Disconnect 12 volt inverter when charging ?

I have a 1000 watt Xantrex ProWatt MSW inverter. It's off when not in use. There is a measurable draw if left on. There are three "modes", On, Off, and Standby. I change to Standby mode using a remote panel switch. The draw is much lower in Standby, but once my camping trip is done, the inverter is powered completely off. The inverter is small enough that I've never had to worry about the initial capacitor surge.

Tired Old Man, if possible, the panels should match. While mismatched panels can be wired together, it often doesn't make sense to do so.

Thank you Hedges. The battery is a 170 ah. Showing 150 Amp Hour. I checked each panel and I am getting 3.5 from the 80 watt panel and 4.2 from the 100 watt panel. I'm still only getting 4.5 watts from both panels in parallel. So perhaps the charge controller is limiting the amps as the battery nears a full charge.

Check battery voltage, which will provide an estimate of SoC and show what charging phase the controller is in (or does it display that?)
Apply a load, see if current increases.

3.5 + 4.2 = 7.7 (Isc?) so they seem weak for 100W and 80W. Maybe not full sun. There can be things in the air attenuating light without it being obvious.

It finished charging the battery. Voltage was holding at 14.7 at the battery and the charge controller. Zero amps going into the battery. Charge controller showed 165 amp hours into the battery. It a Big Battery 12 volt 170 AH. So far I'm happy with it.
Now I just need to redo my solar panels. Thanks for the help .

Tired Old Man said:

It finished charging the battery. Voltage was holding at 14.7 at the battery and the charge controller. Zero amps going into the battery. Charge controller showed 165 amp hours into the battery. It a Big Battery 12 volt 170 AH. So far I'm happy with it.
Now I just need to redo my solar panels. Thanks for the help .

Click to expand...

Is your battery the same form factor as the one in Will thread? You may want to orient it on its back.

Bud Martin said:

Is your battery the same form factor as the one in Will thread? You may want to orient it on its back.

Leaking Electrolyte from Bigbattery Powerblock

Just my luck as always. I contacted poison control and they think I will be fine. No symptoms so far. I am pretty sure it is due to cell configuration. 92 pounds of cells stacked in this manner does not seem like a good idea. Second to bottom cell has gas inside and you can hear the...

diysolarforum.com

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip. Already there.

Tired Old Man said:

Thanks for the tip. Already there.

Click to expand...

Great, keep an eye an it since we still do not know why the batteries leak.

I swear when I mounted my 100 watt panel it was 100 % in sun light. Yes I know that changes depending on the season. But I went from 100 % down to 75 % sun light. I've watched it for the last four months and that is not good enough. So I moved my one , 100 watt solar panel. about three feet away from my house. 100 % sun light on the panel but no difference in amps. 3.5 - 3.6 amps full sun. I have a new 80 watt panel the puts out the same as the 100 watt.
I buried a 8 foot 2 3/8 inch metal chain link fence 2 1/2 feet in a 9 inch hole with concrete mix. At 5 and 1/2 tall I can lower it with no real problem. I'm in Florida. I don't want any thing extra on my roof.
I'm thinking of adding a 200 watt panel . 300 hundred watts is better than 100 watts. I'm not that good at posting pictures, but I try later.

PS.
The 12 volt Owl battery from B.B. is still doing good. Currently doing it's third recharge on the system. Yes the battery pack is facing up.