EBL 99 G - ammeter not moving

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Jan 25, 2022
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Dethleffs Adv 2006 i6501b
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Hullo,

I've been wiring up a single 100W panel (initial testing) to the Chinese cheapy PWM controller which came with the 2 x 100W kit and leaving the 'load' terminals unused. The 'Battery' terminals are wired to pins 1 and 3 of Block 6, and the controller springs into life showing voltage coming from the EBL. Open voltage reading from the panel before connecting to the controller is 19V, and it drops to about 12V once connected to the controller.

1645620726792.png

The EBL 99 G has a 15A solar fuse and doesn't have any 'data' port; I will be getting a Votronic MPP 250 when they're back in stock because I want the AES signal for the fridge. At the moment, even Votronic's '2007' cable set will do nothing for me as I've already wired a 3-pin MnL connector.

1645620636604.png

Back to today; should I expect to see the ammeter needle move into the green on the IT-991-2 panel if current is genuinely being drawn in from Block 6, or does that need something extra? The needle does not move even when I unplug the solar panel.

To verify if I was going completely mad, I plugged the mains back in, and immediate the ammeter swung to the green showing 10A initial charge. Have I made some daft mistake? Looking at the Shaudt LR1218 and LRM1218, I don't see how I could connect things up differently given the lack of 'data' ports.

This snippet from the LRM1218 manual seems to suggest I'm doing something right:
1645621261379.png


My initial focus is charging the hab battery - am not bothered about the starter battery at this stage.
 
I can't see anything wrong with your wiring, if it's as you say. There needs to be a 15A fuse in the solar slot to connect the Block6 pin to the leisure battery. Is the voltage at the solar controller output the same as the leisure battery voltage? If it's different, there may be a problem with the connections somewhere.

Does the voltage of the leisure battery go up when the sun shines? That would tell you if the power is reaching the battery but the meter is not registering it for some reason.
 
autorouter Yup 15A fuse is there + working (the controller wouldn't power up at all unless it can see the battery via the EBL 'solar' Block 6) and yep the solar controller voltage reports match those from another voltmeter on Spare 2; 14.2V when mains hookup is active, and 12.9V immediately after unplugging the mains.

That's a good check regarding change in voltage - the light is fading now so I'll give that a throw tomorrow. The panel is just on the (enormous) dashboard so it has full view of the sky, but will never see direct sunlight due to how I have to park. I'll try it on the roof if the wind is calm. (Sikaflex + butyl tape are on the way...)
 
I wouldn't expect a PWM controller to have a voltage as high as 14V, probably more like 13.4, but there should still be a noticeable change of voltage if there's a good light on the panel.
 
Ok cool just to close this off and for future reference, the panel is working fine. I put it on the roof and sure enough the needle moves reliably when I connect the cable.

Have just seen it jump from approx 3A draw to a 1A charge once the sun actually came out.

Roughly 50% quoted efficiency at a poor February angle and with a crappy PWM controller, I'm perfectly pleased with that.

Now need to get the second one up and everything glued to the roof (not yet confident enough to assemble an adjustable angle mount)

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