Buy all your VW California Accessories at the Club Shop Visit Shop

Solar Victron - charging? app? issues?

Max-Felix

Max-Felix

Messages
1,467
Location
Sussex
Vehicle
T5 SE 140
Fitted my solar (100w panel Victron MPPT 75/15 with bluetooth) from last year's Cali to this years (2011 SE). All fitted fine but getting some odd results.

BTW much prefer the old style app display to the new one... :(

Despite current Sahara type sun not reached over 75w max (hit 105 or so max on same set up last year):

And I'm sometimes showing 0 watts despite showing bulk charge mode.

Also again despite full sun control panel not showing above 12.7 v and generally 80%.

SE circuits all seem fine - checked all as below and all good:

+ continuity between front and rear batteries.
Rear fuse.
12.6v at rear cig socket rising to 14.6 or so on 240v EHU and with rear battery disconnected.
Same 14.6v at rear leisure battery when re-connected and EHU on.

On EHU CP shows 14.6v. Left this on for 15 mins and then CP shows 100% with voltage dropping off gradually from 13.1 down as you'd expect. 10 mins later at 12.8v.

After disconnecting EHU I replaced fuse in solar and app showing absorption phase with correct read out of 12.8v on battery and giving solar output as 0w 21.02v and 0 amp

Lastly I closed app - put on a load of 4 amps (fridge + lights)), reconnected app and still showing 0w but app and controller light both showing bulk phase?!

Any ideas? Seems to me a charge controller blip??

I'm sure last years app never showed 0 watts in daylight/sun??

Link to set up:

https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...etooth-and-phone-app.14750/page-2#post-264951
 
Update 15 mins later. Full sun. App now showing 8w and float. CP back to 13.4v 100%.

All seems erratic.
 
Have you checked all connections both on solar side and 12v side? I had something similar when wire going into controller from battery became loose.
 
Have you checked all connections both on solar side and 12v side? I had something similar when wire going into controller from battery became loose.

Yes, all A1...[goes out to double check]...
 
Yep, all good - app back to showing 0 watts again but 'bulk'. CP 90% and 12.75v.

Wiggled all connections incl inline fuse - no affect.
 
Well if all connections good then it’s either the panel or the controller. If you have a multimeter that can measure at least 10A you could short circuit test the panel to see if it’s working well. You say you’re in sussex, I’m in Hove so if you’re local I’m happy to pull out my controller to eliminate that being the cause.
 
Thanks for that. I'm the other end of Sussex and not too local to be honest but much appreciated. I'm perplexed by it. Working fine this morning again (below). Will call suppliers Monday.

IMG_4262.PNG
 
Max, I had a very similar issue with the same MPPT controller in my garage set up. Yesterday when I checked it the battery % was about 96% and the voltage was at 12.6V, the panels were at about 40V, loads of sun but absolutely no current flowing through the system. It indicated that it was in bulk charge mode. At first I though it was some type of thermal protection as it was very hot. But I had no error messages. So I rebooted it i.e. disconnected panels then battery then reconnected both. Straightaway it started working correctly again. No trouble since. I have never seen it do this before either. So I can't be of help, but you are not alone.
 
Thanks Mark, very helpful - van was not moved yesterday and in blazing sun all day - maybe some sort of panel overheating - does seem perverse on a solar panel though?? I had no errors showing.

Been out all day by the coast today and sun not quite so strong and in a breeze and I've been checking it every 30 mins and it's been working faultlessly.

Is there an 'official' re-boot instruction?
 
The only thing I think that you need to do is make sure you remove the solar panel power before you disconnect the battery. Then make sure you reconnect the battery first before the panels. The only other thing you could do is a factory reset but I don't think that will help and you would then have to reset all of your custom settings. I am sure this has something to do with the high temperatures we are experiencing at the moment although I am also sure the MPPT is rated for this type of temperature.
 
Thanks.

What's the procedure for custom reset? I'm running on factory default (except for load 'always off' as no connection there) so no hassle to redo.

If it is the weather it is odd as used it all through Europe last August with no issues whatsoever.

Again checking now all good, on float and 8w with no load on van bar control panel and battery at 13.4v.

Anyone else with solar had issues?
 
Last edited:
I spoke too soon. Now slightly overcast, getting the below?! :(

IMG_4264.PNG
 
Hi, I've also had problems but haven't yet done any playing around. Seems to have been zero charge for the last month or so - we haven't been away, so I've not been checking.

I did fit some new connectors earlier this year - the van has to go in for a roof rot repair soon, so I thought it would be easier with a pair of connectors up top, so I could just disconnect it and take the whole panel off.

Maybe will find the time tomorrow to do some more digging to see what's wrong.
 
When I had 0 output I tracked it back to a loose connection in the connector to the panel. Worth checking.
 
Thanks Walrus, triple checked all connections, wiggling and looking on readout but nothing amiss. MPPT readout checks with app ok ie flashing led for bulk etc.
 
Thanks Walrus, triple checked all connections, wiggling and looking on readout but nothing amiss. MPPT readout checks with app ok ie flashing led for bulk etc.

It was only evident when I pulled apart the connector between the panel lead and the cable into the van. Wiggling had no effect.
 
We'll I've disconnected everything, reconnected the controller, reset everything to factory defaults and I'm still not getting any charge. Think the panel might be broken.

According to the spec, the maximum voltage for the panel I have should be 18v but the history shows a max over the last month of 15v on one day, the rest are about 12.5v. today's is 9.5v but the sun isn't at its highest.

At the moment it's moving between 0 and about 5v quite quickly even though there are no clouds. We have a Beach so I've had to connect up the coolbox to try to use up some of the battery charge. Currently on the app interface the battery is showing 12.28v 0.0A and state Off.

Don't understand the state being Off?
 
Could be panels have failed. Very thin trace wires connect individual cells broke on my two panels 2 years ago. Not replaced them can not justify the cost.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
 
Further update to mine, spoke to supplier today and awaiting response.

Just checked again, van not moved since yesterday.

Was working OK all morning, just checked and display as below, back to 0 watt again. See below:


IMG_4266.PNG

Then put on approx 15 amp load (heater, fridge, lights) and re-launched app - again showing 0 watts so something is wrong. See below:


IMG_4267.PNG

And California CP:

IMG_4268.JPG
 
Does not seem right at all as you say. Hope you get a resolution from the supplier.
 
Could be panels have failed
Think you are probably right.

I'll have to get a new panel but will wait until the roof for is fixed. Although I can get everything ready I suppose for when the van comes back.
 
My update after very helpful support from the supplier - is likely culprit is the controller as thought.

When it's playing up (ie showing 0w and this also reflected by the voltage showing on the Cali CP) then the PV terminals of the controller are still showing a constant 21v in UK sun and the battery terminals 12.7v.

So, all wiring is fine as is the panel itself - for some reason the controller is not letting the current flow at random times.

Will update tomorrow as I need another 0w occurrence to do a couple more checks and a reset but I'm confident following email exchanges it will be sorted by the supplier.
 
Max-felix glad you are getting there with your problem & that the panel seems OK.

Panels also loose efficiency the hotter it gets. Silly but read the spec sheets.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk
 
Back
Top