Advice Please

[kenspain]

I am helping a friend here get his van together we put the solar panela on run the wires to the controller ,now do we run the wires to the engine battery first or to the leisure battery he has two battery's the same size he wants to keep the two batter's charged when he is away or are we missing something more to do.

 

[RV2MAX]

You need to run to the leisure battery , for normal set up , and then fit a battery to battery unit to secondary charge the veh battery . How have you wired the panels and are you using one controller ?

 

[Deleted member 11]

On all the controllers I have fitted you need to connect the battery to the controller before connecting the panels.

 

[kenspain]

You need to run to the leisure battery , for normal set up , and then fit a battery to battery unit to secondary charge the veh battery . How have you wired the panels and are you using one controller ?

No, got as far as the wires through the roof have not connected any wires yet to the controller and only have one controller

 

[Trek]

Get a solar regulator that has two battery outputs

The rate of charge between the two batteries can be changed as per your needs

Eg 50:50 90:10 Etc so 90% to leisure 10% to engine

 

[jagmanx]

We simply connected to the LB
But I know our CTEK unit does charge the EB as well
Provided the master panel switch is on.
I have read many posts offering various solutions but ours just works

 

[MJVW]

I have my panels connected to the leisure battery running from the controller in the Hab area cupboard , but do like the idea of a split control to feed both batteries.

 

[Wooie1958]

It`s easier with a Dual Battery Solar Charge Controller.

Something like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20A-Dual...384391?hash=item2f069c8707:g:wM0AAOSwgZ1Xu1Sl

 

[trevskoda]

It`s easier with a Dual Battery Solar Charge Controller.

Something like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20A-Dual...384391?hash=item2f069c8707:g:wM0AAOSwgZ1Xu1Sl

That a old pwm unit,you want a mppt like this

 

[nabsim]

That a old pwm unit,you want a mppt like this

That’s what I have Trev and the 1amp to engine battery had worked well for us since I fitted it

 

[Rob H]

I am helping a friend here get his van together we put the solar panela on run the wires to the controller ,now do we run the wires to the engine battery first or to the leisure battery he has two battery's the same size he wants to keep the two batter's charged when he is away or are we missing something more to do.

Controller to the leisure battery, then connect the two batteries via an intelligent battery splitter, (victron) or similar, use starter cable between batteries if you want to use the Victron emergency paralleling feature. Good luck with your project.