Question from son???

[poppycamper]

Morning Funsters..hope yoos all keeping well.. Had call from my son last night and when he went to check his PVC he noticed that his leisure battery was showing signs of distortion and swelling. He immediately disconnected battery and removed it from van.
His set up is 2x100w panels feeding thru a Votronic MPPT 350 duo regulator to both leisure battery and starter battery.
Now his question to me was :- Will it do any damage to regulator if he leaves leisure battery out and allow panels to trickle charge starter battery or should he disconnect panels until he gets new leisure battery fitted.
Well I had to be honest and say I was not sure but I would ask the Funsters. Thoughts please
Thnks

 

[Griffs]

I had this many years ago with a truck, the problem then was that it would not cut off when fully charged.
eventually cooked the battery.

 

[PeteH]

I would disconect the panels. ASAP. They can / do pushout high Voltages. and will not do the `van electronics any favours. IN fact IF I recall?. My Panel supplier recomended NOT to connect the panels without battery in circuit?. Also Have the Regulator checked out as it appears on the face of it that the battery has been overcharging?

 

[Lenny HB]

Before leaving any charger connected he needs to find out what caused the battery to fail.

Was it a faulty battery?
Is the solar regulator faulty?
Was the van on EHU if so was the mains charger faulty?

He can check the solar regulator by fitting another batter (any battery will do just to check) and with the sun out measure the battery voltage. If the voltage goes above 14.4v the regulator is faulty (14.8 if its been set for AGM batteries). Also check the starter battery voltage.

He can do the same test for the mains charger.
If both are OK it will be the battery that was faulty.

 

[Manic]

He needs to cover the solar panels before disconnecting them or disconnect at night.

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[poppycamper]

Once again thnx all for prompt and as always informative advice. That was the advice my gut feeling was saying but thot I would run it past you guys first..
Maybe I should also recommend that he joins the Funstets Family himself instead of relying on good ol daddy... ???

 

[JockandRita]

Once the origin of the fault is established, as in Lenny HB's advice above, if there is a blade fuse between the panels and the solar controller, pulling that fuse will be the easiest way isolate the panels.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[Tea Bag]

eventually cooked the battery.

Hi.
You will SMELL it.
Tea Bag