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dutchy1208 avatar image
dutchy1208 asked

SmartSolar 100/30 Not Charging-- Previously working

Good morning. Sorry for long post, but wanted to provide all details. I am currently having problem with my Victron 100/30 SmartSolar controller not proving watts from my rooftop solar panels to my LiFePO4 batteries on my travel trailer. This has being going on for the last 5 days, and I have yet to come up with a solution to my problem. Previously, this same solar controller was providing great watts to my Lithium batteries.

Whether related or not, I did change out my battery monitor from a previous battery monitor to a BMV-712. This battery monitor does appear to be working well, and the settings are per the battery manufacturer. In addition to my rooftop solar, I also have portable solar panels which are plugged into the same system using a separate SmartSolar 75/10 Victron Solar Controller. Both rooftop and portable solar panels have being working well together on our current travels. Now only the portable solar panels are providing solar power.

Current System

Two 100AM LiFeSO4 batteries connected in series

BMV712

SmartSolar 100/30 connected to 480 watts of rooftop solar panels wired in series (Not working)

SmartSolar 75/10 connected to 300 watts of portable solar panels wired in series (Working)

Troubleshooting Performed

  1. All rooftop solar panel wires (via MC4 connectors) were checked for proper connection. Solar panel voltage on the rooftop currently show 58v at the solar entry point, and at the PV connections at the SmartSolar connection point. The 480 watts of rooftop solar panels are wired in series too.
  2. SmartSolar 100/30 is grounded to the entry post from the negative post of the battery (2 ft wire)
  3. The battery voltage readings from the BMV712 all currently show the same voltage, currently at 12.1 volts indicating the network appears to be working correctly. My multimeter readings are consistent with the BMV readings.
  4. What I do see on my SmartSolar 100/30 controller is the blue LED is blinking. According to page 38 of the current Victron 100/30 manual, it states “The bulk LED will blink briefly every 3 seconds when the system is powered but there is insufficient power to start charging.” but not sure why the blue LED is blinking. Rooftop solar has been present over different periods over the last several days, including driving under sunlight while moving to a different campground, so there should have been plenty of opportunities to receive enough power to work. The voltage has always been +5 volts to initially start the solar controller, the rooftop solar panels are wired in series.
  5. As mentioned above, a PV voltage is 50 volts or higher, but no solar power which could indicate a problem with my negative wire connection, but have yet to find an unconnected negative circuit connection.
  6. All firmware for all Victron devices are up to date.
  7. I have done maybe 4 hard resets of the 100/30 Solar Controller, removing battery connections and PV connections. Waiting at least 2 minutes before reconnecting the battery wires, allowing a few more minutes to be connected before reconnecting the PV wires each time. Again no change in solar wattage.
  8. Rotary switch is set to 7 for Lithium
  9. Unplugged portable Victron SolarController to so system would not see the voltage from the portable solar panels, and hopefully wake up the 100/30 rooftop solar. No change, still no wattage from the rooftop 100/30 SC
  10. BMV was programed when initially plugged into shore power to ensure Li batteries were at 100%
  11. All fuses and circuit breakers checked as good

Given the information above, I don’t know if I have broken or ineffective 100/30 solar controller or some other problem I have not identified yet. My Victron Solar controller is about 4 years old now.

Any suggestions on what to try or to confirm the lack of solar power would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Mark

MPPT Controllers
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3 Answers
Justin Cook avatar image
Justin Cook answered ·

This site has been having a few issues recently so I'm not sure if it'll currently let you post any photos, but could you try posting a photo of your setup, or a diagram? There's also a couple elements that you could either clarify or specify, depending on if you've already checked them or not:

1. You mention 2 LFP batteries "in series", but you also say your BMV is reporting 12.1v; typically a series bank would be 24vNom, so we'd expect to see somewhere >25.6v. You may have meant 2 batteries in parallel, so still 12vNom, but even then an LFP bank would typically be resting between 12.8v and 13.2v or higher - but that's dependent on a lot of things as well. This is where either a photo or diagram may be of assistance in diagnosis.

2. I see you've checked for proper vPV at the suspect MPPT's input terminals - while you were there, did you also verify proper polarity of the PV input? That's sometimes a thing that's easy to miss, and while it wouldn't cause damage to the controller, the controller also wouldn't do anything with it - if the PV input polarity had been inadvertently reversed while changing things around, the controller just wouldn't "see" the incoming voltage.

3. Did you happen to already check for proper vBat at the suspect controller's "Battery" terminals? You should see battery bank voltage at the controller's Battery terminals when it's not charging (give or take maybe a tenth or so). For example, if you take your multimeter and measure your battery bank voltage and it's 13.6v, you should be able to measure the same at the controller's Battery terminals - if you see a big variation between the two points, then you have a bad connection one way or another between the controller and the battery bank. This could be a loose connection, a poor crimp, or a blown or degraded fuse or breaker between the two, any of which could easily occur accidentally during the switchover of your wiring when you added the BMV-712.

4. Just as a note, you mention the controller connected to the battery negative post - hopefully that's a misstatement, as once you add a BMV-712 or other battery monitor to the system, absolutely nothing can be connected to your battery bank negative other than the "battery" side of the shunt. When adding a shunt-based battery monitor to a system, one must move all system negatives from the battery negative -including system grounds, chassis grounds, and load and charger negatives- to the "loads and chargers" side of the shunt.

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dutchy1208 avatar image
dutchy1208 answered ·

I did try several times to upload some screenshots but had difficulty.

Question 1: I mistyped, my batteries are linked in parallel, NOT series as I had typed. Good catch.

Question 2: Polarity is correct for both battery and PV post on the Victron 100/30 SC

Question 3: Yes, I had checked each battery for voltage and it was the same as the battery voltage at the SC. This is true when I have the BMV networked with the two SC's. When I remove the solar controllers from the network, they read the PV voltage. I will check later today when back at our trailer to confirm. Currently, I do not have any of the Victron devices on a network.

Question 4. I worded my statement wrong. All loads and charger negative connections are attached to the "loads & chargers" side of the BMV Battery monitor shunt as noted in the directions. Only one 00 AWG cable runs from the left pole of the battery shunt to the negative pole of the battery bank. Good catch and I reworded to clarify.

When I return to the trailer, I will try again to upload photos to help clarify the questions.


Given I have two seperate Victron Solar controllers, with only the portable SC providing wattage at this time, should I have all Victron devices on the same Network?

Much appreciative of you responding.

Mark

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Nicolas Trejahn avatar image
Nicolas Trejahn answered ·

> All firmware for all Victron devices are up to date.

I had similar problams with my 75|15, other users with their 100|20s. Back then a solution was to install a beta version whose changelog said something like "more friendly behaviour when solar is at max". After I updated to v1.64 the problems went away.

Link: MPPT 100-20 shuts off on a sunny day

Might not be helpful for you but I thought I'd give it a try anyway.

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