Circuit breaker help load/batt side

[Borderpatrol]

got A Trac digital circuit breaker to put between panel and Renogy Dc to dc and Mttp charge controller. It has a digital read out and ability to turn off panels. Can’t seem to get it to work testing it with a small 40w panel I have. The Renogy is live with batt hook up but when I connect the solar the breaker quickly flashes all lights on and off and buttons do not work. The ground is good. It has a Batt side and load side. I hooked the batt to the panel and load to Renogy Controller solar input. If I connect the panel direct to the Renogy the solar light comes on? Any thoughts? is the batt side and load side correct in this placement? Tried the other way and it does not light up at all.

 

[MisterSandals]

I hooked the batt to the panel and load to Renogy Controller solar input.

You hooked your battery to your solar panel directly?

is the batt side and load side correct in this placement? Tried the other way and it does not light up at all.

Happen to have a pic? I cannot tell what you have with your description.

Do you have a link to your "A Trac digital circuit breaker"?

 

[Borderpatrol]

hi thanks, don't have a pic with me right now. the circuit breaker link is :https://www.amazon.ca/Trac-Outdoor-T10171-Digital-Circuit/dp/B00MXYCU1S. unit can be turned on/off, and has options for amps from 30 to 60.
there are 3 connection points, BATT, LOAD and pre wired ground wire on this breaker.
my plan was to use this between my 200 watts of solar on my RV and MPPT Renogy combo DCtoDC MPPT, but wanted to test it first to see if it all worked before hooking it all up.
im using a Renogy DC to DC with charge controller.
i tried a 40 watt panel i have to test it out. i have BATT side to the panel + wire, panel - to ground, Load to the input + on the Charge controller and pre- wired ground to a common ground busbar.
as soon as i hook up the panel the circuit breaker just quickly flashes on off like its breaking and resetting really fast. I've never used one of these before but thought it would be an upgrade to the regular manual reset type of breakers I've used in the past.
i connected my 40 watt panel to the charge controller briefly without a breaker just to see if it was something up with the panel or if it was the breaker. direct connect to controller seemed to work as solar light came on. all i changed was taking the + solar wire direct to MPPT input instead of to the BATT on the circuit breaker.

i have a second one of these that i substituted in to check if i got a bad one and it seemed to work for about 5 seconds and then started tripping and resetting like the other one, maybe these thing are just not meant for this type of application?

So i wanted to make sure when you have a breaker/fuse between the panel and controller that BATT side would be to the panel and LOAD side to charge controller? i think with this unit it makes a difference.

 

[Borderpatrol]

to clarify when i say BATT, i mean the BATT side post on the TRAC circuit breaker,, not Battery itself.

 

[MisterSandals]

Renogy Dc to dc and Mttp charge controller.

Why do you have these connected? What are you trying to do?
You've mentioned a Dc to dc unit, an Mppt charge controller and a 40w solar panel.
Are you trying to charge a battery?
If so, why is the panel not connected to the Mppt and that connected to your battery? I cannot fathom what the Dc to dc is for.

 

[Borderpatrol]

the DC to DC / MPPT will charge battery. will be connected to the Alternator on my truck as well as solar, so two sources.
just using a 40 watt panel right now to test stuff out before i hook to my 200 watt on camper.

 

[mikefitz]

A Trac digital circuit breaker

This unit is designed to be connected between a battery and a load, it will not work with a solar panel as you have found.

It would be a great help to show a diagrem of your proposed system, its much easier to understand what is going on.
With a simple solar circuit using a single panel or two panels in series or parallel, having a fuse or thermal breaker is series is a waste of time as a protecting device. For example if your 200 watts of panel have a maximum SC current of 10 amps then for normal use the fuse/breaker must be higher say 15amps. If you have a fault consition the panels cannot deliver more than 10 amps so there will never be fusing or trip. The only possible use of a breaker would be to isolate the panels for system maintenance.
Where you have more that two panels or panel strings in parallel then there should be a fuse in series with each panel/string.

Mike

 

[Borderpatrol]

Yes I’ve come to that realization as well. I like to have a breaker to give the ability to turn them off as mentioned. I may just put an inline blade fuse that I can pull if I need to.
now what the heck do I do with these digital circuit breakers ……..they are cool, but can’t think of anything I could use them for.