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bad solar panel?


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#1 joez3

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Posted 21 August 2013 - 02:56 PM

Last night I was checking out some stuff in my camper and found that the fuse on the battery was out. I have a 50 watt solar panel, when I disconnected this, everything was ok again. I checked the solar panel and it was putting out 15v with no load. I ran out of time to check on the solar panel wiring. Could this be a sign that the solar panel is going  bad?


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#2 dsrtrat

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Posted 21 August 2013 - 06:36 PM

Most RV type solar panels are rated around 17 to 18 volts. Your charge controller steps the voltage down so you aren't feeding this higher voltage into the batteries. Depending on how much sunlight you had when you checked the panel output you are in the ballpark.

Most likely the problem in in the wiring, check behind the lift panel where the wires go up to the roof, this is a common problem as the wiring used in this location isn't designed to flex, mine is just regular THHN stranded, not a multi strand flexible cable.

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#3 ski3pin

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Posted 21 August 2013 - 06:41 PM

Agree, there's a problem in the wiring somewhere. Start with dsrtrat's suggestion. An ohm meter helps check continuity.


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#4 Stan@FourWheel

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Posted 22 August 2013 - 03:28 PM

What kind of camper do you have ?

 

Year of camper?   Model?

 

I don't see any notes in your posting.

 

:)

 

 

 

.


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