Sargent ec328 overcharging on solar.

[kevntrace]

Hi,
Have had a problem with the fridge switching off after a while while on hook-up or gas.
Autotrail cherokee 2010
Sargent ec328 & sargent control panel.
Had the fridge on all night on hook-up,no problems at all,then this morning went back into the MH to check,& the blue light was flashing on the front of the fridge.Now,this is when i noticed on the control panel , the leisure & vehicle batteries were both at 16v, So,switched the mains off, still at 16v, turned the mains back on & turned some interior lights on & battery voltage dropped to 13.4v(about normal)...and guess what? the fridge came back on.
so... with lights on voltage display on control panel drops & fridge works
with lights off voltage goes up to 16v & fridge goes off,
My thoughts are that the solar regulator has gone wonky in the sargent psu **** has anyone ever changed the solar regulator ******
I assume there is a voltage overload somewhere in the system or on the fridge pcb which is shutting it down when the voltage is too high.
Thanks in advance
Kev
p.s I'll be ringing Sargent tomorrow.

 

[TheCaller]

My thoughts are that the solar regulator has gone wonky in the sargent psu **** has anyone ever changed the solar regulator ******

It's certainly possible. I had the same thing happen with a Victron controller. It was replaced under warranty, but in the meantime it had goosed my inverter & no doubt shortened the life of my leisure batteries.

in your situation, I think I would buy a good quality MPPT controller & bypass the Sargent unit. I don't know the ec328 well enough to know what you would miss out on in terms of state of charge information if you do this. From what others have said, the Sargent controller has fairly low limits on what solar panels it can handle & isn't the most efficient type of controller.

 

[kevntrace]

Thanks The Caller,
Spoke to Sargent today & he confirmed my thoughts,unfortunately they don't sell the solar controller separately which is mounted inside the PSU. Said i'd have to remove the whole power supply unit & send it to them for repair.Ordered a new solar controller off fleabay for £28 &should be here this week( like for like)
kev

 

[kevntrace]

Update.
Fitted the new solar controller into the Sargent EC328 & now all is as it should be.In full sunshine the reading on the sargent display is reading 13.5v for both vehicle & leisure battery.I'm just pleased i got it sorted before we go away to Devon on the 4th July.