Schaudt LRM 1218 over panelling

[ben0069]

Hello everyone,
I am looking for advice as to whether I can safely add a third 100 watt panel to my existing two 100 watt panels. Each panel is 24.3 volts and 5.21 amps, they are all the same brand. Wired in parallel with 4mm sq solar wire into the schaudt lrm 1218. I have the LT 320 panel and the TF 50 battery sensor and all is working well.
I have calculated the amps to be 15.63 and volts to remain the same, the part I am unsure of is; the max wp of the 1218 says 275 watts but with the third panel it would raise to 380 watts (15.63amps x 24.3volts), and also leaving room for the affect of cold temperatures.
I have contacted Schaudt (now lippert) and they said they no longer deal with individual customers and sent me the manual that I already have.
The information is probably on the manual but I am unable to see it (work it out)...
Thanks
ben
saundersfoot

 

[RogerIvy]

Have you considered upgrading your controller to a Victron 100/30?

It will cope with your three panels and a provide really useful info.

 

[ben0069]

Hi Roger
I have wired the schaudt to the starter battery too, that's why I was hoping to leave it alone.

 

[Lenny HB]

I'm confused how does adding a third 100 watt panel to the exsisting two 100 watt panels make 380 watts?

If you total is only 300 watts it will probable be OK as you will never see full output from the panels if mounted flat on the roof unless you are near the equator.

If you do get too much input into the LR1218 it will probably shut down like most controllers apart from Victron which just waste the excess in heat.

 

[peterc10]

Hi Roger
I have wired the schaudt to the starter battery too, that's why I was hoping to leave it alone.

I used to have the schaudt LRM 1218 in my Hymer being fed by 250W of solar. When I changed to Lithium I needed to change it because it did not have a Lithium profile. I chose a Votronic MPP350 because it had a lithium profile and (unlike Victron) a trickle charge to the leisure battery. After the change the Votronic it seemed to me to be producing more amps than the Schaudt used to do.

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[ben0069]

Lenny,
maybe I have confused myself with all the reading, I thought wattage was amps x volts so with the 3rd panel, 3 x the amps (parralel) x the volts is 380. Unless that calculation is irrelevant to me just adding a 100 watt panel which does only make 300 watts ?

peterc10,
I have looked at the votronic mpp350 and have read that lenny uses it also, it's just the schaudt is quite new to me and with the panel fixed and wired in with everything working well it was the easiest and cheapest option.

 

[tonka]

My van came with the LR1218 fitted and 2 panels.. Did OK but never performed great.
Bought van in 2019 and it was originally registered in 2014, my suspision is that the solar was fitted in that first year, so making the panels 10 years old.
On recommendations from Funsters i changed the LR1218 to the Votronic 250 which is MPPT and that did the leisure battery with a 1 amp feed to the engine battery.

Earlier this year i went over to lithium, the Votronic and original panels never seemed to be doing much compared to others i spoke to at Fun meets. I bit the bullet and removed old panels, found they were 100watt when i looked at the labels underneath.
Replaced the solar regulator with the Victron mppt 100/30 £90 and a ebay deal got me 2 x 170w Ecoworthy panels for £120..
BIG difference, solar is working far far better.. SO it may be worth considering a complete upgrade rather than just adding a new panel to an old system.. Remember the LR1218 is a PWM regulator so not as good as the MPPT.

PS.. IF you do want a Votronic 250 mppt I have one for sale.

 

[RogerIvy]

Hi Roger
I have wired the schaudt to the starter battery too, that's why I was hoping to leave it alone.

We’ve removed a few of those and replaced them with a combination of a Victron MPPT and a Battery Master. Works really well, and most people really enjoy the data provided by the Victron MPPT.

 

[Lenny HB]

used to have the schaudt LRM 1218 in my Hymer being fed by 250W of solar. When I changed to Lithium I needed to change it because it did not have a Lithium profile.

You had the old LR1218 not the LR1218.

Lenny,
maybe I have confused myself with all the reading, I thought wattage was amps x volts so with the 3rd panel, 3 x the amps (parralel) x the volts is 380. Unless that calculation is irrelevant to me just adding a 100 watt panel which does only make 300 watts ?

Very confused.

I now use all Victron gear.

 

[autorouter]

I am looking for advice as to whether I can safely add a third 100 watt panel to my existing two 100 watt panels. Each panel is 24.3 volts and 5.21 amps,

What exactly are those two voltage and amps values? Maybe they are the Open Circuit voltage (Voc) and Short Circuit current (Isc) values. You should be using the maximum power (Vmp and Imp) values for calculating the power output. You should find that Vmp and Imp multiply together to give just about exactly 100W.

If they are 3 x 100W, flat on the roof (ie not tilted) you are unlikely to see more than 80% of 300W, ie 240W max.

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[Guigsy]

With Victron solar controllers, supplying too much current on the solar side is fine (provided the cabling is up to it), it just maxes out at the highest level the controller can convert to battery charge. The issue is you can't go over the rated voltage of the controller. I'd assume that the Schaudt is the same. As you're wiring the panels in parallel, you should be fine because you're still only pushing 25v. And as the controller is rated at 275w, it'll be rare that any photons will be going to waste. It's likely to only happen in the height of summer when you're very likely to be wasting captured energy anyway later in the day because the battery will be full, so getting a bigger controller will probably not make a material difference to your battery charge.

 

[peterc10]

You had the old LR1218 not the LR1218.

I did at first but I changed it a few years later to the LRM 1218 which is the MPPT model.

 

[ben0069]

Autorouter
yes those are the figures I was using (voc and isc) thankyou for clearing that up for me.
And yes they are flat on my roof.
I have also read you have to leave headroom for the cold, how should I be working that out ?

 

[Jhmk2]

Sorry to hijack the thread. I've been reading through this and there seems to be a fair bit of knowledge and experience about this here.

I want to attach 2 x 100w solar panels to my schaudt ebl 99. The lrm 1218 is crazy expensive. Can I just get a victron smartsolar 75/15 for £50 and a 3 pin mate n lok plug to attach it to my ebl? I appreciate it won't charge the vehicle battery but the schaudt is over £300 currently. I know there's also the votronic mpp 260 duo option, but that's about £150.

I'm wonder how much I really need to charge my leisure battery. If necessary, I could get a second victron to charge the vehicle battery and plug in a suitcase panel if I was leaving it for a while...?

Thanks

 

[tonka]

Sorry to hijack the thread. I've been reading through this and there seems to be a fair bit of knowledge and experience about this here.

I want to attach 2 x 100w solar panels to my schaudt ebl 99. The lrm 1218 is crazy expensive. Can I just get a victron smartsolar 75/15 for £50 and a 3 pin mate n lok plug to attach it to my ebl? I appreciate it won't charge the vehicle battery but the schaudt is over £300 currently. I know there's also the votronic mpp 260 duo option, but that's about £150.

I'm wonder how much I really need to charge my leisure battery. If necessary, I could get a second victron to charge the vehicle battery and plug in a suitcase panel if I was leaving it for a while...?

Thanks

I have the EBL220 and originally had the LR1218 running through the EBL.. I later changed it to a Votronic MPPT regulator, made some difference but not huge..

Following an upgrade to lithium batteries I took out the solar regulator from the EBL...
Instead have gone with the Victron and wired direct to the leisure batteries, works a treat and its nice to have the bluetooth to see what the solar is producing.. My tip, go Victron direct. Fit as big panels and regulator as you can and budget allows. I got 2 x Echoworth 170w (so 340 total) for £112 off ebay when they do their 20% deal. Add in a battery master type box to charge your engine battery off your leisure.. I went with the CBE as quite a few recommended it on here.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/38685550...pid=5339023013&customid=&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

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[autorouter]

I want to attach 2 x 100w solar panels to my schaudt ebl 99. The lrm 1218 is crazy expensive. Can I just get a victron smartsolar 75/15 for £50 and a 3 pin mate n lok plug to attach it to my ebl? I appreciate it won't charge the vehicle battery but the schaudt is over £300 currently.

Yes that should be fine. The 200W of solar panels will be flat, ie not tilted, so you are unlikely to see much more than 80% of 200W. That's about 13A of solar, which should be OK going through the EBL connectors. Any more than that and it would be better to go directly to the battery, bypassing the EBL. Don't forget you need a fuse in the 'Solar' slot for any solar power to get to the batteries.

A popular method to keep the vehicle battery topped up is to connect a DC-DC battery maintainer, which trickle-charges the vehicle battery from the leisure battery. Usually it doesn't take much to keep it topped up. You usually arrive at the campsite, back home or back at the storage site with a full vehicle battery after a long drive, so it's just a matter of keeping it topped up, not actively charging it.

There are many brands of battery maintainer, including the Battery Master from VanBitz, and also from Ablemail, and most of the electrics brands like CBE and Schaudt/Lippert do their own version.

 

[Jhmk2]

Thanks both for your help. That makes sense. The main reason I was thinking of going through the EBL really was that there's space for a solar regulator the passenger seat with the ebl, but i have 2 leisure batteries under the drivers seat. so it would be a simpler job to wire it to the ebl than trying to route it under the floor with the other cables. I'm still a little bit hesitant about sticking solar panels to the roof after I pulled off some of the paintwork with a fairly low powered pressure washer and after it was so challenging to get anyone to insure the van without any changes to it. One option is to wire up a project box with sockets to plug in portable panels, though I know that would be a bit faffy. But I figured if I could get the solar charging working I can always add fixed panels on the roof later. Though I take tonka's point about wanting as much solar as possible, so maybe getting a bigger regulator than I currently need, straight to the batteries, might future-proof the set-up. Sorry - thinking as I type!