Solar panel help needed!

[JFD]

Hi,

We have recently changed our motorhome - a bit of an “impulse buy”, to be honest, but we got fed up with the bed in our old Moho - a French bed in the back corner, beside the bathroom. Our new (to us) A-class buy had a mid bathroom, and central bed at the back!!

We had a holiday already planned, going to see relatives in Switzerland, then some touring, before a leisurely return trip. The vehicle had no solar capability, so our local garage fitted a single panel for us, with an EP Solar controller. All went well, and we had no issues at all, apart from the fact that the rear view/reversing camera decided to start acting up on the way down - my wife delighted in taking photos of me on the roof, hanging over the back, screwdriver in hand, effecting a temporary repair!!

On returning to the UK, we had a lot to do, so left the motorhome outside the house for a couple of weeks, during which time, the vehicle battery became completely flat! A little investigation showed that the solar panel had only been fitted to charge the leisure battery, not both leisure and starter, as was the case with our previous vehicle!

Enquiries with the local garage elicited the fact that our motorhome apparently has a Sergent panel, and they don’t install dual battery charging when there is a Sergent panel!!!

Does anyone know what the issue with Sergent panels is, whether it can be overcome and, if so, how?

Any assistance gratefully received, as always!!!

 

[Campervan_man]

Do You mean Sargent Control Unit ?
If so a Dual Charge Controller can be fitted.
There is usually a 3 wire white plug buried under the Sargent Control Unit ready to plumb in to.
If the 3 wire plug isn't there you can still have a dual Charge Control unit.
Half the battle with motorhomes is finding the pre-wired stuff that manufacturers do there best to hide.

 

[JFD]

Hi, I am told that the control panel above the door, that turns on such things as the water pump, internal lights, and gives indications of the amount of grey/fresh water on board is a Sergent panel!

 

[scotzsue]

Photo of panel would help, but we had a sargeant 'controller' and 2 leisure batteries can't remember the make of panel though present and last van control panel and fuse box were same make though.

 

[AXO66]

There also gadgets that send excess leccy to the starter battery when the lesuire (habitation battery) is fully charged .
cbe do one as do vanbitz with their battery master.
we have one recently installed, but lockdown has meant we haven’t seen how it works in real life.. no reason to think it won’t as it’s been around quite a few years.
might be an option to look at.

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

 

[Campervan_man]

Nope.
If You have a solar Panel on the roof the usual fit is a single charge controller to charge the leisure battery.
A Dual Charge Controller charges both the leisure battery and the engine battery on a variable or 50/50 basis.

 

[Campervan_man]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-...0001&campid=5338547443&icep_item=273489003330

 

[Wagoneer]

If your van is the Pilote as per your avatar then you possibly have a CBE system. Perhaps you could confirm the make of your current van.

 

[JFD]

The solar panel controller that was installed is one of these:

Which I believe is designed to charge two batteries.

As to a picture of the Sergent panel, I will take a picture tomorrow, of the front, in case someone can identify it from the layout.

 

[JFD]

Present van is a Pilote Aventura G730 A class, vintage 2008.

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

 

[Campervan_man]

Set choice 5 using the on off button that will charge both batteries equally.

 

[jollyrodger]

The solar panel controller that was installed is one of these:
View attachment 379596
Which I believe is designed to charge two batteries.

As to a picture of the Sergent panel, I will take a picture tomorrow, of the front, in case someone can identify it from the layout.

I have the identical regulator charging both the bank of aux batteries and starter batteries.
But on an older van .
Keeps everything sweet .wired direct to batteries.

 

[autorouter]

Usually the starter battery does not require very much in the way of charging. You arrive at the camp site or stopping place after a drive which charges the starter battery fully. So all that is required is something to trickle charge it, to compensate for self-discharge and small current drains like an alarm and tracker. A trickle charge of one amp is quite sufficient.

Since you have a 'dual solar controller', with two outputs, one can be configured to send a small charge to the starter battery. I don't think there is any reason why a Sargent power management system will have a problem with that.

 

[Brains]

We have a Battery Master fitted.
Which charges bother engine and leisure batteries from the solar panel

 

[GeoffnDee]

If the ECU (with the fuses and charger switch) is a Sargent unit it may already have a method built in that you can set to charge both batteries with the solar system.If you check out the Sargent electrical website there is a manuals section which shows if yours has this fitted in your unit and explains how to set it.

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

 

[BOWHOUSE52]

Talking of solar panels as anyone used midsummer 200w monocrystaline solar panals if so are they any good

 

[Tony50]

If the ECU (with the fuses and charger switch) is a Sargent unit it may already have a method built in that you can set to charge both batteries with the solar system.If you check out the Sargent electrical website there is a manuals section which shows if yours has this fitted in your unit and explains how to set it.

What I suggest is get a competent Motorhome Electrons to fix it, I bought 2 X 100 watt panels a MCCT Controller ( I think it's what it's called) + Inverter + a charge monitor had fitted by a proper electrons in Suffolk called Tony Sparrow ,we use the system for hair dryer !! Hair Straightener, low watt kettle cooking on a hot plate , (not all at the same time ) and it keeps the vehicle battery charger up ?

 

[Mr Librium]

Hi, my Sargent control panel has an input for a solar panel.
The input plug is a four way plug but only two are connected(I have actually purchased the correct lead from Sargent which only has two wires connected).
The Sargent unit I have fitted(EC328) charges both the leisure batteries and the engine battery from the solar panel without the need for an external charge controller. Works a treat now after finding out that the original electrical installer had connected the polarity the wrong way around so couldn't work.

3.3 Solar Panel Converter
The EC328PSU incorporates a built-in dual channel Solar Regulator that allows the direct connection
of a 20 to 120W solar panel without the need for additional components. The dual regulator charges
both the vehicle and leisure batteries simultaneously and connects to the PSU via a dedicated
connector on the base of the unit (see section 6.5 for connector details).
A connection harness is available from your dealer or the Sargent web site.

 

[PhilandMena]

The Sargent PSU (i.e. EC500) is designed to maintain both Habitation batteries and Cab batteries when on hook up or when connected to a Solar Panel. The Solar Panel control is factory fitted at the back of the P. S. U. and is rated at 10 Amps. I'm not sure what unit you have fitted but you should be guided by the handbook for the Sargent Unit which can also be downloaded from their site for free.
My advice for you going forward is 'do it once and do it right' A, You can not have enough solar power. B, make sure your controller is set up for the type of batteries you have installed. C, Your charging power is going to be sufficiant for your present and future needs, i.e. Inverter usage, Fridge, etc., etc.,

 

[Chris CM]

I have one of these, https://sterling-power.com/products/battery-to-battery-charger-maintainer,

used in conjunction with my Victron mppt solar controller, works a treat to keep the vehicle battery fully charged.

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

 

[JFD]

Thanks for all the feedback. I will see if any of the local mobile guys are available to look at the solar setup!

 

[John Cheetham]

The solar panel controller that was installed is one of these:
View attachment 379596
Which I believe is designed to charge two batteries.

As to a picture of the Sergent panel, I will take a picture tomorrow, of the front, in case someone can identify it from the layout.

We had exactly same problem. But that unit in the picture will work perfectly. Ours was already set up to do a 50:50 charge, so just wire up the second output to your Starter Battery via a 10 Amp fuse. I did it myself. The only difficulty was finding a routing from the Controller to the Starter Battery. But works perfectly. No idea why our Installer/Supplier didn't do it when we bought it.

 

[Ian Bosman]

The solar panel controller that was installed is one of these: My own van a EuraMobil Terrestra has exactly the same controller. Installed by myself two years ago from a well know solar panel supplier for Moho's. You will notice at the base that there are three sets of terminals. The central one connects to the solar panel and the other two are for the two batteries. If you have only one connected it is a fairly simple(!!) mater of running a suitable cable from the unused terminal to the unconnected battery. Make sue that you use heavy wire, I recall that mine is 4mm for the 120 watt panel. Routing the cable is a bit of a time consuming task working out how to get it from the controller to the battery. The controller has nothing to do with the Moho's electrical panel, this is a self contained system you have. Also ensure you overestimate the length of cable as you may have to vary the planned route due to unforeseen problems
View attachment 379596
Which I believe is designed to charge two batteries.

As to a picture of the Sergent panel, I will take a picture tomorrow, of the front, in case someone can identify it from the layout.

 

[Ian Bosman]

The solar panel controller that was installed is one of these: Another thought, if you look at the right hand end there is a another terminal underneath for a data cable, this is designed for a remote display device, mine came with a flat data cable 10metres, I will try to find the details to include later. This shows the amount of charge the panel is generating and the state of charge of each battery and the ratio of which gets which ie 50:50 which works alongside the Moho's display from CBE.
View attachment 379596
Which I believe is designed to charge two batteries.

As to a picture of the Sergent panel, I will take a picture tomorrow, of the front, in case someone can identify it from the layout.

 

[Dave Flegg]

Do You mean Sargent Control Unit ?
If so a Dual Charge Controller can be fitted.
There is usually a 3 wire white plug buried under the Sargent Control Unit ready to plumb in to.
If the 3 wire plug isn't there you can still have a dual Charge Control unit.
Half the battle with motorhomes is finding the pre-wired stuff that manufacturers do there best to hide.

Exactly how mine was wired by myself. Sargent were very helpful when I contacted them and even sent me diagrams showing where to connect the solar lead (in line with) their wiring loom that they sold me. Made it really easy to add the dual solar regulator on the end of a wiring loom. Almost plug and play.

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

 

[Ian Bosman]

This is the Remote display unit https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1901294431...-8MLJVYSkxIszv85zonnb6wWUUbl7IG0aAqLVEALw_wcB Copy and paste to see it

 

[JFD]

Tried simple set up for the vehicle battery yesterday, heavy cable from controller to vehicle battery, just the positive side, as both batteries share the chassis as common. Took about a nanosecond to blow the 10A fuse I had placed as a safety measure!! Will see what mobile motorhome mechanics are around in the Surrey area!!

 

[Campervan_man]

You have to wire it up to the solar charge controller inputs.
+ and - to battery 1
+ and - to battery 2
You can use a common earth but you have to earth both outlets of the solar charge controller.
If your solar panel on the roof is bigger than 100W maybe that is why the 10A fuse blew.

 

[Wagoneer]

Will see what mobile motorhome mechanics are around in the Surrey area!!

Bilbo's, South Godstone, A22 are near you. They may have an autoelectrician who is prepared to come and visit.

Many years ago, one of their mechanics did some work on my VW campervan on a private basis.

 

[Ian Bosman]

Tried simple set up for the vehicle battery yesterday, heavy cable from controller to vehicle battery, just the positive side, as both batteries share the chassis as common. Took about a nanosecond to blow the 10A fuse I had placed as a safety measure!! Will see what mobile motorhome mechanics are around in the Surrey area!!

As the other post says, you must not rely on the vehicle return earth but wire it in both pos and neg from the control panel to the battery. This should not affect the fuse blowing

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