diy solar

diy solar

Brain melted. Need fresh pair of eyes to find problem

Can you confirm that when it was in bulk mode the MPPT reading was 14.38 volts and the BMS reading was 13.3 volts ?

If this is the case AND it can be confirmed with a meter, you have a problem.

The MPPT will stop charging in boost volts and drop to float when the charger ' thinks' the voltage has reached boost volts .

Your problem is either with the Epever or there are volt drops between the charger and battery. This drop could be in either the positive or negative path. Test with a voltmeter.
A minute ago mppt turned red, battery reached max battery voltage was (14.17V?)

I rebooted after I stopped panicking

I can confirm it’s boost charging now and battery voltage increased to 14.19V

BMS reads 13.3V

Multimeter on battery terminals 13.36V

Battery has never been fully charged with anything. First time setup.
 
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It’s back to float charging^^
 

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The Epever maybe indicating a battery reading of 14.19, but what voltage is on the terminals of the charger?

Please understand that if everything is working correctly when the Epever reads 14.19 the battery should read a similar value.

You need to fault find. As a first step measure the voltage on the Epever output terminals.
 
I moved bulk charge recovery higher by 0.1 and float by 0.1.

Rebooted the system and it’s bulk charging with

14.14V 5.24A
I multimetered terminals on the mppt and it reads 14.14V

Multimeter battery terminals 13.35V

As soon as we move 0.1 higher and we reach float charge it will slow down.

So I guess my question is. Why is everyone setting their float charge at 13.4V? My boost charge kicks in at 13.3V boosts 0.1V and than it floats. Shouldn’t boost charge go all the way to 14.6V sit there for 10min and than float?
 
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As noted above…
You are having some SERIOUS voltage drop under load between the SCC and the battery. That is is big problem!

Your system will never be right until that is figured out. You can mess with float - boost - bulk, but the voltage drop is the real problem…

How to fix voltage drop…
One (or more) of your connections or components between the lugs of the mppt and the battery terminals are causing a voltage drop of 14.14 - 13.35 = .79volts!!! If it was working correctly it should be .1v or less. Your issue only shows up when under load. Your wires on your drawing are plenty big. ( if anything they are bigger than needed - so good job there!)

Two ways to track the issue down… with your DMM(digital multimeter) set on ohms, test each wire and connection on both the positive and negative paths - you are looking for high resistance.

With the DMM set for Dc volts, and the SSC charging at 14 volts, test each connection and find out where the .79v drop is happening. It could be a little here and a little there. It could be a component like the breaker or a crimp on a wire.

One other item… your three panels are in series, anytime one panel has a shadow- all three panels are effected. On RV’s it is usually best to have the panels in parallel if possible. You will need a 3-1 MC4 connector and three MC4 fuses (on for each panel - 15a will be fine). That will help because as long as one panel is in sun - you will get good charging into the battery. Your wire from the panels to the SCC is at least 10awg - correct?

To try to answer your last question o boost voltage- I cannot - that is the programming inside your SCC. I use a Victron mppt SCC - so it has different programming. That’s why earlier I asked what your owners manual says about that setting. It programming logic may be different than what you expect.
 
As noted above…
You are having some SERIOUS voltage drop under load between the SCC and the battery. That is is big problem!

Your system will never be right until that is figured out. You can mess with float - boost - bulk, but the voltage drop is the real problem…

How to fix voltage drop…
One (or more) of your connections or components between the lugs of the mppt and the battery terminals are causing a voltage drop of 14.14 - 13.35 = .79volts!!! If it was working correctly it should be .1v or less. Your issue only shows up when under load. Your wires on your drawing are plenty big. ( if anything they are bigger than needed - so good job there!)

Two ways to track the issue down… with your DMM(digital multimeter) set on ohms, test each wire and connection on both the positive and negative paths - you are looking for high resistance.

With the DMM set for Dc volts, and the SSC charging at 14 volts, test each connection and find out where the .79v drop is happening. It could be a little here and a little there. It could be a component like the breaker or a crimp on a wire.

One other item… your three panels are in series, anytime one panel has a shadow- all three panels are effected. On RV’s it is usually best to have the panels in parallel if possible. You will need a 3-1 MC4 connector and three MC4 fuses (on for each panel - 15a will be fine). That will help because as long as one panel is in sun - you will get good charging into the battery. Your wire from the panels to the SCC is at least 10awg - correct?

To try to answer your last question o boost voltage- I cannot - that is the programming inside your SCC. I use a Victron mppt SCC - so it has different programming. That’s why earlier I asked what your owners manual says about that setting. It programming logic may be different than what you expect.
First of all thank you for the lengthy reply. I’ll try to start measuring the connections.
The manual is useless. The best explanation I found was by forum members.

I already got the mc4 3-1 connector.
Solar wire is 12AWG factory fitted 4mm2? Changing it would be extremely hard considering the space I left to do it and the way I mounted these panels. I will try to park it unshaded, for now my garden is not ideal.
 
When you say the solar wire being 12awg - are you talking about the wire from the solar panels to the SCC only being 12awg? Or the wires that came with the solar panels that go to its Mc4 connection.

If the 12awg is from the solar panels mc4 connector to the SCC - then do not put the panels in parallel- those panels give 9-ish amps of current times three is probably 27 amps or so. So you need 30amp wire which is 10awg. If you can ever change out the wire go with 10 or 8awg then put them in parallel.
 
When you say the solar wire being 12awg - are you talking about the wire from the solar panels to the SCC only being 12awg? Or the wires that came with the solar panels that go to its Mc4 connection.

If the 12awg is from the solar panels mc4 connector to the SCC - then do not put the panels in parallel- those panels give 9-ish amps of current times three is probably 27 amps or so. So you need 30amp wire which is 10awg. If you can ever change out the wire go with 10 or 8awg then put them in parallel.
Yeah just googled the panel spec and it said on there website it’s 12AWG.
 
The wire that comes from the panel to its Mc4 connection is fine to be 12awg. It only has 9-ish amps on it. I am talking about after you connect the fuses and the 3-1 adapter - the wire that will have the 27-ish amps running to your SCC. Is that one 10awg or better? You would have bought and ran that wire.
 
The wire that comes from the panel to its Mc4 connection is fine to be 12awg. It only has 9-ish amps on it. I am talking about after you connect the fuses and the 3-1 adapter - the wire that will have the 27-ish amps running to your SCC. Is that one 10awg or better? You would have bought and ran that wire.
I haven’t bought that one yet. Thanks for the heads up I would have messed it up without you
 
So the voltage drops at BMS P- side.
I guess when I shorted it by accident caused some dmg huh?
 
Tested the bms with my dc to dc charger and my inverter/charger voltage drop happens on all at the BMS
 
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