mattonthesea
Well-Known Member
I have one 30W and one 80W solar panel set in parallel to a Tracer MPPV regulator attached to my 2x80 amp hour domestic bank.
I also have a Rutland 913 wind gen going through the ?RWS regulator attached to both domestic and starter batteries.
There is a NASA BM1 I think set to the domestic bank (set up before purchase). The only thing I found a bit strange with this is that it would read even if only the 1:2:both switch was to the starter battery (a different reading for 1 than 2).
When I set this up last year the solar panels would often charge the one domestic battery at 3 amps in bright sunlight. The wind gen would do nothing as it turns out it had disconnected! Thee batteries would often get to 14v plus and the green light on the regulator would flash, indicating over charge.
This year the wind gen is connected and I have added a domestic battery so there are now two. I also re-zeroed the BM1 and adjusted it for amp hours.
In the last few days the MPPV has illuminated the P indicating that the open circuit voltage is too high. And yet the BM1 is reading 12.8V , below that of last year. Or am I confused about what open circuit voltage means?
Today, in bright sunlight, I re-checked the BM1 and ran the fridge, the CD, the water pump and others. The BM1 said the voltage was dropping so after an hour I turned them off. Immediately the voltage went back to 12.8. I then ran the CD for 3 hours. Although the BM1 said I was using one amp the voltage did not drop.
I disconnected the 80 watt panel and it was running at 3 amps
So what do I do?
I could try keeping the solar for domestic and the wind gen for starter
Can I test the BM1 or the MPPV or the RWS regulators?
Thanks in advance
I also have a Rutland 913 wind gen going through the ?RWS regulator attached to both domestic and starter batteries.
There is a NASA BM1 I think set to the domestic bank (set up before purchase). The only thing I found a bit strange with this is that it would read even if only the 1:2:both switch was to the starter battery (a different reading for 1 than 2).
When I set this up last year the solar panels would often charge the one domestic battery at 3 amps in bright sunlight. The wind gen would do nothing as it turns out it had disconnected! Thee batteries would often get to 14v plus and the green light on the regulator would flash, indicating over charge.
This year the wind gen is connected and I have added a domestic battery so there are now two. I also re-zeroed the BM1 and adjusted it for amp hours.
In the last few days the MPPV has illuminated the P indicating that the open circuit voltage is too high. And yet the BM1 is reading 12.8V , below that of last year. Or am I confused about what open circuit voltage means?
Today, in bright sunlight, I re-checked the BM1 and ran the fridge, the CD, the water pump and others. The BM1 said the voltage was dropping so after an hour I turned them off. Immediately the voltage went back to 12.8. I then ran the CD for 3 hours. Although the BM1 said I was using one amp the voltage did not drop.
I disconnected the 80 watt panel and it was running at 3 amps
So what do I do?
I could try keeping the solar for domestic and the wind gen for starter
Can I test the BM1 or the MPPV or the RWS regulators?
Thanks in advance
