Recent content by sunshine

In Australia the best price is 25m 3 core 10amp/240v ready made extension leads from Bunnings 25m for $20aud (3core adds up to 30amps) Cut the ends off - forget MC4....compatibility problems= bad fit and galvanic corrosion in low voltage dc joints.

Both cables should be heating up?? A short somewhere? What is the make and model of the good controller that you tried?

A diode would help. Initially I had blocking diodes on all my panels because that was the recommended thing to do on multiple pwm low voltages systems. I have since removed them all. Maybe there is another problem.....PWMs are usually common positive and you must remember this when looking at...

You can always put a light bulb in series if there is a mismatch. Thanks for your post!

Probably doesn't matter unless some current is involved. I get a ohm reading across all the terminals of a pwm and it still works fine.

Probably the real reason is that were originally based on standard inverter designs where the inverter lays on a flat surface rather than vertically with the air coming in from the front and out the back where all the wires are and out the window. Maybe it would not be a good idea to reverse the...

Maybe start from the beginning. Take one panel off the roof and see if those stated values are still there.

I would not have gone past the 12 to 15v in low light before rejecting the panel. The nil reading in full sunlight is a bit hard to explain...unless those rows, the only good ones, break down under full sunlight? You really need to explore a bit more. Find a good row of cells and then you can...

No. Very unlikely. Still a possibility but most likely cell/busbar damage. The diodes are used to go around faulty sections of panels. Because the voltage reading is 12-15v it does look like sections of the panel isn't working. If the voltage was above 40v then most likely the panel is ok...

This seems a bit low for open circuit. If you take a panel down, open the box at the back and take a reading across each diode You may have to dig out the gunk for a good contact. Should get the same reading across each diode. 18v in bright sun/across any one diode, 36v across any 2, 54v across...

If something is not necessary why have one? Connecting elsewhere, like on the battery side of the CC, maybe is more obvious but connecting your way, on the pv side, is safe and simple.

Any 2 pole DC rated switch or even single if you know the common ground....or am I the one missing the obvious? Automotive relays often provide the current rating without the cost of special dc switches. Why the need for a switch anyway....just Y connection that can be unplugged or even...

It probably does work but is made of plastic so the wattage would be rather limited. If you want a free metal one take the alternator off a wrecked vehicle. You will then have a more reliable device that you can contemplate your next step of what to connect it to that hasn't cost anything.

Get behind the panel and hold it up to some light... in a door way etc. You can easily see all the grid pattern of the metal/cell parts to avoid. The widest safest part on the older panels is along the edges. The top and bottom is where I slice with a knife along the connecting grid to separate...

That is a lot of weight relying only on the straps to avoid disaster. I separated the glass etc from their aluminium frames from just 4 panels the other day. The brain didn't register the cumulative weight until I went to level the trailer.....lets see...33 panels....2 engine blocks sitting on...