Solar / battery help and questions please

Jfrei

2024 Tab 400 BD BC with 100Ah Li battery and I have some basic noob questions. I don't understand how the battery disconnect switch comes in to play and need help.

If I am plugged in to shore power and have the battery disconnect switch in the off/disconnected position will the battery be charged by the shore power?

If the battery is disconnected and I'm not plugged in to shore power will the solar charger charge it?

Does the battery disconnect switch affect charging period?

The camper was in full sun yesterday, not connected to shore power, with just the ceiling fan running and the battery went completely dead. Thinking the solar charger is not working. If I connect a multi-meter to the PV ports on the solar charge controller here:

Shouldn't I be reading the input voltage of the solar panels? When I touch the battery ports I get the battery voltage (back up to 13.6V b/c I plugged in to shore power this morning) but I get basically nothing when I touch the PV ports, like 0.2V.

The blue "Bulk" light is flashing slowly.

We've never really tried to use the solar system, but we are going to this weekend. I just unplugged from shore power and have the ceiling fan running, here are some screen shots of the shunt and charger, they don't look right:

Why does the charger show off and it says insufficient PV when I click the why is it off link when it's sitting in bright sunshine all day?

The Victron apps are up to date and I have adjusted the settings to Battleborn's recommendations. 

Sorry for the noob questions and thank you for any help!

ckjs

> but I get basically nothing when I touch the PV ports, like 0.2V.

That's a strong indicator that the panel, or a wire going to the panel, is defective.  The MPPT shows 10Wh received 3 days ago, so something was working then, barely.

Can you measure the panel voltage from up top?

Sharon_is_SAM

The battery switch in the off position isolates the battery from the trailer, so, shore power charging via the converter can not takes place, however, solar charging will take place regardless of the battery switch position.

According to the shunt, your battery is fully charged and you are drawing power by using the fan.

Looks like your solar controller is not working.  Did it ever provide a charge?

Did you ever sync the shunt to 100%?

Jfrei

We got the camper late last year and have not tied using the solar until yesterday so I do not know if it has ever worked properly.

Appears the wires from the solar panels must be underneath the panels as there are no visible wires on top of the camper. Maybe nuCamp will share where I could find where they come in to the camper?

I do not know how to sync the shunt. Could you explain please?

Bill&Suze

Hi @Jfrei, we have a '24 400 BD BC also. It has two 310 kW solar panels on the roof and the same 100ah lithium battery. After several months the panels failed and had to be replaced, luckily under warranty. Could be yours have failed also. I saw very similar Smart Solar screens and also the slowly blinking blue light on the solar controller. Your two solar charge screens show that at least nine days ago you were getting no solar charging except for a small amount three days ago. I saw pretty much the same - once in a while there would be a short period of charging, usually early in the morning. Multimeter leads on the solar-in contacts on the controller showed virtually no current. The wires from the panels drop down a chase to the left of the refrigerator. You'll see them exit at floor level and go to the controller PV side.

Sharon_is_SAM

@Jfrei To sync the shunt you need to fully charge the battery then, when it is down to a very low current (like 2-4 A), go into the Victron app, tap the gear icon in the upper right corner (Settings), tap Battery, scroll down to “Synchronize SOC to 100%” and tap “Synchronize “.  

The “Battery SOC on reset” should be set to “Clear”.  In the event that your battery is disconnected, the shunt SOC will be blank until you are able to fully charge the battery to a known voltage and re-sync it.  

rfuss928

Have you checked the solar fuses?
There are probably two 
1- inline positive from solar panel near Victron controller
2- inline positive from Victron solar near battery connection.
My guess is #1.  #2 is good because you have battery voltage at the Victron.  
Long distance guessing...

Jfrei

Hi Bill & Suze,

Was just in Yarmouth last week! Certainly hope our case is not the same. Our local dealer is not great and dread bringing it there for service. They will sit on it for ages. Maybe I can reach out to nuCamp and see if we can postpone bringing the camper in till the end of season.

Thank you Sharon. Got synced. That was too easy so I had to ask

rfuss checking the fuses was the first thing I did. Was hoping for an easy fix. 

At this point I think we are out of solar and out of luck. I will reach out to nuCamp and see what they say. Thank you all for the help and if anyone thinks of anything else I can check or try please let me know.

j