Will I have fused solar panel? (1 Viewer)

[Ingwe]

Repaced my 5 year old Varta leisure battery with the same model as fitted (LDS105). The van is in indoor storage and was on hook up with a smart charger connected. I turned off the hookup (and therefore the charger) before removing old battery and fitting new battery. What I didn't know one should do, is to remove the fuse to the solar panel.
Is it likely that I have damaged the solar panel (or blown the fuse) by connecting new battery without disconnecting the solar?
As van was indoors didn't even think about the solar panel. Only realised I should have when following a thread about changing leisure battery.
If solar fuse has blown, where is the fuse likey to be fitted? And what value will it be?
Thanks.

 

[pappajohn]

I doubt it has blown, especially being indoors.
What you should do now is disconnect the solar panel from the controller then connect the fully charged battery to the controller....then reconnect the panel.
This 'tells' the controller what the battery voltage is so it can provide the correct voltage.
The fuse is usually close to the battery....if one was fitted.

 

[Lenny HB]

Should be all OK but some solar regulators require the regulator connecting to the battery first then the panels connecting to it. So may be worth disconnecting the regulator then connect in the correct order.

 

[Ingwe]

Thanks Pappajohn and LennyHB. I'll need to go out to the van tomorrow and see if I can fathom how to disconnect the regulator. The solar panel and controller (a Sunworks dual battery) was fitted when we bought the van so unsure where the in line fuse will be. Would removing the fuse, in effect, be disconnecting the regulator? The spark who fitted all accessories to our van was apparently very good so I'm sure he would have fitted a fuse near to the leisure battery.

 

[Lenny HB]

Depends which side of the regulator it is, input or output.
You just need to disconnect one of the connections to the panel. This is from the Sunworks site if yours is the same either one of the two right hand side connections will do.

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[DBK]

I think you could just do it at night or cover the panel with a bit of cardboard if doing it in daylight. Then disconnect the battery, have a swig or two of tea, then reconnect.

 

[Ingwe]

Will go to van tomorrow and take it out for a run. Will then be able to see whether panel is working ok (by looking at the charging rate on the controller LCD panel).

 

[DBK]

Will go to van tomorrow and take it out for a run. Will then be able to see whether panel is working ok (by looking at the charging rate on the controller LCD panel).

Be careful. You won't know if the controller thinks you have a 24v system by just looking at the charge rate. If it thinks you do have a 24v system it will charge your batteries - then fry them.

 

[Ingwe]

@DBK- so what I should do whilst stll in storage is cover the panel, disconnect the battery, wait a while then reconnect the battery before goi g out? Sorry if I'm being thick!

 

[DBK]

@DBK- so what I should do whilst stll in storage is cover the panel, disconnect the battery, wait a while then reconnect the battery before goi g out? Sorry if I'm being thick!

In hindsight I'm not 100% sure my suggestion will work. It should, but the only safe way is to disconnect the panel first, connect the battery then reconnect the panel. I don't want to be responsible for causing damage.
Hopefully, others might chip in with comments.

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[tonyidle]

The solar controller electronics do not function without a power supply therefore whilst the battery is disconnected the controller is unable to regulate the output of the solar panel. So the controller and its electronics are subjected to whatever voltage the panel is putting out at the time. Given that you were indoors the panel output would not be high enough to cause any damage and the controller will be fine. However it would be wise to re-boot it (remove 12v battery connection then reconnect it) with the panel totally covered or disconnected which will allow the regulator to reset correctly and, as pointed out above, re-sense the battery voltage to which it is connected. Given the current level of sunlight it won't do any harm even if it does think you have a 24v battery but it's worth allowing it to reset before making any serious use of the van.

 

[Ingwe]

As both the vehicle battery and the leisure battery are charged by the solar panel, will I need to disconnect both batteries in order to allow the regulator to reset?