Renogy System Help

[Tam O'Bedlam]

About 2 years ago I bought from Amazon, 3 100w Renogy Panels, the ROVER 40A Controller and 2 AGM Batteries (155ah each). Installed them on/in my van and they have worked fine for the last almost two years.

Yesterday afternoon I was cleaning and noticed that the Controller claims it is nighttime, and my batteries have dropped down to 53% (which normally they never get lower than 67%) now it was a partly cloudy day, but it certainly isn't nighttime! The only thing the manual says in troubleshooting about this is to make sure you have the wires hooked up correctly, I know they are of course since everything has worked swimmingly for quite some time. I cannot reach Renogy support. I made sure the connections to the controller are tight, I even got the ladder out and checked the ones on the roof and made sure the panels were clean, everything seems fine. I restarted the controller as well, same thing.

Any suggestions?

 

[NEWYORKHILLBILLY]

I no expert and I know nothing about that controller . but i can only think of 3 things to check, my guess is the controller died.
1. first check pv output
2. If you got good output from panels and its not coming out of controller you know its the controller
3. check battery Not sure what kind you have .but some will refuse to take a charge when on there last legs

hopefully some one jumps in that knows more about the controller

 

[Zil]

your battery has been murdered.

 

[JoseAgustinV]

AGM batteries tend to lose capacity over time, the batteries could be discharging faster because they are losing capacity. If you DOD your batteries more than 50% they will last less, I discharged my AGM battery to 100% by mistake and now it has about 25% of its normal capacity, and its only 6 months old. You should also test your batteries to see if that is the problem.

 

[Supervstech]

You guys aren’t reading his post... the controller is not getting PV input... of course the batteries are low, that’s not the question.
The question is why aren’t the panels outputting power?

first step is to measure PV voltage, then short circuit amps...
if the panels check, next is the wire to the controller... could be a loose screw, or similar.
If good power is at the controller... check and see if here are fuses in there...

 

[Tam O'Bedlam]

In case this happens to anyone else, it turns out that the problem was that the inline fuse holder between the solar panels and the controller, was no longer holding the fuse all the way in, over time the vibration from driving (and a lot of dirt forest service roads, not gonna lie) has loosened it so that it doesn't hold the fuse in completely. Taking a zip tie and zip tying the fuse in to the holder tightly solved the problem. Power is now flowing properly!

 

[Sgt Raven]

In case this happens to anyone else, it turns out that the problem was that the inline fuse holder between the solar panels and the controller, was no longer holding the fuse all the way in, over time the vibration from driving (and a lot of dirt forest service roads, not gonna lie) has loosened it so that it doesn't hold the fuse in completely. Taking a zip tie and zip tying the fuse in to the holder tightly solved the problem. Power is now flowing properly!

That may have fixed it for now. But I think I would replace the fuse assembly if possible. Maybe with a different design fuse, too. One where the fuse is screwed down to the holder.

 

[Tam O'Bedlam]

That may have fixed it for now. But I think I would replace the fuse assembly if possible. Maybe with a different design fuse, too. One where the fuse is screwed down to the holder.

I have already ordered a new assembly!

 

[mapguy525]

In case this happens to anyone else, it turns out that the problem was that the inline fuse holder between the solar panels and the controller, was no longer holding the fuse all the way in, over time the vibration from driving (and a lot of dirt forest service roads, not gonna lie) has loosened it so that it doesn't hold the fuse in completely. Taking a zip tie and zip tying the fuse in to the holder tightly solved the problem. Power is now flowing properly!

Yes, RV installs need to take into consideration the "shake, rattle, and roll" operating conditions. People regularly overlook the movement potential of unsupported wiring in RV installs.

Yes, the great outdoor experiences are typically a long distance on a dirt/gravel road -especially in western United States. Robust system implementation is a must for long term reliable usage.