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Help tracing a non charging issue


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#1 smlobx

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Posted 05 June 2021 - 03:22 PM

Hey folks. I hope you can help me trouble shoot an unusual issue I’m having.

 

Over the winter I replaced my two 100 watt flexible panels with two 100 watt Renogy Eclipse panels on the roof of my Camper. I also upgraded my battery from one 100AH BattleBorn to two to give me additional capacity. We have been using a Blue Seas 3000i solar controller

 

We recently went to Texas and Southern New Mexico for a month and of course with daily driving down there we didn’t notice any issues. However once we were there and only driving for an hour or three we noticed our battery SOC slowly going down. We have a portable Overland Solar 100 watt panel that we plugged into the solar controller and the solar controller still didn’t register any input. We made it home ok by driving several hours at a time and occasionally plugging in at night where available.

 

Today I finally had a chance to try and trouble shoot what the issue might be. I started out by measuring the voltage output from each panel thinking that maybe I got a bad batch but they were both putting out about 14.6V in my garage (not in direct sunlight). I then traced the wires which included an extension set because I moved the panel locations and they registered the same. I then pulled the wires out from the back of the Blue Seas and they also registered the same (+/-).

 

So I’m down to the possibility that the solar controller has gone bad…I’ve not heard of this happening so I’m reaching out to see if my thinking is on track or if there is something else that I should check….

 

Thanks for any help.

 

 

Attached Files


Edited by smlobx, 05 June 2021 - 03:24 PM.

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Eddie
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#2 Old Crow

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Posted 05 June 2021 - 04:02 PM

I see there's a troubleshooting section in the manual (page 12).   Here's part of it....

 

(Click to enlarge)

 

Attached File  BlueSkySolaris3000i troubleshooting.jpg   163.67K   21 downloads

 

I see the charging light doesn't appear to be on in your photo so I wonder if you might have a microprocessor lockup.  Looks like it's easy enough to reboot to find out.

 

 

Edited to add:

 

I should have included the following on this post as it's described as the single most important item to check when troubleshooting this controller...

 

Attached File  BlueSkySolarBoost3000iTroubleshootingNote.jpg   72.96K   12 downloads

 


Edited by Old Crow, 06 June 2021 - 06:49 PM.

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#3 ri-f

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Posted 05 June 2021 - 07:03 PM

1. Check controller fuse.

2. See if each panel's voltage gets up to full voltage in direct sunlight (~ 22vdc-30vdc depending on panel brand) All wire pathways from solar plug on roof, or J-box to controller, have good continuity and corrosion free? (if one doesn't, then it could show zero power at controller if wired in parallel).

3. Disconnect controller wires to battery and solar and reset, then reattach wires and see if that works.

4. Buy a backup controller (suggest a Victron 100/30) if you are going to replace the Blue Seas.

 

Good luck!

Rich


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#4 Vic Harder

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Posted 05 June 2021 - 09:19 PM

+1 to what was said, remove all power from the controller (batteries and solar) and allow it to reset/reboot before buying anything new.


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#5 smlobx

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Posted 06 June 2021 - 10:18 AM

Thanks guys. I’ll try it out today…


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#6 smlobx

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Posted 16 June 2021 - 04:24 PM

UPDATE!

 

Sorry for the delay. Even though I’m “retired” I still do consulting in the construction and environmental fields and shortly after my last post I got called up to Philadelphia for an environmental issue that took a bit of time to resolve but I got back last weekend and was able to disconnect the leads going to the controller and then reconnect them. I drove the truck out of the driveway into the bright sunlight today and voila it is charging.

 

Thanks to all for helping my diagnose the issue.

 

 


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Eddie
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#7 ri-f

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Posted 16 June 2021 - 04:37 PM

UPDATE!

 

...was able to disconnect the leads going to the controller and then reconnect them. I drove the truck out of the driveway into the bright sunlight today and voila it is charging.

 

Thanks to all for helping my diagnose the issue.

Good to hear that! When electronics go randomly wonky, resolution is more often than not a matter of a hard reset if nothing else appears obvious  -  Rich
 


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- 2001 Cummins 2500 quad cab 4x4 turbo diesel; NV4500 5-spd manual transmission; CM aluminum flatbed, '20 FWC Hawk shell - hybrid buildout.  https://ian-frese-of...r.blogspot.com/

- 2004 Jeep TJ - Rubicon

 

 

 





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