Solar problems

Kr@cken

Just got my T@B back from the dealer after having a Smart BVM battery monitor installed. Now apparently I have no solar after 3 days in the sun. My previous post was very confusing and I apologize. Is there something I should be doing differently. I can be very conservative with battery power for the next few days and be ok. I was just wondering if there is something simple I am misssing? I hope the photo uploaded this time.

Denny16

Sorry, no photo.  You need to wait and allow the photo to load, and you will see it on your screen before posting the comment.
cheers

Kr@cken

Denny16

You need to find your Solar MPPT Controller, probably in your tongue box where the battery is, and take a photo of it, to see if the wires are still connected from the solar panel to the controller and from the controller to the battery.  Since you are getting a battery voltage reading, the controller appears to be connected on that end.  The positive (+) wires from the solar controller need to go directly to the battery, and the negative (-) wire to the battery monitor shunt (ground/negative) connection.  
cheers

Kr@cken

Kr@cken

This might be a better photo. They are also new batteries.

Denny16

@Kr@cken You Need to take your TaB back to the dealer, it appears they disconnected your solar connections to the battery.  Where is the Blue Smart Solar MPPT unit?

It looks like this:

The wires labeled Batt (far left side) should connect directly to your battery, including the - wire, and not to the Smart Shunt the dealer installed.  The three lights on the bottom right show the charge status.  Try looking under the left dinette seat locker, see if they moved it there.
cheers

ColoradoJon

I'm pretty sure that if he wants to monitor the charge going into the batteries, the battery side of the solar controller negative needs to connect to the load side of the shunt.  The positive should connect directly to the battery positive terminal.

It's difficult to tell how things are wired from that pic.  It's too small, and we cannot see the charge controller in the pic, either.  What is the LED light status on the controller?

elbereth

So that display is for the solar charge controller, not the battery monitor.

Since you have the battery voltage on your display, it appears your solar controller is connected to the battery.  But the wires to your solar panels may not be correctly attached to the controller, since you’re showing 0W of solar charge. See @Denny16’s photo - my guess is, the “batt” wires are just fine, but something’s wrong with the “PV” wires (“PhotoVoltaic” - the wires to your solar panels).  Are they connected, with colors in the correct order like @Denny16’s photo? 

@ColoradoJon is right about the battery monitor shunt - to work correctly, all negative wires should connect to the shunt, and the single cable should connect from the shunt to the negative terminal of your battery.  

I can’t quite make it out in your picture, but it looks like your batteries are properly wired in series, with the negative pole of battery 1 connected to the positive pole of battery 2, all of the positive loads (via the battery off switch) connected to the positive pole of battery 1, and all of the negative loads coming off the negative pole of battery 2.

My next question is, did you get the BMV-712, with the display somewhere?  Is the display lit up?  Your shunt looks like the normal “dumb” shunt that connects to the 712’s display, which is what has the Bluetooth module to send signal to your phone.  Can you find the 712 in your Victron app?  If you thought you were getting the SmartShunt and there is no display, your dealer may have made a mistake.

Sorry you’re troubleshooting the dealer/installer’s error!  

Verna

Your solar controller may be under the driver side cushion, on the sale wall as the Alde and Air8 displays. 

Kr@cken

Found it. Had to wait for my granddaughter to wake up. I hope these photos are better. The controller blue light is flashing every 3-4 seconds. The Victron book’s font is impossible to read and the troubleshooting on the web is not very helpful. It sounds like this isn’t something I may be able to fix out here. I really appreciate your assistance.

MarkAl

If nothing else fixes this, try this. When I connected my second controller I rerouted the battery lines to clean it up and so I removed the factory installed controller to better get to the wires. I found a very poor wire connections into the controller. Your's may look good from the bad angle but you may find the wires not well connected if you remove the controller and inspect it...  Good luck.

Sharon_is_SAM

Anybody - it looks like there may be a fuse holder coming off the green PV wire at the controller.  If the fuse is bad or missing, would the VictronConnect display like this or would the volts be zero?

BrianZ

Wondering if you ever tapped on the displayed message asking "why is the charger off?".  I noticed the voltage shows a fully charged battery.  Also, the solar panel would need to be putting out at least 5V more than the battery in order to restart the charger.  So, I'm wondering if anything is actually wrong - maybe not.

The blinking blue LED seems to confirm this, or am I missing something?

Denny16

ColoradoJon said:

I'm pretty sure that if he wants to monitor the charge going into the batteries, the battery side of the solar controller negative needs to connect to the load side of the shunt.  The positive should connect directly to the battery positive terminal.

It's difficult to tell how things are wired from that pic.  It's too small, and we cannot see the charge controller in the pic, either.  What is the LED light status on the controller?

@C@ColoradoJon, I just doubled checked, (must have had a senior moment) but the MPPT solar Controller positive (+) batt wire goes directly to the battery, and the negative(-) via the Smart Shunt.  You are also correct in that all the “load” negative connections should also go to the Shunt, to get a correct battery load reading.  The Battery meter reading will still show the current battery state, amp draw and voltage, and the MPPT display will show the solar charge rate.  I agree it is hard to wirk out exactly what is wired to what in these photos.
cheers

Denny16

I am not sure how the dealer wired the MPPT, but all the factory installed units, even with the Battery Monitor, have the MPPT Bat wires connected directly to the battery terminals.  The above photos do not show this, the ground/- white wire is going to the shunt (?) and the hot/+ red wire may be part of the several red wires connected to the fused green jumper wire.  

The Shunt battery negative/- jumper wire should be the next size larger wire, since it has the load from the house 12VDC load center, plus the several additional white connections going to the shunt.  Currently it is the same gauge as the red battery switch house load center wire.  I needs to be sized to carry the entire trailer battery load.  

Not sure why the MPPT is off, mine still shows a current flow to the battery, even when the battery is at 13+VDC on the Battery Monitor.  Something is not right on this setup, and it needs to go back to the dealer to get corrected as @Kr@cken does not have the ability to fix this in the field.

@Kr@cken see my post photo below of what the Battery Monitor Shunt hookup looks like Since you have two 6VDC batteries in series, the Smart Shunt came with a mid-point monitor wire that goes to one the middle jump battery post.  While not required, it gives the battery monitor a look at what the charge state of the two individual batteries is, vs just showing the state of the pair.  If one battery fails, you will know sooner.

cheers

Kr@cken

Guess I need to tale it back to the dealer.

Denny16

I though of this, but in the first photo, it appeared to be somewhat sunny looking outside.  Now that it is daylight again, is it at least bright cloudy outside?  If so, the solar charger should be working, mine even works in cloudy lighting conditions and partial shade.  Push the trailer to get eye solar panels in some bright sun light, the green light should stop blinking and indicate a charge status,  if not, than their is still an issue somewhere in the wiring.
cheers

N7SHG_Ham

@Denny16 if your charge controller is bypassing the shunt, it is wired incorrectly. No way for the monitor to capture solar input to the battery bank otherwise. I think that is what you said, if not then my apologies.

MarkAl

@Sharon_is_SAM comment is very valid - on mine there is a fuse in line with the factory panel. If that is missing or open it would cause this problem.

As a side note I haven't heard or read any reason for this fuse here as the panel is incapable of sourcing more than 7 amps best case! Hopefully(?) Victron has internally short circuit protected this input.

Denny16

N7SHG_Ham said:

@Denny16 if your charge controller is bypassing the shunt, it is wired incorrectly. No way for the monitor to capture solar input to the battery bank otherwise. I think that is what you said, if not then my apologies.

No, I was initially wrong, got it mixed up.  Yes the MPPT negative goes to the shunt, see my corrected photo above, the white wire on the right side of the bus bar is the solar MPPT negative connection, the buss goes to the Shunt.
thanks

BrianZ

@Kr@cken, have you inspected the green/red wire coming out of the PV+ terminal of your controller?  Looking closely at your photo, it's hard to tell, but it almost looks like some bare wire showing in that ball of black, which I'm guessing is electrical tape.  Maybe the wiring is loose there, if you're only getting one volt showing and you think there should be enough light for more panel power.  You might have a loose crimp connector joining the wires.  Easy fix if you know how to join wires, but be careful.

Kr@cken

The last thing I crimped was my hair so I think I will just stop by the dealers on the way home. I can check the connections though. I have to keep my granddaughter amused while I an tinkering. Her last comment  was “Nana this sure used to easier in the tent.” Progress not perfection.

Denny16

Good idea anyway, the dealer put it in, the dealer can fix the issue they have created.  In the meantime, you can always hook up the TV, plug in the trailer and run the engine to charge the battery if needed.
cheers

N7SHG_Ham

I know the dealer should fix this, unfortunately a dealer often knows less than they should about 12v wiring, obvious if they already installed it wrong once.

Even a basic $10 multi-meter and screwdriver would of already determined if power is getting to charge controller from the panels and if the correct wires are in the correct place.

It is a pretty simple system, the charge controller either works or doesn't, power either gets from the panels to the charge controller or it doesn't and power either gets from the charge controller to the battery or it doesn't.

I troubleshoot by dividing and conquering the problem, so I would break connection at charge controller and measure both sets of wires with controller not in circuit. If voltage on wires from roof, then panels are working and wiring is good to controller. If voltage on wires to battery, then those are good. Hook both sets back up observing correct polarity which you just determined (as a byproduct of checking voltage) and see if it works. If not it is the controller.

Kr@cken

I have a volt meter and a screwdriver just no experience with any electrical issues.  I’ll give it a shot! At least now I know what the controller looks like. 

VictoriaP

FWIW, I’ll add that I had trouble at first getting my wires well seated into the screw connections of the Victron when I rigged up my portable panels last summer. Had to pull the wires out and strip them back further before I finally had a solid connection. It could literally be something that simple.

But honestly, with that dual battery setup? Even without solar (which isn’t producing much more than a trickle today unless this cloud cover burns off faster by you than me), you’ll be fine for several days with modestly conservative use. 

AirBoss

@Kr@cken
Funniest line I've seen today! The GD gets a sticker! 

Don't own at 712 but considering it. 

For my own education:
I understood the only leads that connect to the two large terminals on the shunt were the negative lead in from the battery bank and the negative lead out to the power hub/distribution block or chassis ground? What are the white wires on the right-hand large shunt terminal leading to?

The green wire from the positive battery terminal seems to go thru a fuse and then is joined with a few other red wires, one of which I assume is the power lead from the shunt? Others? 

Is there no power hub/distribution block on the 320? 

Sharon_is_SAM

@AirBoss - there is a junction box just under the very front of the TaB.  That would be where the lead off the shunt ties in.

@Kr@cken - don’t worry.  The whole solar electrical thing is a different skill set that comes with time.  The reality is, for those of us that find these kinds of skills foreign, the mishaps are very educational!  Now, enough with the hair crimping - you’re camping!

Denny16

The install is not the best I have seen, all the exposed battery terminals, and shunt connections, are just waiting for a short to occur in what is basically a three sided metal box.  At a minimum there should be a rubber boot over all,the battery terminals, or better yet, the battery box covers put back on. With cut outs for the wire connections to enter.  

 @AirBoss, the white wires probably include the MPPT solar negative c nextion and other negative/ground connections to the under the bunk electrical equipment.  Yes all the red wires tied to the large gree wire with the fuse is a positive buss, ganged spliced, another bad idea.  This should be replaced with a proper distribution/wire buss that also has a cover over it, located next to the shunt.  

 This mess would never pass a RIVA inspection, and is an accident waiting to happen.  If the dealer can not clean this back up and do it properly, than take the trailer to someone that can.
cheers

Kr@cken

Thank you Denny16. I will take it back. Is the whole thing a mess at booth locations?