Solar info spinning head

Aubrey

But again, these are for extending the reach of panels, not the controller, correct? So in the case of a suitcase with controller built in they won't help me move panels further away. Or am I really missing the point?

CrabTab

I used a Renogy Eclipse 100W with PWM controller (attached) and 30' 10Gauge extension cables when I first started playing with solar. It worked fine. With a clear sky and proper angle that setup would easily provide 4.5A at the battery. 
Edit: Voltage drop doesn't seem to be a viable concern at these distances. 

Aubrey

Thanks Crab Tab for chiming in!

Sharon_is_SAM

@Aubrey just to be clear, whether or not your controller is near the battery or attached to your panels, you still need 20 - 30 feet of 10 gauge extensions (1 + and 1 -) so you can find the sun with your panels.  This gauge and length will limit voltage loss to 3% or less.  

Using panels with a built in controller the connection would be plug and play:  connect one end of your extension to the wires coming off the battery ports of the controller and plug in the other end into the SAE solar port on the TaB. As pthomas745 suggested, the hardest part is using the correct connections on both ends of the extension.

Aubrey

Copy that. And thanks again. I will go for the solar rig and try some off grid camping.
Give us a chance to test the 12v system for our needs. (Not much I think)

ColoradoSun

We purchased a portable 100W folding suitcase setup from Renogy that has a built in controller. Also got 25 ft. cords to run from the panel to the solar plug on the side of the 400. 25 ft seems plenty. It works without any hassle and using the Victron battery monitor, I can indirectly see what the portable panels are doing.

Maple_Geek

@ColoradoSun do you have a link to the cables and any special connectors you used with your Renogy panel?

Denny16

I agree with Thomas, the Renogy panel kit with a 20’ ext cable is not going to noticeable reduce the charging efficiency to the battery.  There is a slight loss, but not enough to worry about, less than 9-percent.  
 cheers 

Aubrey

Im feeling more confident now! Just hooked up to tow to our local park in Athens, Stroud's Run..  i will monitor voltage with multi-meter as usual, and post some pics. Wife and I will review these products tonight while chilling.
She's sold on the suitcase, and I like the sound of the smart shunt.
Thanks all! I will start a thread for the park in case T@B pullers want to know (I actually saw another 400 pull in there last fall)

Horigan

@pthomas745
"...but tells you how many "amps amp-hours" you have drawn from your battery." 

Aubrey

UPDATE:
Just unpacked our Renogy 200w suitcase, with a small extension that adapts to the zamp SAE plug.
Trying to fully understand the charging amps, charging modes and how it will relate to battery usage.  I believe when I plugged it in while my battery was around 12.5V and the bright sun was out it was putting about 10amps into charging. This morning I plugged into the battery at about 13V on an overcast slightly rainy day and its charging at 0.7amps.
Does this sound correct? And the amp hour indicator, does this represent a measurement of how many amp hours I have added through charging?
Thanks

pthomas745

If your battery is fully charged, the controller will recognize that and stop putting much more than a small charge into the battery to keep it that way.  The 10 amps you got yesterday from your panel was putting a "bulk" charge into your battery, so it used those 10 amps to charge the battery with the correct "charging voltage"  You have a large 235 amp hour battery bank, so if the battery was say, 80 percent charged at the 12.5 volt level, the controller went to "bulk" charging mode.     Today, the battery is in "float" mode, which means the battery is charged and that "small" charge is keeping it that way.  (I could be wrong, depending on how cloudy it really is where you are!)

Read about the "3 stages of charging" here.

https://www.batterystuff.com/blog/3-stages-of-smart-chargers.html

What exactly are you looking at to see these numbers? Victron shunt? Victron app?  Something on the solar controller?  A picture will be nice to see. 

No matter: congratulations on getting your solar up and going!

Aubrey

Aubrey

Yep, it was raining a still put out .7amps, sun is out and i saw 10 again. Seems the panel is doing its job. Battery voltage around 13v. More sunny days to driveway camp this week and see about usage.

Grumpy_G

FWIW the nominal voltage of a battery cell is 2.1V so for a typical 12V battery (6 cells in series) 12.6V is considered fully charged. Any higher voltage is typically caused by the charge controller doing "its thing" (bulk/equalization/float). 

Aubrey

I am no studying Pthomas745's post on appliance amp hour usage more closely.
After another rainy morning, I plugged the panels into a fully charged camper. never saw the sun that afternoon, but the amp or so that panels put out fully compensated for the fridge. Left them plugged in and at 9 am battery was at 12.8, not bad. Today is overcast mostly so far, and I turned on a dvd and the fantastic fan. Battery 12.6V and holding.
Later....         
Sun comes out for a bit, and I am in and out of the T@B, turned on all the lights briefly, ran a couple gallons of water into both tanks and outside faucet. Still playing DVD and fan has been constant on level 2.
Back to 13.0V by 2 pm.
Impressive.

Gonna take it to AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days this weekend, should be hot and sunny. Good to know I can take a quick shower in my rig and keep the fridge running without worry.

Tonight I will driveway camp to draw down the battery as normal, but I bet I will be fully charged again in no time. Pretty happy. 

Denny16

Yes, our 193-watts,of solar keeps,our 200-amp.hr. Battery charged, by mid day after a night of using fan, lights, and Ac/DC fridge running all night, with,outside temps in the 80sF.  Enjoy your trip and have fun — safe travels.
cheers

Aubrey

Now I assume that this represent the Amp Hours that have been compensated for by the panels?

Aubrey

Thanks! Gonna make a post on my new rechargeable fan, wagon and chair umbrella. Ha! This is gonna be fun indeed.

pthomas745

Good for you!  Practice makes perfect.