Blown up my solar controler (1 Viewer)

[UK Pete]

I am renewing two of my batteries , it is a proper struggle as i have to remove my front seats the sterling battery to battery charger, and many other obstacles, in the process of doing so i shorted one of my + leads to ground, it blew the fuse straight away but somehow it managed to fry my solar controller, the controller now has all its lights flashing and a volt meter shows it giving out 17v output, anyway i was going to upgrade my controller to mppt anyway so i am not too pissed, i just hope i have not damaged anything else, is there any suggestions as to what else i might of cooked with my bad mistake, also what size fuse should i use,the blown one was not marked up with a rating, i have 2x 135ah batteries and 1x 85ah,all linked up
pete

 

[Wildman]

depending on the solar controller a reset may sort it.

Whenever messing with a solar panel protect the regulator by ALWAYS disconnecting or covering the solar panel before removing the battery connection or you WILL blow the regulator.

Messing with Batteries disconnect the solar panel leads first!!!!!!!
and reconnect them last.

 

[JeanLuc]

Had you disconnected the solar panel from the controller before starting work? If not, and unless it is dark, the current from the panel will damage the controller.
Apologies if this is obvious and something you already knew.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[UK Pete]

This is all new to me, so non of it is obvious to me, all i did was dissconnect one battery and swap it over for the new one,and reconnect it, then in taking off the second one is when the short circuit happened, i had not disconnected anything so the solar system was all connected up and working while i was doing the change over
I will order my new controller off ebay tonight and be more carfull next time, making sure nothing is still connected,
the thing i need to know is what size fuse to replace the blown one with, the fuse that blew was a strip fuse up by the battery + post
pete

 

[Wildman]

The size of fuse depends on what is being protected and how the van is wired. Is it a self build, if not contact the manufacturers. After ensuring the solar panel is disconnected then make sure you remove the earth connection from the battery first. Electrics are funny things and best left alone if you know nothing about them. You can potentially write off your van so easily. Too small a fuse will blow when charging and too large not protect anything

 

[UK Pete]

Well i discovered the fuse rating is 50amp the thing is when i went to buy fuses it turns out 50 amp is continuous load but 100amp blow, is that normal, ? plus i tested my solar controller and it is still working after a reset, in the shady hazy sun it was showing 1.5a /13.5 volts , would that seem normal
I spent all day today messing around identifying wiring routes and exactly how everything is wired up so as to be able to wire my batteries up correctly, so my new battery will be in series with the other two and the load take off's will be negative off the 1st and posetive off the third rather than off the same battery

I have a question, two of my batteries are 135a the other one is 85a , can anyone tell me if that is going to be a problem, it is the that way because of size and location dictates the 85a is all i can get in the available space
pete

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Taran_Las]

Well i discovered the fuse rating is 50amp the thing is when i went to buy fuses it turns out 50 amp is continuous load but 100amp blow, is that normal, ? plus i tested my solar controller and it is still working after a reset, in the shady hazy sun it was showing 1.5a /13.5 volts , would that seem normal
I spent all day today messing around identifying wiring routes and exactly how everything is wired up so as to be able to wire my batteries up correctly, so my new battery will be in [HI]series[/HI] with the other two and the load take off's will be negative off the 1st and posetive off the third rather than off the same battery

I have a question, two of my batteries are 135a the other one is 85a , can anyone tell me if that is going to be a problem, it is the that way because of size and location dictates the 85a is all i can get in the available space
pete

Are you sure you want them in series?

 

[Phill D]

Well i discovered the fuse rating is 50amp the thing is when i went to buy fuses it turns out 50 amp is continuous load but 100amp blow, is that normal, ? plus i tested my solar controller and it is still working after a reset, in the shady hazy sun it was showing 1.5a /13.5 volts , would that seem normal
I spent all day today messing around identifying wiring routes and exactly how everything is wired up so as to be able to wire my batteries up correctly, [HI]so my new battery will be in series with the other two and the load take off's will be negative off the 1st and posetive off the third rather than off the same battery[/HI]

I have a question, two of my batteries are 135a the other one is 85a , can anyone tell me if that is going to be a problem, it is the that way because of size and location dictates the 85a is all i can get in the available space
pete

if you wire these in series you will have an output of 36 volts and blow / risk a lot of your 12v kit.
unless you know someting i dont then you should wire them in parallel.

 

[Phill D]

Well i discovered the fuse rating is 50amp the thing is when i went to buy fuses it turns out 50 amp is continuous load but 100amp blow, is that normal, ? plus i tested my solar controller and it is still working after a reset, in the shady hazy sun it was showing 1.5a /13.5 volts , would that seem normal
I spent all day today messing around identifying wiring routes and exactly how everything is wired up so as to be able to wire my batteries up correctly, so my new battery will be in series with the other two and the load take off's will be negative off the 1st and posetive off the third rather than off the same battery

[HI]I have a question, two of my batteries are 135a the other one is 85a , can anyone tell me if that is going to be a problem, it is the that way because of size and location dictates the 85a is all i can get in the available space[/HI]
pete

the[HI] ideal [/HI]situation is that the batteries are the same type, same amp hour capacity and same age. not sure what the long term effect would be of your 3 batteries.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[UK Pete]

if you wire these in series you will have an output of 36 volts and blow / risk a lot of your 12v kit.
unless you know someting i dont then you should wire them in parallel.

Whoops i got the terminology wrong i would have wired them correct just got confused

 

[UK Pete]

After listening to advise on hear and researching the internet i have decided not to use my 85a battery in my battery bank, so i will trial run my two new alphaline dc31 125a batteries , its only a two battery bank but still gives me a handy 250ah of power, i have now ordered a 25a mppt solar controller so i can get maximum efficency from my 135w panel, it will be great to start the season knowing my system is upgraded and hopefully good for 4 years or so, i have shelfed the idea i had for an inverter, extra batteries , and more panels and will see how i cope this year with this setup ,hopefully it will be ok for my needs and save me having to add more weight and throw loads more money at the van
here is what i have used in my upgrade

 

[Wildman]

just to remind you Pete although the batteries are 250 amp/hrs. you should not take them below 50% so you only actually have 125 amp/hrs. to play with without causing damage to the batteries. Nice looking controller by the way. Don't forget to include a switch so you can switch the panel off before the regulator when messing with batteries.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Techno]

Why fit a switch? when you can just pull a blade fuse and do two jobs at once

 

[UK Pete]

Good advise thankyou wildman
pete

 

[Techno]

I've been using that controller since its first incarnation in 2010 and they just get better. After sales service is excellent despite being in Taiwan :thumb:
My current one performing well here giving 18 amps from 250 watts of my 300 so still more at peak

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[UK Pete]

Thecno100 yes it was from you i got the idea to buy that mppt , i also saw a review of it on youtube which sealed the deal

 

[Don Quixote]

Well after reading ALL the post today about MPPT ( just finished ) I have ordered the same one as you have fitted Andy for my 120watt panel. I will be moving the cables from panel at rear of MH to under front seat and removing the current cabling ( to batteries ) which is over 4 metres long from regulator ( why do they do that..... ) Current controller is a INVO Tech 150W PW and a waste of time. Just have to wait for it to arrive.

 

[Techno]

You could have saved money with the 200watt unit John.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Don Quixote]

You could have saved money with the 200watt unit John.

Andy, I did order the 200watt one sorry. Looking forward to getting it fitted.