Do panels normally charge main vehicle battery?

[TheMachMan]

New to all this, and as the van isn’t going anywhere for a while I wondered if the fitted solar panel would also keep the main vehicle battery topped up, or does it need EHU?

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Depends on your type of van and controller, but mostly you will need a battery master to top up from solar, around£15 to 20 of e bay

 

[f6c]

Yes it would

 

[Mikeco]

Depends how it is wired, if it is a dual battery one then it could be if connected.
If the solar control panel shows only the one battery then probably not although mine does by having a relay on the leisure battery which sends surplus power to the vehicle battery.

 

[denisejoe]

Depends on what’s installed on ours charges both but most haven’t in which you will need a battery to battery charger https://www.vanbitz.com/battery-master/

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[MikeD]

Ours does. About 10% goes to the vehicle battery

 

[autorouter]

You can tell by looking at the battery voltages. If a battery is 13.0V or more, it is being charged. If it's 12.7 or less, then it's probably not being charged.

 

[Richard n Ann]

Ours doesn't - Elddis Accordo.

 

[nicholsong]

Have you read the F***ing manual?

 

[TerryL]

Have you read the F***ing manual?

In defence of the OP, even if he/she has the correct manual I'm betting it isn't explained in it!

If we had more info on the make/age of the van it might help.

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[Jim]

Have you read the F***ing manual?

Take a month away from here to read the F***ing Rules

 

[two]

All depends. Maybe not. (What do you mean by "main battery"?)
Solar panels should be wired to charge the habitation battery (that runs most things in the van).
The (engine) starter battery might also be topped-up from the solar panels, depending what controller has been used or if a battery master device has been used. The battery master will pass charge from the habitation battery to the starter battery if it falls below the habitation and there is sufficient charge there to provide some.
Some EHU chargers will also charge both batteries, either directly or by using a battery master.
Early vans may have a simple solution, only charging the habitation battery, but a battery master (or similar) is easy to fit.

 

[Richard n Ann]

? Bloody hell Jim RTFM is an acronym, nothing to get insulted about ?

No offence.

Jim

 

[Jim]

? Bloody hell Jim RTFM is an acronym, nothing to get insulted about ?

No offence.

Jim

Much the same as RTFR.

The day that is an acceptable response to a newbies question here then we may as well close.

 

[BillandHelen]

Hi, we have a Truma 100w panel, the Truma controller had settings to adjust charge to leisure and vehicle battery, in practice we found this didn’t work very well and we had a CBE battery master fitted which has worked a treat. Van kept in storage, just keeps vehicle battery ok in winter, today though, decent sunshine, vehicle battery measured by my tracker app is 13.1, that’s after 3 weeks in storage.
Bill

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[Robert Clark]

You can tell by looking at the battery voltages. If a battery is 13.0V or more, it is being charged. If it's 12.7 or less, then it's probably not being charged.

That’s what I would do too
But only if it’s a sunny day

 

[Coolcats]

Some but not all control panels display the state of charge of both leisure and vehicle battery, often a sola panel is fitted by the dealer or 3rd party depending upon the customer requirement or competency of the installer will depend if the vehicle battery has been connected to the solar charger. If you do not have a meter but a control panel you could view the vehicle battery day/night and over the course of a week or weeks.

 

[Chris51]

Have you read the F***ing manual?

Do you mean the motorhome manual ?

 

[Vipar]

Greetings peeps welcome from West Kent

Mind don’t so I have a trickle charger. Connected permanently whilst on the front garden. Not sure if I should turn it off for a couple of days a week to give it a rest. I m sure I will get some good advice real soon. ???

 

[Puddleduck]

Ours does through a fancy box of electronics

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[autorouter]

Do you mean the motorhome manual ?

Trouble is, the manual probably won't say 'The solar controller does not charge the starter battery'. So you read right through the manual, and can't find it. Then you go back and look again in case you missed it. Then if you're a newbie you start wondering if it's something that everyone just knows and it doesn't need to be mentioned. At that point you start looking for help, maybe from this forum. That's what the Beginners section is here for. Ok, it's not the beginners section, but he says he's a newbie at the start.

 

[tuscancouple]

Our's does, Sunlight Cliff

Mick

 

[TheMachMan]

Trouble is, the manual probably won't say 'The solar controller does not charge the starter battery'. So you read right through the manual, and can't find it. Then you go back and look again in case you missed it. Then if you're a newbie you start wondering if it's something that everyone just knows and it doesn't need to be mentioned. At that point you start looking for help, maybe from this forum. That's what the Beginners section is here for. Ok, it's not the beginners section, but he says he's a newbie at the start.

Exactly, thanks!
Which I why I thought I’d ask my learned Funsters!
it is a 3rd party dealer fitted unit, with next to nothing in the instructions.

 

[Emmit]

Exactly, thanks!
Which I why I thought I’d ask my learned Funsters!
it is a 3rd party dealer fitted unit, with next to nothing in the instructions.

As it's a 'Third Party' fitted unit, I very much doubt that it has the capability of charging the Vehicle Battery, unless (there's nearly always an 'unless') the previous owner who hd the panel fitted also had the vehicle fitted with a Battery Master. This is a clever piece of kit that diverts electricity provided by the panel when the panel has topped up the Habitation side.
As previously stated, the only way to ascertain if you have one, (Battery Master)(they can be hidden) is by checking the voltage of vehicle battery when the solar panel is working ie daylight. If it's up there at 13v+ then the chances are it's got a Battery Master fitted. If it's down at 12.7 or lower, then it hasn't.

Hope this helps.

 

[TheMachMan]

As it's a 'Third Party' fitted unit, I very much doubt that it has the capability of charging the Vehicle Battery, unless (there's nearly always an 'unless') the previous owner who hd the panel fitted also had the vehicle fitted with a Battery Master. This is a clever piece of kit that diverts electricity provided by the panel when the panel has topped up the Habitation side.
As previously stated, the only way to ascertain if you have one, (Battery Master)(they can be hidden) is by checking the voltage of vehicle battery when the solar panel is working ie daylight. If it's up there at 13v+ then the chances are it's got a Battery Master fitted. If it's down at 12.7 or lower, then it hasn't.

Hope this helps.

That’s really useful, many thanks for that! The van is new so I have emailed the dealer.

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[Coolcats]

As it's a 'Third Party' fitted unit, I very much doubt that it has the capability of charging the Vehicle Battery, unless (there's nearly always an 'unless') the previous owner who hd the panel fitted also had the vehicle fitted with a Battery Master. This is a clever piece of kit that diverts electricity provided by the panel when the panel has topped up the Habitation side.
As previously stated, the only way to ascertain if you have one, (Battery Master)(they can be hidden) is by checking the voltage of vehicle battery when the solar panel is working ie daylight. If it's up there at 13v+ then the chances are it's got a Battery Master fitted. If it's down at 12.7 or lower, then it hasn't.

Hope this helps.

Not always true we have a 100W solar panel it charges both vehicle and leisure batteries so it really depends on the install.

 

[Emmit]

Not always true we have a 100W solar panel it charges both vehicle and leisure batteries so it really depends on the install.

I'm not being 'picky' but please reread what I put.
"As it's a 'Third Party' fitted unit, I very much doubt that it has the capability of charging the Vehicle Battery, unless (there's nearly always an 'unless') the previous owner who hd the panel fitted also had the vehicle fitted with a Battery Master. "

If YOUR unit does both then congratulations are due to whoever specified that but, in the absence of information to the contrary, my comment still stands.

If your 'van does it from a standard fit, then that should also be stated as it does not help by merely stating that the 'van has the capability.

 

[Manic]

It really depends on what solar regulator is fitted and how it’s wired.
I my Hymer the regulator (sunsave 10) that’s was fitted only charged the leisure batteries but I changed the regulator to shauldt LR1218 that charged both and I have now changed again to a Votronic duo 250 which trickle charges the engine battery.

 

[Coolcats]

I do apologise I read "As it's a 'Third Party' fitted unit, I very much doubt that it has the capability of charging the Vehicle Battery," as you appeared to be stating a catch all situation.

Many Vans are fitted by third parties, the unit we have is made by Truma installed on a HymerCar. If wired correctly both leisure and vehicle batteries can be charged from the third party 100W Solar panel, it really isn't a big deal for anyone who is competent to do this.

Many Vans will display the state of both Leisure and Vehicle battery, so for a cursory glance (not testing) you can see the state of either.

So where does this leave us, and I do think that this is where we agree, it depends on the installer and or customer instruction, if it is a reputable dealer and a knowledgeable technician or at the customers request a standard 3rd party install can be charging both (I should add it is not by luck that our van has both leisure and vehicle battery being charged by the Panel, although maybe fortunate it was done correctly).

Some vans are wired correctly to do this, some vans are not, from what I have seen Eddie at Vanbits has to sort out many poor installs including when a Van has a dual leisure battery that has not been wired correctly, but there are also many vans that have been installed properly by 3rd party installers.

 

[TheMachMan]

Got confirmation from the dealer that mine is configured to charge both leisure and starter battery.
Appreciate the comments and perhaps I should have asked them first. But there you go it gave us something else to discuss for a change!

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