Renogy Mppt not charging battery properly?

[Tamacat]

Thank you so much! I'm sure we'll take your offer up as things progress.

We're really quite impressed with this cheap set up for now. (The Eco Worthy kit with a Renogy mppt) It's a cloudy rainy day and the system performed just as good if not better than the past three sunny days. I did notice that our windshield was filthy a day ago after winds, and wonder if the panels got a good wash last night, because the amperage is up today despite the dreaded cloud cover. In fact, the Rover tells us it's reading sunshine at just after dawn with sun behind trees and buildings. We did have an upset with the local mob of crows day one, though. Nothing more annoying than a replay of the scene from 'The Birds' at dawn when they probably thought the new panels were a puddle of water. I was afraid they'd smash the panels and had the mechanic check later that day.

Interesting point about the RV roof paint. I was wondering if covering the roof in panels might be just as good a way of cutting heat on an aluminium roof. Thanks for the heads up on wire. The mechanic thinks I'm nuts for insisting on serious wire, (he got our initial alternator to house system from a junk yarded handicap passenger transport van and omg the crap it caused...) but my motto is "over kill" when ever possible. We're keeping the alternator, marine battery system desperate from the solar for now. It's got a 2k watt Novapal inverter on it. Our electronics wall is a shameful mess. Ideally we'll get a tool box bolted up under the skirt and put all LifePo4 batteries in there, and clean up the octopus. ?

 

[Tomthumb62]

I was wondering if covering the roof in panels might be just as good a way of cutting heat on an aluminium roof.

Maybe, I don't know. Our roof is wood covered by canvas that's been painted several times, most recently with 3 coats of rubberized paint. It's a light color, so it will reflect some heat. The wood/canvas itself provides a minor amount of insulation from heat. But we're mostly near the Canadian border, not down in hot places like Arizona or Texas.

 

[WattMeWorry]

One thing I would suggest (keep in mind I'm a noob) is a solar panel gauge. That thing has helped me to not (continue) to pull my hair out when troubleshooting. Just a noob to noob suggestion.

 

[Tamacat]

Arizona and Texas are two places we're planning on avoiding after decades in SoCal. That would be going from the frying pan into the fire. I'm a born Upstate New Yorker, and would prefer to travel the forest, mountain, stream territories. Hubby has a steel plate in his leg, though, so not in snow.

 

[Tomthumb62]

One thing I would suggest (keep in mind I'm a noob) is a solar panel gauge. That thing has helped me to not (continue) to pull my hair out when troubleshooting. Just a noob to noob suggestion.

Those gauges are handy, especially if you're testing a bunch of used panels in some guy's garage before buying. But you can do the same thing (mostly) with a basic multimeter - test the voltage and amps (if your meter can support testing the amount of amps the panel can produce in short-circuit).

 

[Tamacat]

One thing I would suggest (keep in mind I'm a noob) is a solar panel gauge. That thing has helped me to not (continue) to pull my hair out when troubleshooting. Just a noob to noob suggestion.

Is that the name to search for one under? Solar panel gauge? The mechanic used a multi-meter, but I killed ours a year ago. (It was an accident, I swear.)

 

[Tomthumb62]

Arizona and Texas are two places we're planning on avoiding after decades in SoCal. That would be going from the frying pan into the fire. I'm a born Upstate New Yorker, and would prefer to travel the forest, mountain, stream territories. Hubby has a steel plate in his leg, though, so not in snow.

Northern CA or southern OR might be possibilities. The closer to the coast, the more moderate the temperatures, hence no snow. And close to the mountains. The east coast has too many trees to make solar work easily IMO, unless you can park on land that has been cleared of them. I'm not much familiar with New Mexico, but I think there are some places that are high enough to stay cool-ish but not so high that they get snow.

 

[WattMeWorry]

solar panel tester on amazon - make sure you get the 800w version not the 400w version - just if you ever need to test a panel > 400w

 

[Tamacat]

Northern CA or southern OR might be possibilities. The closer to the coast, the more moderate the temperatures, hence no snow. And close to the mountains. The east coast has too many trees to make solar work easily IMO, unless you can park on land that has been cleared of them. I'm not much familiar with New Mexico, but I think there are some places that are high enough to stay cool-ish but not so high that they get snow.

Northern New Mexico is gorgeous. It's on our hit list. ?

 

[Tamacat]

solar panel tester on amazon - make sure you get the 800w version not the 400w version - just if you ever need to test a panel > 400w

Thank you!