Silverline and the TPS 1230 regulator always shows what output is coming from my 2 x150Watt panels, regardless of whether batteries are fully charged or not. Our caravan is now 13 months old.
However, yesterday at home the regulator showed zero for the first time ever - a very hot day. I suspect a regulator problem. I did turn the 240 volt power off and on and also the caravan power on the Drifter panel. It was during this sequence of events that the regulator suddenly read zero! I am unsure of why this would happen, but assume the panels are no longer inputting power to batteries.
Rob

I disconnected 240 volt power and ran a few appliances on battery/solar to discharge the batteries a bit. Hey Presto the regulator showed amps coming in from the solar panels. So... The regulator will not show any amps coming in from the panels if the batteries are fully charged.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

I disconnected 240 volt power and ran a few appliances on battery/solar to discharge the batteries a bit. Hey Presto the regulator showed amps coming in from the solar panels. So... The regulator will not show any amps coming in from the panels if the batteries are fully charged.

Which makes sense. If the batteries dont need power, the regulator wont be feeding them power, otherwise it would fry your batteries.