question

austdav1 avatar image
austdav1 asked

100/50 charge controller limiting output to less than 50%

Good morning victron community


Installation:

4 x 175w panels

1 x Victron 100/50 charge controller

1 x blue sea system fuse holder with maxi blade 50A fuse

4 x US batteries 100AH 6v lead acid batteries


The cable run from PV to charge controller is approximately 5.5m of AWG 6 (16mm²) The cable run from charge controller to fuse and then batteries is about 0.5m of AWG 8 (10mm²)

Please see poorly drawn diagram of my system


I installed this system a little over 1 year ago myself on our sailing boat and have seen constantly great performance. Initially I ran the panels as a 24v system but chose to change to 12v as there is quite frequently a small shadow area on the panels from our mast, radar or wind generator that inhibited performance (this was all done at the time of installation).


In the last 2 days the output has dropped by approximately 50% even though the charge controller LED is showing bulk. In my investigation I have checked all connections and cables from the panels to the batteries and found all to be in good condition. I also checked ..... yep the sun is shining, hahaha. The only issue I could find was that the charge controller itself was hot, so i disconnected the PV to let the unit cool down. I also replaced the 50A blade fuse with the idea that this may be causing resistance between charge controller and batteries.


Unfortunately so far nothing I have done has returned the system to its previous performance. I have spoken to a Victron dealer nearby who recommended a factory reset and firmware update for the controller.


I understand that these units will thermally restrict output when hot, will they automatically revert to 100% performance when cooled down again or would they need input from me to reset?

Would a firmware update help with this issue as I have no way of connecting to the charge controller? (Its hard to get parts like a bluetooth dongle or data cable in remote French Polynesia)

Is there a way to factory reset the unit without a method of connecting to it?

Any help is very much appreciated


20210521-161435.jpg



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1 Answer
Paul B avatar image
Paul B answered ·

test this

when all panels are in full sun

check battery voltage at the controller and at the battery, both should be about the same

with a clamp DC amp meter test the output of each panel by putting the clamp meter over one of panels output wires and do this for all the panels the output amps should be the same.

or

another test is to disconnect 3 panels. check the reading form one panel and then do this for all 4 panels, make sure that only one is running at a time. all readings should be about the same

some pictures of the the outputs via the victron connect app would be nice, or buy if the unit is non blue tooth bluesolar unit then maybe purchase a bluetooth dongle so you can see the panel details and the battery output details, you also get to see the last 30 days of history as well


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