Renogy charge controller

[pascal23]

I have a renogy mppt charge controller Rover L1 20A. This is reading that l am getting on a moderately sunny day. Should there not be a reading to say that the solar panels are charging my auxilkary battery. Totally new to this. Just had the panels and controller fitted by an auto electric engineer

 

[Rednecktek]

Well it shows that panels are connected and reading, so it looks like either the battery is full or there isn't enough voltage coming in to start the charging process.

12v battery? 24v? Can you scroll through the screen and see what kind of voltage it says is coming in from the panels? What's your panel capacity and configuration?

 

[mikefitz]

Read through the manual, it's on line if you don' t have one , and go through the display readings.
Auto electrical technicians often understand little about RV setups.
If you have a multimeter, if not get one, and measure the voltage at the terminals.

More details, application, battery type, vehicle if a RV.

Mike

 

[pascal23]

Thanks have the manual . Its a 12v lead acid battery brand new. Its fitted in a campervan. I know its 12.7

 

[pascal23]

Well it shows that panels are connected and reading, so it looks like either the battery is full or there isn't enough voltage coming in to start the charging process.

12v battery? 24v? Can you scroll through the screen and see what kind of voltage it says is coming in from the panels? What's your panel capacity and configuration?

Dont know my panel capacity and config . This is what panel looks like

 

[pascal23]

Well it shows that panels are connected and reading, so it looks like either the battery is full or there isn't enough voltage coming in to start the charging process.

12v battery? 24v? Can you scroll through the screen and see what kind of voltage it says is coming in from the panels? What's your panel capacity and configuration?

Here is what the panel is reading

 

[Texas-Mark]

Ignore the battery capacity reading on the controller.

Without more info, it is hard to tell what is going on. By the display, it looks like it thinks the battery is charged (voltage level). What does it show for battery voltage?

 

[Rednecktek]

Thanks have the manual . Its a 12v lead acid battery brand new. Its fitted in a campervan. I know its 12.7

OK, so it seems the battery is low and should be charging. Next step is to grab a multi-meter and poke the terminals the panels are tied to and see how much voltage your panels are sending. If it's below about 18v there's just not enough voltage to start the charging process. You'll have to figure out what your panels are doing and how they're configured. Hopefully you know at least how many of what size panels you have. If I were to guess (and this is just a guess without more info on your setup) you've got 1 or 2 basic 100w panels in parallel and there's just not enough direct sunlight to start the charging.

Let us know what the meter says and how many of what size panels you have going on. We'll get this figured out eventually.

 

[pascal23]

OK, so it seems the battery is low and should be charging. Next step is to grab a multi-meter and poke the terminals the panels are tied to and see how much voltage your panels are sending. If it's below about 18v there's just not enough voltage to start the charging process. You'll have to figure out what your panels are doing and how they're configured. Hopefully you know at least how many of what size panels you have. If I were to guess (and this is just a guess without more info on your setup) you've got 1 or 2 basic 100w panels in parallel and there's just not enough direct sunlight to start the charging.

Let us know what the meter says and how many of what size panels you have going on. We'll get this figured out eventually.

Yes 2 110 renogy panels in parallel

Ignore the battery capacity reading on the controller.

Without more info, it is hard to tell what is going on. By the display, it looks like it thinks the battery is charged (voltage level). What does it show for battery voltage?

Thanks

 

[Texas-Mark]

Yes 2 110 renogy panels in parallel

You would be better putting them in series.

 

[Rednecktek]

Yes 2 110 renogy panels in parallel

OK, so my guess is possible. Check the voltage coming in from the panels at the Renogy's screws and make sure that's over 18v. A good idea (if you can get up there) is to string those panels in series with each other which would allow the panels to start charging under lower light conditions as each panel would only have to get 9v to get the 18v you need.

By the display, it looks like it thinks the battery is charged (voltage level). What does it show for battery voltage?

The other screen shows the Renogy saying the battery is at 75% so it SHOULD be charging if the panels are getting enough light.

 

[Texas-Mark]

The other screen shows the Renogy saying the battery is at 75% so it SHOULD be charging if the panels are getting enough light.

Yes, "should", but without knowing all of the settings, no telling what is going on.

To the OPer. list all of the controller screen displays as you manually scroll through them. No need to take pics of them,. just write them down in the order they display.

 

[pascal23]

Thanks a lot