[tdw]

Some of you may have seen my recent thread(s) re generators and solar panels.

This came about because our system seems to be losing the power in v power out battle.

This really came to a head last week when our solar array seemed to die. Alas dead it is.

Question is why and where lies the fault ?

Presumably the panels themselves do not simply stop working ?

Possibility of course that there is a poor or broken connection between the panels and the regulator. Check voltage with a multi meter where cables go into the regulator. Backtrack from there.

Possibility of course that regulator has died. Its only two years old and more than adequate in size.

If we have output power at the regulator then possibility of fault in the Mastervolt system or a loose/broken connection somewhere in there.

Anyone have any thoughts ?

 

[Capt Len]

A check of voltage present at the disconnected panel should be indicative. Of course the sun should be shining at this time.

 

[tdw]

Oh crap ... you mean they don't work in the rain ? Ha ... next you'll be trying to convince me that Wind Generators don't work in a dead calm.

 

[fryewe]

On the couple of occasions I have lost solar input the cause has been my own lack of attention to detail while making good connections at the controller. Good luck with your troubleshooting.

 

[tdw]

fryewe ... thanks. That will be my first port of call but I also disconnected the panels at the panels when I installed a new cockpit shade cloth last year. Quite possible that one of these connections have come adrift.

 

[Classic30]

A, it's really just a matter of checking each of the connections with a multimeter and going from there. First thoughts would be a loose connection or a blown fuse. Start by checking volts either side of the regulator (on a sunny day) and you should see battery volts on the output side and ~14 volts or so on the panel side.

It is quite possible for a faulty regulator to take out the panels but hopefully your issue is simpler than that... oh, and make sure you don't have anything (like a loose rope or part of a cover) covering any part of the panels - some panels simply won't output unless all of the cells are exposed to sunlight.

Good luck.

 

[tdw]

On board over the weekend and my damned multi meter isn't working. Damn.

Otoh .... regulator LEDs are working so something is happening. The regulator is a Morningstar Tristar 45 which I believe is a quality unit. Has three LEDs ... Red, Amber, Green. Green is off. Red and Amber on. According to manual that indicates batteries at less than 40% charge yet Mastervolt panel reads 90%.

I am really confused.

 

[btrayfors]

Forget the Mastevolt. Read MaineSail's posts on battery monitors.

Why don't you take some measurements with a good multimeter, THEN ask your questions?

All we have to go on now is, "help...my solar system doesn't work"

Otherwise, we could go on guessing all week.

Bill

 

[hellosailor]

As my friend Julius said two thousand years ago, "Divide and conquer."

Works just as well on silicon life forms as it did on Gauls.

With all the individual cells in a panel, they can't all die at once. So, you disconnect the panel from everything else and see if there's any output, and how much. Could be a bad connection, at the box or in the array. Could be water got in and shorted things out. Your job is to find the broken link the chain--literally--and fix it.

If the panel IS putting out...then it is on to check each subsequent component and connection. Sometimes the oddest "Oh it can't be that" things are the ones that break it. Don't make any assumptions. Bad fuse, bad fuse holder, bad switch, bad solder joint, there WILL be a culprit.

 

[tdw]

Forget the Mastevolt. Read MaineSail's posts on battery monitors.

a - Why don't you take some measurements with a good multimeter, THEN ask your questions?

All we have to go on now is, "help...my solar system doesn't work"

Otherwise, we could go on guessing all week.

Bill

I don't think that's fair. Reality is that on occasions one can throw up a very vague question or description of a problem and someone else will in fact reply with a solution from their own experience.

Had my multi meter not gone on the blink (and it is or at least was an acceptable unit, not complete junk) I'd have done so this very weekend. Alas that was not to be.

Anywho, I am oh so deeply saddened and more than a little dismayed to realise that I have wasted your time and SailNet's bandwidth with my vague musing.

 

[Classic30]

On board over the weekend and my damned multi meter isn't working. Damn.

Otoh .... regulator LEDs are working so something is happening. The regulator is a Morningstar Tristar 45 which I believe is a quality unit. Has three LEDs ... Red, Amber, Green. Green is off. Red and Amber on. According to manual that indicates batteries at less than 40% charge yet Mastervolt panel reads 90%.

I am really confused.

A,
Bill does have a point.. It's time to invest in a new multi-meter and have another go at measuring voltages.

I learnt long ago that lights on MPPT chargers mean they have power and not much else because there are at least a hundred reasons why the manuals description doesn't stack up in practice.

The Tristar 45 has a bunch of switches for battery setting - are they set correctly? Are the 'battery sense' wires still connected at the battery bank??

 

[tdw]

A,
Bill does have a point.. It's time to invest in a new multi-meter and have another go at measuring voltages.

I learnt long ago that lights on MPPT chargers mean they have power and not much else because there are at least a hundred reasons why the manuals description doesn't stack up in practice.

The Tristar 45 has a bunch of switches for battery setting - are they set correctly? Are the 'battery sense' wires still connected at the battery bank??

Maybe he does but your info re the lights and manual description does at least further my knowledge.

Yep to the new multi meter that is for sure.
Pretty sure the dipole settings are correct, after all the thing has been working perfectly since it was installed two years back.

There doesn't seem to be any loose wires or connections.

 

[IStream]

I've got a Morningstar 60A MPPT controller. Most every connection large and small on that unit is made via screw terminals. Even before you get an new DMM to look for a bad connection between the solar panels and the controller, I'd go through and tighten all the Morningstar terminals just to see if something's loosened up.

 

[arf145]

Forget the Mastevolt. Read MaineSail's posts on battery monitors.

Why don't you take some measurements with a good multimeter, THEN ask your questions?

All we have to go on now is, "help...my solar system doesn't work"

Otherwise, we could go on guessing all week.

Bill

Well, that pretty much kills the rumor that the Moderators get special treatment here! Looks like btrayfors has succumbed to our incessant winter weather.

But really, don't we all at one time or another have a question where we don't have all the data yet, or access to our boat, but think "What the he11, maybe there's some obvious easy thing that explains this," so we ask? No harm there.

 

[tdw]

IStream .... will do. There where no obvious loose connections but well worth a second look.

Arf .... there is nothing in the SailNet rules that protect moderators from criticism. Any SailNetter is perfectly within their rights to post as BTrafors did. He may indeed, as I noted, have a point.



Anywho, more testing this weekend now that I have the multi meter working. Oh I do hoope its not a bad connection in the panel junction box(es) cos they are on our boat a right pain in the arse to get at.

Of course HelloSailor is correct.

Guess I was looking for the lazy way out.

 

[tdw]

As a bit of sideline to all this . Which does remain unsolved at the moment but ....

What would you expect to draw when both house and engine batteries are off ?

(Disclaimer .... I am electrically incompetent beyond being able to wire a plug and change a lamp.)

I've never noticed this before, largely because solar system has hidden it but with everything off we are negative by 1 Amp. Is that surprising ?

 

[night0wl]

As a bit of sideline to all this . Which does remain unsolved at the moment but ....

What would you expect to draw when both house and engine batteries are off ?

(Disclaimer .... I am electrically incompetent beyond being able to wire a plug and change a lamp.)

I've never noticed this before, largely because solar system has hidden it but with eveything off we are negative by 1 Amp. Is that surprising ?

With everything off, I draw .10 amp (a tenth of what you draw). I traced that to rows of LEDs that are the backlight to my electrical panel. You have some current thats leaking!

Culprits:
> Stereo (memory function for presets)
> Battery monitors themselves...but 1 amp is huge for that
> Relays/battery joiners/isolaters

These leaks are a pain to track down. YOu have to find the item thats taking current...one by painstaking one until you find the wire on the panel or bank joiner/isolater that is shows the leak.

 

[hellosailor]

What Owl said.

If you're showing one amp, then either you've got a large drain, or the gizmo you're measuring it with is out of whack.

So check the amperage you're really pulling, then make sure every individual breaker is shut as well. And if you're still pulling power, look for whatever hasn't been cut off by the breaker panel.

"Divide and conquer".

Disconnect anything that's wired direct to the batteries, i.e. bilge pump. Check it with an ammerter or test light. Something's gonna be live.

 

[tdw]

OK .... I may have had a Homer Simpson moment. Pulled our cockpit canopy to pieces on the weekend to access the main Solar Panel connections. Reading in excess of 17volts so it is not the panels themselves. Then tried tracing all the wiring from panel to regulator though in my naivity I thought it was an unbroken run until I stumbled on this. It is tucked up in the cockpit locker, pretty much out of sight.



The exact thing does not appear on the BSS website but that's a circuit breaker isn't it ? Presumably I've found the problem but I am wondering why or what would cause those breakers to pop. I want to be sure before I throw those switches. Each switch is wired back to individual panel so I doubt it is because of faulty panel(s).

 

[Capt Len]

Once upon a time I wanted to work on some 12 volt wiring in the engine room so I threw the main either neither to make it safe; Working away with a 110 extension light ,I notice the engine room lights were still on. Took a bit of pondering until I figured the solar panel was driving things..Mabe that's what those breakers are for.