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warren-b asked

SmartSolar MPPT 150/85 VE.Can - No current flow in Bulk with PV at VOC

I have a SmartSolar MPPT 150/85 VE.Can connected to 6 320W Renogy solar panels wired in 2 parallel series of 3 panels on an RV. I have 15A fuses on each string and a 25A circuit breaker in between the fuses and the MPPT charger. The new system has worked fine for weeks, until one morning after a day of the charger being in float mode for most of the day, both 15A fuses were blown, but the 25A breaker was not tripped. I also noticed that the charger said that the PV Array voltage was within a volt of the battery bank when the array was actually at 0V and/or completely disconnected.

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After replacing the fuses, the charger seemed to work for the rest of the day. By the next day, one of the 15A fuses was blown. Part way through the following day, the charger stopped charging altogether even though no fuses were blown or circuit breakers tripped.

Now, when the charger is in bulk mode during the day, it reports the battery voltage and PV array voltage but no (<5W) of actual charging, At night, it still reports a PV array voltage of approximately the battery bank voltage.

mppt.jpg


MPPT Controllersbattery charging
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10 Answers
codingparadox avatar image
codingparadox answered ·

For me I had to get an RMA and the new unit never had the problem again.

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codingparadox avatar image
codingparadox answered ·

Did you ever figure this out?

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mscn avatar image mscn commented ·
I'm interested in this aswell, since my SmartSolar 100/50 stopped working too a few days ago.

Showing nearly battery voltage when no pv is connected, showing module voltage when connected to them but still no amperage/loading.

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cide976 avatar image cide976 mscn commented ·
I also need an answer to this. I have drained my batteries down to like 66% and my Multiplus is still not telling my MPPT to charge them and I can't figure out why. All the settings are correct based on what Battleborn suggests (absorption 28.8, float 27.20). The CC shows 90v 0amps regardless of how much charge is in the batteries. I can plug the shore power in and the multiplus switches to charging and it fills them back up, but it won't charge them from the PV. It's maddening. Especially since in the history it shows one day a couple weeks ago where it did function as expected and never since then.
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Alexander Breitenbach avatar image
Alexander Breitenbach answered ·

Similar problem with MPPT250ies.


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Adam Hanafi avatar image
Adam Hanafi answered ·

I had the same issue today and my 100/50 went up in magic smoke after only 6 weeks of use

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Paul B avatar image Paul B commented ·
Adam, these Items do not blow up ussually unless your PV string voltage is two high. As per your other posts re your Multiplus issue - I sugest that you seak profesional advise about your setup , and or supply some detailed diagrams of how everything you have purchased has been setup,
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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ Paul B commented ·
Including panel specs
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3dclassen avatar image
3dclassen answered ·

I have a similar issue with just one MPPT 100/50.
It worked perfectly fine for more than a year, but now it halts charging for some reason. Nothing changed. If I switch the MPPT off and on again, it charges a while and then stops charging again.

It seems that this could be a SW/FW bug...as I didn´t change anything!

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kaypea avatar image kaypea commented ·
Did you actually find out the cause? I'm having the same problem with a SmartSolar MPPT 250/70.. This is a new system I have and its doing the same.
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messy avatar image
messy answered ·

Seems like software to me. my 100/50 and 100/30 are also not charging. i stopped getting charge a little while back without changing any settings

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frankych avatar image
frankych answered ·

Same Problem here. After one year without Problems my 100/50 stoped going to Bulk. Victron asked me to send it to them what I did yesterday. Waiting for answer. To be one the safe side I bought also a new one. This shows the same :-(

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Stewart Hanford avatar image
Stewart Hanford answered ·

make sure your ground wire from the controller battery negative is connected to a ground. seen it before every thing looks as if it is working but is not in fact if you turn off the power from the solar panels you will lose the controller all together.


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joshix avatar image joshix commented ·

MPPTs (below 450) are not isolated - means if you ground the negative side - you put PV-Array minus on ground. Did you mean that?

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kaypea avatar image
kaypea answered ·

Similar here with a 250/70 smart solar - works fine and then for no obvious reason it just stops charging (down to zero amps) even though its a nice sunny day.

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abuhanzala avatar image
abuhanzala answered ·

It sounds like your SmartSolar MPPT system is experiencing issues:

  1. Blown Fuses: This could indicate a sudden surge or short. Check all wiring and connections for any issues.
  2. Array Voltage Anomaly: If the MPPT is reading array voltage close to battery voltage when disconnected, there might be an internal issue with the controller.

Inspect the wiring, MPPT controller, and consider replacing the fuses. If the issue persists, contact Victron support for further help.

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