Need solar controller help

[xtremexj]

While I was at the Expo I purchased a LandStar LS1024RP from Ron Young with Adventure Power. I attempted to hook it up and it keeps throwing a overload/short circuit fault when connected to the camper. I have determined that there is power passing through the load outputs on the controller, but as soon as I hook the leads up to the converter inputs on my camper, it throws the fault and doesn't allow battery power into the system. Anybody have any suggestions? I haven't been able to get a hold of Ron yet, but this was a new product for him and he didn't know much more about the unit than myself. Please throw out any suggestions so I can get this thing working properly. Thanks!

 

[Martyn]

Could be a polarity issue. Possibly the solar panel has the + & - reversed, or the panel is wired the wrong way round in the controller. A volt meter should be able to tell you if that's the case.

What are you hooking the controller up to in your camper? You say you are hooking it up to a converter, what exactly is that?

 

[xtremexj]

Could be a polarity issue. Possibly the solar panel has the + & - reversed, or the panel is wired the wrong way round in the controller. A volt meter should be able to tell you if that's the case.

What are you hooking the controller up to in your camper? You say you are hooking it up to a converter, what exactly is that?

Hi Martyn. The polarity from the panel to the controller is correct - I double checked that on initial install and the batterries are charging. The polarity coming out of the controller via the load outputs also reads correctly. The converter (Elixir Industries ELX25) is the unit that converts 120V to 12V for use with the onboard systems, contains the fuse panel, as well as transferring the power to the AC power circuit of the refrigerator and internal plug-ins. Hope that gives more info for someone to put together a solution.

 

[UK4X4]

Connect the panel and charge controller directly to the trailer battery

On my trailer the convertor is 110V in and 12V out-------not in !


Here's my trailer layout for example- if adding a solar panel It would be direct to the battery side of the system

http://www.dunechasers.com/galleries/Xantrex/full/Voltage_Electrical_Before.jpg

 

[xtremexj]

Connect the panel and charge controller directly to the trailer battery

On my trailer the convertor is 110V in and 12V out-------not in !


Here's my trailer layout for example- if adding a solar panel It would be direct to the battery side of the system

http://www.dunechasers.com/galleries/Xantrex/full/Voltage_Electrical_Before.jpg

On the ELX25, the converter is also the power distribution center. If I don't use the solar panel, my 12V leads from the battery connect to the same inputs on the converter that I am connecting the controller's load leads to. All I am doing is "splicing" the controller leads in the system. Without the controller, the wiring is battery-converter. With the controller, it is panel-controller-battery-converter (load). I am suspecting that something is wrong with the controller internally as even the carbon monoxide detector will trip the circuit (under 1A draw).

 

[dwh]

According to this brochure, it looks like a fairly normal charge controller, with the added street light control circuit.

http://www.epsolarpv.com/files/pdf/LS1024RPes.pdf

I'm assuming you are hooking the battery to the battery terminals on the charge controller, and also hooking the 12v input for the converter to the battery and not hooking *anything* to the street light control circuit - right?

 

[xtremexj]

I'm assuming you are hooking the battery to the battery terminals on the charge controller, and also hooking the 12v input for the converter to the battery and not hooking *anything* to the street light control circuit - right?

The battery outputs on the controller are hooked to the battery directly. The load leads from the controller should go to the 12V inputs on the converter as far as I can tell. I have the controller set on "17" which automatically directs power to the load when required as per the manual. Maybe I'm still doing something wrong and I have yet to get a response from Ron at Adventure Power. You might be on to something by having the battery go directly to the converter inputs instead of the load wires. Do I need a seperate set of wires at that junction, or is it OK to just tee it so the solar feed is between the battery and the converter?

 

[dwh]

Lots of solar charge controllers have extra outputs. Usually, it's an LVD (low-voltage disconnect) protected thing. I.e., you hook up some small load to it, like a fridge or whatever, and when the battery gets too low, the LVD shuts it down to prevent draining the battery entirely.

That controller has some other sort of "aux load" doohickey. Lighting control with a timer or whatever the hell it is.

On almost all the controllers with an LVD, the LVD protected aux output is rated LESS than the controller's battery charging output. I.e., it might be a "10 amp" controller - on the battery output - but the LVD protected output might only be rated 5a.


If you aren't using that controller's aux output to control some sort of lighting setup - then you shouldn't have anything hooked to it. The converter should draw power directly from the battery.

Also, most converters, if they have a shore power 110v input, SUPPLY power TO the battery when they are on shore power. If yours does that, then you definitely want the converter connected directly to the battery.

 

[dwh]

You might be on to something by having the battery go directly to the converter inputs instead of the load wires. Do I need a seperate set of wires at that junction, or is it OK to just tee it so the solar feed is between the battery and the converter?

Um...

The solar FEED (from the solar panel to the charge controller) should go IN to the charge controller. Period. Don't jack around with that side of things.

The charge controller's BATTERY OUTPUT should go to the battery.

You can connect your converter anywhere ON THE BATTERY SIDE of the charge controller - as long as the wires and fuses are all the right sizes and whatnot.

Best practice, would be to run a wire pair from the charge controller to the battery, and another wire pair from the converter to the battery.

The charge controller can only supply 10a to the battery, and that's all the wire needs to handle. But the converter can draw a lot more than 10a, and probably needs larger wire (and fuses to protect the wire).

Also, it's possible (I haven't looked at the manual) that the converter, when on shore power, can supply more than 10a to the battery, so again, you'd need larger wire than you need for the solar charge controller.

 

[Dave Bennett]

Connect the panel and charge controller directly to the trailer battery

This.

 

[xtremexj]

The solar FEED (from the solar panel to the charge controller) should go IN to the charge controller. Period. Don't jack around with that side of things.
Correct
The charge controller's BATTERY OUTPUT should go to the battery.
Correct
You can connect your converter anywhere ON THE BATTERY SIDE of the charge controller - as long as the wires and fuses are all the right sizes and whatnot.
That's what I was asking, thank you.
Best practice, would be to run a wire pair from the charge controller to the battery, and another wire pair from the converter to the battery.
This is how I had it originally wired but it appeared that the controller could use the load wires directly to converter so I may just use that second pair I had half installed.
The charge controller can only supply 10a to the battery, and that's all the wire needs to handle. But the converter can draw a lot more than 10a, and probably needs larger wire (and fuses to protect the wire).

Also, it's possible (I haven't looked at the manual) that the converter, when on shore power, can supply more than 10a to the battery, so again, you'd need larger wire than you need for the solar charge controller.
I generally unplug the battery when on shore power. I have heard that the battery charger in the converter is not the best for deep cycle batteries and as I have a dual 6V system it doesn't seem like a good idea to chance it.

Thanks for everyone's feedback. It's what I thought might have to happen in the end but was looking for input to see if there's something that I was missing.