Solar. Battery. Over charging!!!!!!!!

Carrotts

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Hi all. Well going over the Moho checking things out I noticed that I could not find any dial Box ......showing solar power. I know on my old Moho the solar had been connected direct to batterys and cooked them. So How do I know where the solar lead on this one goes. Tried following it but it disappears behind the panelling. With all this sunshine solar power must be going somewhere. The control panel says batterys at 100% Also there is a switch that I left on automatic which if I read it right it means that if veh battery goes low it will take power from les battery. ,,,,,!!!!!!! Did read in other threads about leaving something on. Hot water. Or fridge etc. But I am a bit loathe to leave it unattended even on the drive with things running. Any ideas or am I making Everest out of anthill. Am also thinking later of getting another 100 watt solar. Before being asked. It is a Bailey autograph 730 2015. Two 100 ah banner batterys. Do not know wattage of solar. So over to you and you and you. Thanks in advance. Also any tips on the alde hot water/ heating as this is also a newbie to me. I have also been informed not to leave it on ehu when not in use which I used to do before. Thanks again in advance. brian.
 
Not to leave on EHU implies it has a basic set voltage charger - one to replace for best battery life!

Have you a multimeter? check the voltage on the battery to see if this one wired the same as the previous one! The control panel will likely just base the 100% on the voltage of the battery - over 12.8V or so and voilá ... Instant full charge! (not!!)

Ref "if veh battery goes low it will take power from les battery". The Sargent units typically have a setup where it will switch from one battery to another, and then when that voltage drops below another set voltage, the system will disconnect completely. Others may well have similar features?
But .... those switch/disconnect voltages are so low you really really don't want that to ever happen as you will have killed the battery and could really hurt the service life of it
Just checked the Sargent info (in case it is a Sargent you have) here - https://magnummotorhomes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Sargent-EC155-User-Instructions.pdf
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Cutting off at 10.9V really is too low for the battery to stay healthy I think.

Size of Solar panel? measure width and length - generally the dimensions will reveal the size.
 
Hi. All. Guess what I just found. It was impossible not to see it ,well I did not see it. So I can stop panicking a bit.

8DE5D86C-19A7-40E7-AFAC-B67CBB0384B4.jpeg
 
Looks like a dual controller that will charge both leisure and veh battery with solar power, but only one battery is connected.
You said there might be another unit that charges the veh battery when the leisure battery is full. Have you checked this is working? Seems unusual to have two separate units that can do this.
It might be worth using a multimeter to check if both batteries are charging from the solar panel when not on EHU.
 
Hi all. Bit of further info. Control panel flashing. Low ...leisure batts. So digital meter on the two banner 100 ah 957/51 leisure batts. Batt1. Reads 14.04 engine off. 14.04 engine on. Batt 2. Reads. 13.62 engine off. 14.04 engine on. Battery’s are connected together. POS to pos. neg to neg Readings across batt pos across to neg. 13.86. Engine off. 14.08. Engine on. Crossing to the other batt. Pos to opp neg. 13.87 engine off. 14.11 engine on. All these readings were taken with solar connected and green light on solar panel flashing. Indicating. Batts full. To me these figures look odd. So over to you my trusty advisers. Simple talk please as I am simple. Cheers in advance brian
 
Brian,
I don't understand your numbers
you say
A.
"digital meter on the two banner 100 ah 957/51 leisure batts.
Batt1. Reads 14.04 engine off. 14.04 engine on.
Batt 2. Reads. 13.62 engine off. 14.04 engine on "

but then you say
B.
"Readings across batt pos across to neg. 13.86. Engine off. 14.08. Engine on.
Crossing to the other batt. Pos to opp neg. 13.87 engine off. 14.11 engine on"

What is the difference in how/where you are measuring the batteries to get the two different sets of values between reading set A and set B?

Also, are you sure you noted the Voltage for Battery 1 in set A whilst whatever split-charge system was no longer active? (many systems will continue to run for a short time after the engine is turned off. By the time you have moved the Meter from Batt 1 to Batt 2, the system may have disconnected, hence the difference in the two batteries for engine off.
I would check again, but go to each battery in turn a couple of times to make sure you are accomodating any settling or switch off times.


On this one:
"Battery’s are connected together. POS to pos. neg to neg"
How long are these cables and how are they connected to the actual 12V system? i.e. Which battery (1 or 2) is connected to the +12V charger and load connections, and which Battery (1 or 2) is connected to the chassis ground and/or -0V charger/load connections.
I suspect the batteries are not configured corrected and one of the batteries has Positive and Negative connections to the other battery and nothing else. This will cause an imbalance.


Those voltage LED lights can be very misleading also and tend to be very little use.



Without wanting to be too negative, I think I have to be negative :(
Your Engine Charging setup is not really putting in a very high voltage for charging.
This may not matter too much if your other systems took up the baton, but from your description of being recommended to not leave the mains charger on for too long, so that makes me think that is not up to much (have you put a meter on the batteries when the EHU is on to check the output voltage of the charger?)
I have doubts about the Solar Charger being as effective to getting the most out of the panel - and especially its ability to cope at all with an additional panel.
And finally the batteries I suspect have not been installed. I think the 2nd battery has been simply added on at a later stage, which is also not optimum in itself as well as not cabled up in the best way.

Sorry :(
 
Hi all David Les batts side by side in battery bay. Mains dc to batt one. Batt one is connected large cables to batt two + to+. -to- 12 inch cable. New readings Eng left 30 mins. Batt1. 13.22. Batt2 13.26. Then pos batt1 to neg batt 2 13.28 Then poss batt2 to neg batt1 13.22. Engine running. 14. 04 both Batts all 4 ways. Solar panel says batt full. Ehu. A few people have said that when at home not to leave ehu on all the time without something using current as it is bad for batts !!!!!!!! The Moho charging ehu box is a motor home pdu. 20amp chargerHope that helps. How do I know if it has b2b or not Brian
 
What about the negative cable to chasssis? is it on battery 1 or battery 2?

I really would hold no store in the solar controller indicators. They will be based on voltage level and really are meaningless as a battery level indication.
leaving EHU plugged in or not really does depend on the type of charger. The likely charger you have WILL be one your don't want to leave on all the time so that advice you have been given I would say is good (and won't fully charge the batteries either if the voltage it sends is too low. check what it is with a meter)
 
Hi. The neg from chassis goes to the same batt as the poss they then go to 2nd batt. Brian
 
Carrotts said:
Hi. The neg from chassis goes to the same batt as the poss they then go to 2nd batt. Brian
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If you can, move the Chassis negative (and any other Neg wires other than the main Battery interconnect cable of course) from Batt 1 over to Batt 2. That will make both batteries work equally as the current has to always flow to both batteries equally.
 
David. A light just went on. I recollect you saying once. The pos in. Goes to batt 1. The neg in goes to batt 2. This makes the batt act like one. Is that right.
 
Carrotts said:
David. A light just went on. I recollect you saying once. The pos in. Goes to batt 1. The neg in goes to batt 2. This makes the batt act like one. Is that right.
Click to expand...
Yup, it makes the two act like a whole Battery Bank, rather than a Primary and secondary Battery. Makes the load (and charging) even across the two.

This article is a good write-up of why that method of cabling is recommended - https://caravanchronicles.com/guides/how-to-connect-two-batteries-in-parallel/
If it is connected the "wrong" way, then everything still works, but you just don't get the best results out of your battery system
 
Carrotts said:
David. A light just went on. I recollect you saying once. The pos in. Goes to batt 1. The neg in goes to batt 2. This makes the batt act like one. Is that right.
Click to expand...
Just trying to remember ... Did we redo your previous motorhome to do this? I remember I picked up another better chassis ground from underneath for the B2B but can't recall for sure about the batteries :unsure:
 
I believe you did. In morning am going to Halfords and have them test all batts. Then work from there. All ok. Or hallo alpha batts. Then it will be time to consider replacing existing chargers solar control etc. So I will be on to you to recommend/supply from your shop. Do not know ref fit as I think it is nearly 800 miles round trip Will wait and see how much parts are. Brian
 
Hi all. Went to Halfords and they say that all batts 1x veh. 2 x les are ok. So will now give them a try out on driveway testing things ( did the batt lead changeover that wildebus recommended that should make a difference. ). Going to sit in van on driveway and read/ play with alde water / heating. Getting the hot water seems easy ,,,,eventually,,,,,,,,,,, but am still trying to understand the book ref heating habitation. So far itis the best we have ever had Even with the two rotties it is still spacious. The better half says that she cannot believe there is not even one drawer,,,,cutlery,,,,,,, and above the passenger head by door is a terrible squeaking noise. Never had that before. No draughts. Always beforeboth front doors made howling wind noises and drafty. That's all for today
 
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