Demountable camper group

Big Jim wrote:Thanks for the replies .I am working away for a few days now so I will go through it when I get back . I messaged the seller with the symptoms . They replied " shall we send another controller ? " . I have said yes just in case it is that .
Jim

Certainly worth trying to swap controllers. Though if it is all connected up properly and in direct sunlight is able to pull the solar panel voltage down to just a few volts then you would likely either quickly smell a nasty burning smell due to some sort of short circuit in the controller, or you have a problem with the panels themselves (assuming you are measuring the voltage on the solar panel side of the controller).

If your volt meter measures DC amps (10 amp range) you could try plugging it in series with the input to measure what current is being drawn from solar (in sunlight) to the controller - I bet it is only a few milliamps. Obviously be careful using your voltmeter on amps so you don't short something out.

Since I assume you'd have told us quickly if there was a burning smell, the problem is more likely to be an open circuit / high resistance from the panels to the controller. If you check all the cabling carefully then that would leave the panels - if there was damage to some of the internal connections you might only have a fraction of the panel connected, hence the low voltage. Inspect the panels carefully from above for any obvious damage / manufacturing fault - i.e. non-deliberate gaps in the conductors.

Steve.

I have not received the new controller yet so I thought I would check my wiring. I have disconnected the panel and checked its voltage I am now getting "0"
was getting about 20 volts, It is in daylight in the shade but I should get something ?

Dodgy wiring of the panel ?

Well I've bought two so far and both gave me voltage out of the box in any daylight, so I don't know what to suggest.
unless of course you have someone to hand with a 12V panel you could put a meter across for comparison


(sharing this on FB again for wider audience)

Big Jim wrote:I have not received the new controller yet so I thought I would check my wiring. I have disconnected the panel and checked its voltage I am now getting "0"
was getting about 20 volts, It is in daylight in the shade but I should get something ?

Dodgy wiring of the panel ?

When I got my panels I lay them face down on the lounge floor on a cloudy day. When I measured the voltage from the wires (open-circuit, not connected to a controller) they were generating 11 volts from the tiny amount of light seeping through the plastic back of the PV cells!

I fitted them to the camper roof and taped cardboard to them to prevent light getting on them - enough light was getting through the cardboard to generate 12v. This is why I then prioritised fitting an isolator because unless I serviced the electrics at night they would always be live.

So if you were getting 20v and are now getting zero it sounds like a problem with the connections. But if it is a flexible panel, there is the possibility that the wiring on the panel could have broken

Steve.

Jim has an isolator in the form of an inline fuse as he mentioned it the other day, I have a hefty switch myself

think i would next track the cables back as as far as the panel output and see if A there's any output to them from panel
B then on down the cable to plugs then it would either be panel fault or cable fault
(or likely both at same time)

I messaged the seller today to say I was getting no voltage off the panel and they replied I wouldn't get any if it was disconnected from the controller !

Not convinced I'm afraid I've done this myself with panel alone out of box


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how about go along to a maplins or caravan shop have them do just this so you know what look for?

Thanks for the video , I have sent it to the seller
Jim

Big Jim wrote:I messaged the seller today to say I was getting no voltage off the panel and they replied I wouldn't get any if it was disconnected from the controller !

I hope they thought you were measuring the voltage from the output of the controller with the panel disconnected. More worryingly they might genuinely think you would get no voltage FROM THE PANEL not the controller, if the controller is disconnected (in truth the controller will pull the voltage down slightly - i.e. you will get a higher voltage with the controller disconnected). That would demonstrate a worrying lack of electrical knowledge for someone selling electrical equipment. So be very careful about any advice or instructions from this vendor as they may lack even basic electrical knowledge.

Steve.