Advice on Solar controller please .

Russ M

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Dec 28, 2018
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South Devon
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57,711
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C Class Dethleffs
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Since 2013
We recently had 2x 125 solar panels fitted to our new motorhome . They were fitted by the dealer .
We asked for two panels and the ability to trickle charge the engine battery aswell, which is the set up we had on our previous van and we were very happy with.
The previous van had an MPPT controller so I assumed the new one would aswell.

I’ve just looked at the controller which is sited under the passenger seat.
It seems it’s not MPPT and it will only charge two batteries.

It’s a Victron energy bluesolar Duo .i attach a photo .

Am I correct in thinking this will only control/charge the two leisure batteries and not trickle charge the engine battery as I requested ?
Or am I missing something and it does all three things ?
Be grateful for any expert view before I go back to the dealer and shout at them.....

Many thanks in advance .
 

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I am no expert on solar panels in the motorhome and left the technical bit to Dave Newell. But that looks suspiciously like the unit Dave fitted for me and if so yes it can be set to charge the vehicle battery as well.

I believe it is using 10% of the energy it generates to charge our vehicle battery. 90% to leisure.
 
You can check for yourself if a battery is being charged by taking a voltage reading across the terminals. A battery that's not being charged will have a voltage of 12.0 and 12.8 volts. If it's being charged, the voltage will be over 13.4 volts, maybe up to 14.4 or 14.8 volts depending on the charger and battery type.
 

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