*** solar regulator question *** (1 Viewer)

[stcyr]

Artnoon all. Not sure if this is in right section ... We have at the moment a 60w solar panel with a Juta cmp12 6a regulator. All has been working fine until a couple of days ago when I noticed the 'charge' light was not illuminating when daylight appeared. We are on ehu permanently for the time being.

Checked connections etc., all ok. We have an Oscar 380w/30a regulator which we had in our previous MH (Merc 608) which was connected to an 80w panel - it was working fine for several years whether on hook-up or not.

I have just removed the Juta and replaced it with the Oscar - the 'charge' light is on as it should be so obviously panel is working ok.

We've temporarily disconnected from the mains. The regulator 'load' light is illuminated although we are not using any 12v equipment at the moment...

So, the questions are: 1) Is there any way being on ehu can affect the solar regulator (the solar is only connected to the single 100a leisure battery)? 2) Why would the 'load' light be on if we are not using anything 12v? 3) When using the Juta regulator, before removing it, the three battery state leds would be on when on ehu, and when ehu disconnected 1, 2 or all 3 would light depending on state of battery, normal ... or is it?

The replacement Oscar regulator is currently (no pun intended!) showing: charge, load and three of its four battery state leds. Daren't reconnect ehu at mo in case it damages something!

Hope someone can throw some light on the matter!?

Many thanks for any ideas!! :thumb:

 

[Reallyretired]

Hoping someone more knowledgeable would assist but normally the solar regulator should work fine on EHU, the higher battery voltage produced by the mains charger will just reduce the current through the solar regulator which will just think the battery is fully charged.

I suspect your 6a regulator is faulty, a 6a regulator is only just enough for a 60w panel, I would think you would be better to have a 10a regulator.

I would not expect the load LED to be on unless there is a load connected to the 'load' terminals on the regulator. Usually most systems just have the battery and panel connections used.

I would expect your current 30a regulator would be fine with EHU but I am not an expert.

 

[Techno]

EHU should not affect your regulator except to bring on the 3 battery state of charge indicators as you said, that is normal as the charger will increase the battery voltage to probably 13.6. As soon as you disconnect the mains charger the battery voltage will gradually drop to 12.6 or lower depending on load.
The load light is a mystery, do you even have anything connected to the load terminals?

When swapping regulators have you connected the battery to the regulator first and then the solars?

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[Techno]

Best I can tell is the load light comes on to indicate that the load terminals are available to supply load when this light is lit and is indicating that the battery is at or above 12.6volts
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/220353346/JUTA_CMP12_solar_charge_controller.html

 

[stcyr]

Hoping someone more knowledgeable would assist but normally the solar regulator should work fine on EHU, the higher battery voltage produced by the mains charger will just reduce the current through the solar regulator which will just think the battery is fully charged.

I suspect your 6a regulator is faulty, a 6a regulator is only just enough for a 60w panel, I would think you would be better to have a 10a regulator.

I would not expect the load LED to be on unless there is a load connected to the 'load' terminals on the regulator. Usually most systems just have the battery and panel connections used.

I would expect your current 30a regulator would be fine with EHU but I am not an expert.

Thanks very much for your reply! That confirms what I thought: that the solar side of things shouldn't be affected by other charging methods used at the same time. The 30a reg. seems to be working as it should so fingers crossed it is a faulty Juta! :thumb:

 

[stcyr]

Best I can tell is the load light comes on to indicate that the load terminals are available to supply load when this light is lit and is indicating that the battery is at or above 12.6volts
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/220353346/JUTA_CMP12_solar_charge_controller.html

Thanks! You just confirmed my thoughts. Swapped the Juta with the 30a Oscar and the 'charge' light came on ok and went out when it got dark just now. So it does point to the Juta developing a fault. That's a good point about the 'load' light - we haven't used the load terminals for anything so far and I must admit to not having noticed before whether it was always on or not. :thumb:

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