I have 1 solar panel (20 watt I believe), 1 12v gel battery and a 20A charge controller. The whole thing was given to me 4 years ago by someone that never used it. All of that was purchased April 2018. It always worked great. I have it in my shed powering LED ceiling lights that draw 3A total. After replacing the battery, I bought the same make and model, it doesn't seem to be charging correctly. I have the discharge stop set to 11.3 (that's the max available), the discharge reconnect set to 13.5v.
For some reason it will no longer charge past 12.6v. And, I no longer see the solar panel icon on the display when it's charging. The other odd thing is, it seems to now discharge much more quickly. When I turn on the ceiling lights, it immediately drops to 12.4 (from 12.6). Within 60 seconds it drops to 12.3. Previously, when the original battery was working well, it would take hours of running the ceiling lights to discharge that much.
What could be wrong?
For some reason it will no longer charge past 12.6v. And, I no longer see the solar panel icon on the display when it's charging. The other odd thing is, it seems to now discharge much more quickly. When I turn on the ceiling lights, it immediately drops to 12.4 (from 12.6). Within 60 seconds it drops to 12.3. Previously, when the original battery was working well, it would take hours of running the ceiling lights to discharge that much.
What could be wrong?
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