American-Thunder
New Member
Hey guys/gals,
I have an odd thing that is happening on a new to me travel trailer I purchased. I installed 4 180w panels into a Victron 100/30 MPPT controller feeding 400AH of Lifepo4 batteries and I am seeing in the neighborhood of 20-25A on a sunny day here in AZ in the winter.
I had a portable 200W renogy setup with a Renogy Voyager 20A PWM charge controller that I use on a cargo trailer conversion I thought I would take along on on our maiden voyage if I needed extra juice while boondocking in the new trailer. The trailer came "pre-wired" with a zamp solar plug that goes directly to the batteries so I figured I would use this to connect to the trailer.
Here is the problem....According to my Victron Smart Shunt as soon as I attach said portable panel the Amps flowing into the battery drops from 25-30 to less than half that output. I double checked that polarity is right (zamp seems to be reversed) but for some reason the pwm charger seems to be messing with the Victron? I can watch it via bluetooth and the amps ramp up then drop in half ramp up and drop in half over and over with a clear blue sky. I even replaced the charge controller on the portable just to make sure it wasn't defective. If I unplug the portable it goes back to normal. What am I missing here? PWM fighting with the MPPT? Instead of more juice I'm getting less and I've not seen this before.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
I have an odd thing that is happening on a new to me travel trailer I purchased. I installed 4 180w panels into a Victron 100/30 MPPT controller feeding 400AH of Lifepo4 batteries and I am seeing in the neighborhood of 20-25A on a sunny day here in AZ in the winter.
I had a portable 200W renogy setup with a Renogy Voyager 20A PWM charge controller that I use on a cargo trailer conversion I thought I would take along on on our maiden voyage if I needed extra juice while boondocking in the new trailer. The trailer came "pre-wired" with a zamp solar plug that goes directly to the batteries so I figured I would use this to connect to the trailer.
Here is the problem....According to my Victron Smart Shunt as soon as I attach said portable panel the Amps flowing into the battery drops from 25-30 to less than half that output. I double checked that polarity is right (zamp seems to be reversed) but for some reason the pwm charger seems to be messing with the Victron? I can watch it via bluetooth and the amps ramp up then drop in half ramp up and drop in half over and over with a clear blue sky. I even replaced the charge controller on the portable just to make sure it wasn't defective. If I unplug the portable it goes back to normal. What am I missing here? PWM fighting with the MPPT? Instead of more juice I'm getting less and I've not seen this before.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
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