Good solar supplier (1 Viewer)

[Abacist]

Agreed but what is it doing to the batteries which at max should only receive 15.5v which will give a 100% charge on Lead-Acid batteries so no need for 18v.

When I bought my 2010 in 2013 it had its original twin elecsols which I assume were fitted when new. I used these until the Spring of 2015 when I replaced them as they seemed to be holding charge for less time. One is now definitely iffy and the other I've given to my son to use on his boat.

Whilst I had the van it was always on mains hookup at home. It doesn't therefore seem to have been an issue.

I have yet to pluck up the courage to tackle making the Sargent box redundant and doing as you suggest @premiere99 mostly because I've been busy installing everything else I've been buying!

 

[Techno]

Yes 18 volts is ridiculous
I have installed a 13 amp socket and an Anderson connector near each battery bank so I can swap the CTEK between them
I just switch my CBE chargers off

 

[premiere99]

When you are on 240v the EC325 or EC328 disconnects the 12v batteries, they are not used to power the 12v electrics, the batteries are monitored by the charger and and hence why it can charge upto 18v and not damage the 12v electrics which is great for the standard user but once you add items to the battery terminals then just hope they can cope with 18v and the battery can as well, my 2 x 6v Trojan t105's should only get a max of 16.2v on certain stages of its charge and AGM batteries a max of 14.7v so 18v is really going to upset AGM's!
Must say that buying an Autotrail does allow you to buy lots of bits to upgrade it which is half the fun, I am more than envious of your roof now with all that solar, can't quite fit that much on the Cheyenne 635

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[Abacist]

I am going to put an on/off switch on the positive cable between the solar regulator and the hab batteries that are fed by the Sargent mains charger. I shall therefore keep the switch in the OFF position whenever we are on a hookup and ON when we are on site or motoring along so that we can benefit from the solar.

I may well do as you suggest and bypass the Sargent but am just a tad concerned that it might put off any future buyer once it becomes non standard and I wouldn't want to part with my CTEK 25 as part of a sale. I'll think about how I can do it so that I can restate it if I sell.

 

[premiere99]

@Abacist do you have an EC325 or EC328 installed, I have just had a look at the EC328 guide and it seems that they saw the error of the charger and changed it so it is only the EC325 that pumps 18v into the batteries, the EC328 does not. Unfortunately I have the EC325!

Please Note - I now cannot edit post number 153 above but it should not mention the EC328.

 

[Techno]

If you are going to isolate the battery you need to disconnect the solar first and reconnect both as per the manual

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[Abacist]

If you are going to isolate the battery you need to disconnect the solar first and reconnect both as per the manual

Quite correct - I hadn't thought of that - otherwise the regulator will assume its 24 volt because of the solar input and default to 24 volt settings! Thanks for that timely warning! Its getting complicated and to the stage where I will forget what I'm supposed to turn on and off and when! Ideally it needs to be automatic but that means having something to turn the solar input off and the battery feed off and to reconnect in the right order.

Perhaps I should just risk that the regulator is up to protecting itself by detecting the higher charging current from the Sargent and switching itself off?

 

[Abacist]

@Abacist do you have an EC325 or EC328 installed, I have just had a look at the EC328 guide and it seems that they saw the error of the charger and changed it so it is only the EC325 that pumps 18v into the batteries, the EC328 does not. Unfortunately I have the EC325!

Please Note - I now cannot edit post number 153 above but it should not mention the EC328.

Thanks for the clarification about the 2 types of Sargents. I will go and check mine though I'm pretty sure that its the EC325!

 

[Techno]

Quite correct - I hadn't thought of that - otherwise the regulator will assume its 24 volt because of the solar input and default to 24 volt settings! Thanks for that timely warning! Its getting complicated and to the stage where I will forget what I'm supposed to turn on and off and when! Ideally it needs to be automatic but that means having something to turn the solar input off and the battery feed off and to reconnect in the right order.

Perhaps I should just risk that the regulator is up to protecting itself by detecting the higher charging current from the Sargent and switching itself off?

It doesn't have a 24 volt setting
This regulator is sold in two versions for 12 and 24
The instructions call for battery first solar last so should be adhered to
It may well be that the device is vulnerable to incorrect polarity of the solars if the regulator is not live from the battery

Personally I would forget it and leave it to do its job

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[Abacist]

Yes mine is very clearly marked EC325!

 

[Abacist]

It doesn't have a 24 volt setting
This regulator is sold in two versions for 12 and 24
The instructions call for battery first solar last so should be adhered to
It may well be that the device is vulnerable to incorrect polarity of the solars if the regulator is not live from the battery

Personally I would forget it and leave it to do its job

That's what I have decided to do - no switch to turn it off!

 

[Abacist]

The switch I made has come into use on a live feed, fused at each end, between the two battery banks so that the new battery bank can help out the old battery bank if required.

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[Abacist]

The new solar panel to charge the original hab batteries came into use today and as it is connected direct to the batteries its charge does not get taken into account by the Sargent control panel which now displays a negative battery current when there is a load on the batteries in spite of the new solar panel charging the batteries at rate higher than the load. Does this mean that the existing solar panel originally fitted has become redundant as the Sargent controller sees a higher charge coming from elsewhere and do I need to pair it with the new panel to bring it back into use?

 

[Terry and Jan]

Speak to Tyronne Auto Additions, hes mobile and travels the country, hes based in Derby, great guy fully recommend him

 

[premiere99]

Yes mine is very clearly marked EC325!

The charger only disconnects the battery when on 240v and the charger is on, if you turn off the green charger switch you can then use a CTEK MXS 25 wired direct to the batteries, put a VSR between the two battery banks so it will charge both (it can handle upto 500Ah), all the solar panels will charge both banks, when you use one bank it will go below 12.8v so the VSR will disconnect. Also as you have a B2B then that will then also charge both banks. When you sell the van remove the CTEK and the new owner has an original setup.

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[Abacist]

OK that sounds pretty straightforward. I didn't realise I could turn the charger off on the EC325 but the rest of the mains would still work! When I go on mains hookup I've always wanted the charger on so never ever thought to turn it off! Many thanks!

 

[premiere99]

The new solar panel to charge the original hab batteries came into use today and as it is connected direct to the batteries its charge does not get taken into account by the Sargent control panel which now displays a negative battery current when there is a load on the batteries in spite of the new solar panel charging the batteries at rate higher than the load. Does this mean that the existing solar panel originally fitted has become redundant as the Sargent controller sees a higher charge coming from elsewhere and do I need to pair it with the new panel to bring it back into use?

If the new direct connected panels were supplying all the needed charge then the panel using the EC325 controller (which is a PWM type) may not have been needed. As the EC325 does not see the new panels input it is just showing what the van is using, hence the negative. My panel always shows a negative with nothing on, I reset it occasionally but now I have the forum favourite 25a mppt solar charge controller regulator and a Smartgauge SOC battery monitor I have all the info I need, no need to look at the Sargent panel.

 

[Abacist]

If the new direct connected panels were supplying all the needed charge then the panel using the EC325 controller (which is a PWM type) may not have been needed. As the EC325 does not see the new panels input it is just showing what the van is using, hence the negative. My panel always shows a negative with nothing on, I reset it occasionally but now I have the forum favourite 25a mppt solar charge controller regulator and a Smartgauge SOC battery monitor I have all the info I need, no need to look at the Sargent panel.

Yes the solar controllers give plenty of battery information and I've also got a NASA BM2 on the new hab batteries so no need to look at the Sargent as you say.

The purpose of getting three new panels was to have 2 panels serving each battery bank so it seems as if I should wire the original panel into my new one via my new solar controller to achieve what I wanted. This will make me less reliant on the EC325 which is going to end up as a fuse box like yours!

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[premiere99]

What solar controllers are you using and are all the panels 100W?

 

[Abacist]

The 30amp ones preferred by Techno.

The 3 new panels are 100 watts each.

I don't know about the original but think it may only be 80 watts as its a bit smaller than the new ones.

 

[premiere99]

The 30amp ones preferred by Techno.

The 3 new panels are 100 watts each.

I don't know about the original but think it may only be 80 watts as its a bit smaller than the new ones.

If that means you are using the EC325 solar controller for 2 panels, 1*80w and 1*100w then you are overloading it as it can only handle upto 100w which could be another reason why you see no positive reading on the control panel.

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[Abacist]

If that means you are using the EC325 solar controller for 2 panels, 1*80w and 1*100w then you are overloading it as it can only handle upto 100w which could be another reason why you see no positive reading on the control panel.

I have 2 new solar controllers, one doing 2 new panels and one doing the other new one. The Sargent is only looking after the 80 watt one so I think it's getting ignored.

I am thinking of combining the 80 watt with the new 100 watt and running through the new controller thus ignoring the Sargent controller.

 

[premiere99]

I have 2 new solar controllers, one doing 2 new panels and one doing the other new one. The Sargent is only looking after the 80 watt one so I think it's getting ignored.

I am thinking of combining the 80 watt with the new 100 watt and running through the new controller thus ignoring the Sargent controller.

Adding the 80w to the 100w is a good idea, (especially as the Sargent is only a PWM controller) then you can see what is happening, just before the controller I put a fuse panel so both positive and negative wires go through 40amp fuses, that allows me to quickly pull a fuse and see what each panel is inputting individually and isolate the panels if the battery needs to be disconnected.
See, you are getting to just have a fuse box EC325 , BTW have you disabled the split charge on the EM50 now you have the b2b working.

 

[Techno]

The overhead sun is so hot today that my panels can only achieve 13 amps but should improve as the sun gets lower later

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[Abacist]

The overhead sun is so hot today that my panels can only achieve 13 amps but should improve as the sun gets lower later

I had forgotten that we were on Grandson duties today so we were at Cofton Farm Holiday park between Dawlish Warren and Cockwood in South Devon. He goes to a water babies swimming club at 8 months old!

Lovely place if anyone wants to visit with excellent indoor and outdoor pools and a lovely new food and bar complex. Its popular with Motorhomes, Caravans and those wanting stain mobile home holidays.



https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.6135184,-3.459606,15z?hl=en

So I didn't get to photo my solar controllers at midday and on the way home went shopping for diesel and food at Tescos and then I had to cook tonight's supper - my take on scampi procencale - its a bit sixties but comes from a recipe from a top hotel in Cheltenham when I was at school near there, passed onto to me from my Mum.

 

[Abacist]

Adding the 80w to the 100w is a good idea, (especially as the Sargent is only a PWM controller) then you can see what is happening, just before the controller I put a fuse panel so both positive and negative wires go through 40amp fuses, that allows me to quickly pull a fuse and see what each panel is inputting individually and isolate the panels if the battery needs to be disconnected.
See, you are getting to just have a fuse box EC325 , BTW have you disabled the split charge on the EM50 now you have the b2b working.

I can't disable the split charge relay yet until I have put in your voltage sensing relay as the B2B only charges my new habitation battery bank at present and not the old one.

I am also keen to implement your suggestion to disable the wire that stops the 12volt system running when we are on the road!

I am getting there slowly!

 

[Abacist]

I had the motorhome out in the sun at about 3pm and was using the inverter to power the hoover to have a clean up.

Because the batteries have been well charged through being on a hookup the solar controller has not been showing much activity.

This afternoon was somewhat different with the 1500w hoover running!

Here is a pic of the controller and the panels were producing over 200 watts and 15.1 amps were going into the batteries!

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[movan]

There used to be a young man called Mark who ran his own business and he did solar panels. Is he still with us? It was something like CSI or similar.