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travelgravel avatar image
travelgravel asked

Charge Controller Stopped Functioning

I have 2 12v 160W solar panels wired in parallel. They are wired to my batteries and a MPPT 100/50 SmartSolar Charge controller. The system has been working fine for the last two weeks since I set it up. Yesterday, however, I came out to find that the victron connect app is showing no wattage or voltage coming into the charge controller from the panels. I have measured the current coming in from the solar panels and there is no problem there. They are showing the voltage i expect. The polarity is correct from the battery connection as well as the solar panels to the charge controller and has never been connected wrong. My charge controller is showing no error code on the led light. The bulk led is flashing once every 3 seconds.


Did my charge controller go bad?

VictronConnectSolar Panelerrorsmart solar set-up help
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klim8skeptic avatar image klim8skeptic ♦ commented ·

Hi

"The bulk led is flashing once every 3 seconds." Sounds like low voltage and the controller isn't turning on.

"I have 2 12v 160W solar panels wired in parallel." Wire your panels in series and report back.

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travelgravel avatar image travelgravel klim8skeptic ♦ commented ·

I will try that however that doesn't make much sense to me. Everything worked fine for two weeks and then in the middle of they day it just stopped working.

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3 Answers
Daniel avatar image
Daniel answered ·

Hi


Could it be possible that you accidentally turned off the charging over the app?. In the menu Battery is such an option. My SmartMPPT 75/15 does the same when It's deactivated.

By the way. If your open Circuit Voltage added together isn't higher than 100V you could connect the pannels in series. More efficient because there's lower current between the Pannels and the Charger.


Greetings

-Daniel

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travelgravel avatar image travelgravel commented ·

I originally wired them in parallel as they are on a moving vehicle. If one was shaded the other panel would still operate at full capacity but I will try running them in series and see if that helps. I'll check the app again to see if I accidentally turned something off.

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Martin Coetzee avatar image
Martin Coetzee answered ·

Are you connected to a VRM port ? it should give you a error there. I had that once and the MPPT set itself to a lower voltage and then gave a overvolt error and switched off. i manually set it back to 48V .

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travelgravel avatar image travelgravel commented ·

Vrm port? I have been using the app. I don't have the dongle that is sold by victron.

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adev avatar image
adev answered ·

“Note (*1): The bulk LED will blink briefly every 3 seconds when the system is powered but there is insufficient power to start charging”

“PV voltage must exceed Vbat + 5V for the controller to start. Thereafter minimum PV voltage is Vbat + 1V.”

What is the PV voltage and battery voltage?

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travelgravel avatar image travelgravel commented ·

The battery is sitting at 12 volts right now but when fully charged sit at 14.4. The voltage coming in from the panels is around 19

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