Schaudt LR 1218 info

[rwhites1]

this might be helpful for someone

sent this e mail to Allan Evans of www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/


Hi Do you have a LR1218 in stock?I have just fitted a 100w solar panel to my LR1218 which is plugged into a EBL99.I am getting about 17v from the solar panel disconnected but when I get it connected there are no extra amps on the analogue displays or volts.The weather at the moment is very overcast and grey skies. On the schaudt LR 1218 there is about 12v from the solar panel terminals when the solar panel is disconnected is this normal.I have used the LR1218 set up for years with a 40w portable solar panel no problem. Do you think it is a LR 1218 that is faulty if so how much is a new one with express

Got this helpful reply

Hello
17v is very low, I would expect nearer 21v open circuit?
Yes all Solar regulators discharge the battery into the Solar panel, they have 'blocking resistors' which reduce the current drain to just milliamps but don't stop it completely. You will see some voltage if the battery is connected.
The LR1218 has one of the lowest drains we have seen but you can fit a Voltage sensitive relay on the Panel side to break the connection altogether.
This time of year and Weather I would not expect much more than about 0.25 A from 100watt. Therefore hard to know if your Panel is faulty or not.
Suggest you test on a Sunny day and you might see 0.5A around midday?
If there is a fault and the panel is only putting out 17v, my money would be on the Panel.
Sorry don't do Solar power any more, we have seen a lot of failures and Panels down to about 50% output after just 2 years.
Kind regards,
Allan.

 

[Techno]

Any good solar regulator has diodes built in to prevent discharge back to the panels. I'm surprised they are talking "resistors" I thought they were more knowledgeable.

 

[dave newell]

Any good solar regulator has diodes built in to prevent discharge back to the panels. I'm surprised they are talking "resistors" I thought they were more knowledgeable.

I agree with Andy, there will be blocking diodes not resistors. At this time of year you are unlikely to see any meaningful current from a 100 Watt panel. I have had dealings with A and N and had issues over some advice they have given to customers which was contradicted by Udo Lang of Schaudt. That's all I will say.

D.

 

[Techno]

Also my panels are approaching two years old and no sign of degredation. My 300 watt will only give 1.5 to 2.5 amps just now (normal) but by mid February they are approaching 9amps and in Summer have acheived over 21 amps.

Edit Exif info from this picture says 15th Feb

MAY

AUGUST

A JULY personal best

 

[Techno]

Did they say anything about you using duct tape to fix your panels ?

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

 

[mitzimad]

Also my panels are approaching two years old and no sign of degredation. My 300 watt will only give 1.5 to 2.5 amps just now (normal) but by mid February they are approaching 9amps and in Summer have acheived over 21 amps.

Edit Exif info from this picture says 15th Feb

MAY

AUGUST

A JULY personal best

just out of interest techno whats connected to the two right hand terminals on your controller?

 

[Techno]

A 12 volt socket

 

[rwhites1]

Broken Link Removed NO

 

[rwhites1]

What I thought Allan ment was there were blocking resistors in the Schaudt LR1218 not the diodes in the solar panels

 

[Techno]

Resistors don't block anything. Diodes are used to ensure current flow in one direction only.
On a solar panel 1 diode is the cheap option, 2 or 3 diodes on better panels reduce the effects of shading.
These are besides a regulators own diodes

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

 

[JeanLuc]

The following text is copied from the Schaudt LR1218 instruction manual - page 4 (my underlining).

If the charging voltage of the solar modules is insufficient (e.g. in the dark), an integrated isolation diode prevents the batteries from discharging.

 

[DBK]

The phrase about resisters in the reply is in inverted commas. I take this to mean the person who wrote it knew it was the wrong term but was going to use it anyway. A bit odd but I wouldn't make a big thing about it. The devices may be more correctly termed diodes but they work by offering a high resistance to current flow in one direction, ie they block the flow of current. I have seen the phrase blocking diode used as well.

And the right hand terminals go to the load.