I think the charge controller is faulty. Do you?

[PeteMallorca]

I noticed, on a USB charger, that my battery voltage was very low. Thinking it was faulty, I checked the charge controller, a Steca PR3030. You can see the display in the photos attached. So I dismantled everything, to get to the second battery, in the living area because the other battery is under the front seat.

You can see the multimeter readings (see photo), the same as the USB charger. I checked the voltage at different points and all were the same. I then heard a beeping sound but I couldn't find where it was from. I then remembered the Victron Energy BMV-6005 battery monitor, connected to the Bus Bar. As you can see from the photo, it's even less than my multimeter but it was some time after. You can also see that it's showing an alarm.

I turned on the inverter and that was also showing a low battery voltage (see photo)

So why is the charge controller saying 13.4v and showing full SOC? Could their be a wirring problem or is it likely to be the charge controller?

Any ideas......

Peter.

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

Your solar input looks to be ok and is charging your battery up at max volts/ amps but it isn't accepting the charge.
I think you need to take the battery out and charge it up independently and see if it holds a charge.i don't think it will.pribably time for a new one

 

[PeteMallorca]

Your solar input looks to be ok and is charging your battery up at max volts/ amps but it isn't accepting the charge.
I think you need to take the battery out and charge it up independently and see if it holds a charge.i don't think it will.pribably time for a new one

Thanks Jimbohorlicks, I was told by the previous owner, when I bought it (1 month ago), that they had only just replaced the batteries because they had it checked over to make sure there was nothing faulty. I guess that makes it more confusing.

I'm still not sure where the controller is getting 13+v from.

 

[autorouter]

Measure the voltage on the Steca controller terminals, the ones taking the output to the batteries. The red and black wires in the photo. Then measure at the leisure battery. If they are not the same, or very slightly different, then there is a wiring problem or a blown fuse. The voltage at the Steca battery output should be practically the same as the leisure battery voltage.

If there's a bad connection in the wiring, the controller will think that the battery won't take any more amps, and it must be fully charged, so it will switch to float charging, ie about 13.4V.

Of course it could be a faulty controller, but a bad connection /blown fuse is so much more likely, especially if you have very different voltages at the opposite ends of a pair of wires.

 

[Abacist]

Thanks Jimbohorlicks, I was told by the previous owner, when I bought it (1 month ago), that they had only just replaced the batteries because they had it checked over to make sure there was nothing faulty. I guess that makes it more confusing.

I'm still not sure where the controller is getting 13+v from.

Perhaps that was sales "Puff"!

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

 

[PeteMallorca]

Measure the voltage on the Steca controller terminals, the ones taking the output to the batteries. The red and black wires in the photo. Then measure at the leisure battery. If they are not the same, or very slightly different, then there is a wiring problem or a blown fuse. The voltage at the Steca battery output should be practically the same as the leisure battery voltage.

If there's a bad connection in the wiring, the controller will think that the battery won't take any more amps, and it must be fully charged, so it will switch to float charging, ie about 13.4V.

Of course it could be a faulty controller, but a bad connection /blown fuse is so much more likely, especially if you have very different voltages at the opposite ends of a pair of wires.

I'll do that autoroute, should I disconnect one side of the battery cables or leave both of them in the controller?

 

[Richard n Ann]

I'll do that autoroute, should I disconnect one side of the battery cables or leave both of them in the controller?

Leave all of them on.

 

[PeteMallorca]

I think there is a major wirring problem.

I started the engine and left it running for 1 hour and 30 minutes. That brought the batteries up to 12.5v but the controller was reading 13.78v. Then I started to follow the battery cables. The first thing that I noticed was a splice, leading off with household flex again.

This is going to be a marathon, to correct all the bad wirring and see if the voltage at the batteries improves.

Wish mme luck please

As you can see in the photos, the battery supply to the controller has been T'd into, for the load. There are wires in the Load connectors but they seem to be household flex.

I tried to follow the wires but I will have to strip out many panels but there have been many "add ons" and I have to cut them and re join, position them after.

There are birds nests of wires and its very confusing, so my first job is to separate them and label them.

Then I need to add another fuse box and run all the "add on's" through this.

Looking at the cable going to the load, I don't think it's adequate. So I will run a new supply direct to the batteries, when I find a way to get them there.

I'm hoping that cleaning up the wirring will help, it's a mess at the moment.

 

[PeteMallorca]

Update:
I have added:
A Victron MPPT 150 l 60 Tr (with upgrading in mind).
A Victron Smart Battery Sense.
A Victron SmartShunt 1000A.
A Victron Cerbo GX.

I've checked under the passenger seat, to see what's under there. As far as I knew, there was only 1 x 100AH gell battery.

There are 2, new, 100AH gell batteries. A relay, that I presume is a split charge relay and a large fuse.

The solar Watts have been low and the battery voltage has not gone above 12v very often. I'm too far from any AC, to plug in and give the batteries a good charge.

Earlier I was concerned that the battery voltage was too low, so I started the engine.

It seemed that the controler liked that and all of a sudden, the solar Watts came up and it was charging the batteries. Photo 1, 2 and 3 show this.

When I turned the engine off, it went back to normal, with low solar Watts and little charging, although the batteries have more volts. Photo 4 shows this.

What's your views on this?