We bought a pre-converted VW kombi campervan from what we now know is a very dishonest and incompetent firm in Mexico. We have worked a lot trying to fix everything they neglected or did badly. And right now I'm working on the electric system.
First of all, the charging stopped many times and I found that almost all the cables are just twisted and taped, even cables between the solar panel, the charge controller and the battery. I have fixed it now with butt connectors and increased the charging a lot. But it still feels low so first of all I want to confirm if my numbers make sense.
Panel is 100W from unknown chinese brand (can't ask, as we told that company to go to hell etc)
The controller is a simple one called CMTD (I guess thats the brand at least)
The battery is some brand called MS Battery (120Ah, deep cycle)
When i first checked, the controller said 1.6A charge during noon in Mexico. After I fixed the cables I could find between the panel, controller and the battery and removed the protective film from the panel (no, they hasn't even done that), I now get 3.6A. I also disvonnected the panel and measured the voltage over it and it was 19.9. As i understand it, that means 71.6W, way below specifications, but maybe normal?
Also, on our first trip without my fixes we discharged the battery way too much. But it has now been 2 days of good sun light and the charger shows 11.7V after sunset. It also only shows 2/5 bars full so far. Is it normal that it will take multiple days to charge it?
I also wonder about cable dimensions, most guides use crazy thick cables, but playing with tools for this I assume if I want to replace their crap cables, they wouldn't have to be super thick for one panel and maybe 5m of distance (x2)? I'm thinking 8 awg is even too much, but would rather overdo it if I get more current. What do you think?
Most guides say you should ground the battery to the car chassis, can't see that they did that anywhere except at some of the lights and the fridge. What effect could this have?
And lastly, even though as far as I know, there is nothing on, the solar controller shows a load of 0.4A. I assumed it might be what it uses itself, but it doesn't really measure that right? So, what can I do to find out? Could it be their bad cable work leaking somewhere? Or maybe something is running I don't know about, but really can't think of anything...
I'm extremely greatful for any help, our vacation is just ticking away while we are working with this piece of 💩... ☹
First of all, the charging stopped many times and I found that almost all the cables are just twisted and taped, even cables between the solar panel, the charge controller and the battery. I have fixed it now with butt connectors and increased the charging a lot. But it still feels low so first of all I want to confirm if my numbers make sense.
Panel is 100W from unknown chinese brand (can't ask, as we told that company to go to hell etc)
The controller is a simple one called CMTD (I guess thats the brand at least)
The battery is some brand called MS Battery (120Ah, deep cycle)
When i first checked, the controller said 1.6A charge during noon in Mexico. After I fixed the cables I could find between the panel, controller and the battery and removed the protective film from the panel (no, they hasn't even done that), I now get 3.6A. I also disvonnected the panel and measured the voltage over it and it was 19.9. As i understand it, that means 71.6W, way below specifications, but maybe normal?
Also, on our first trip without my fixes we discharged the battery way too much. But it has now been 2 days of good sun light and the charger shows 11.7V after sunset. It also only shows 2/5 bars full so far. Is it normal that it will take multiple days to charge it?
I also wonder about cable dimensions, most guides use crazy thick cables, but playing with tools for this I assume if I want to replace their crap cables, they wouldn't have to be super thick for one panel and maybe 5m of distance (x2)? I'm thinking 8 awg is even too much, but would rather overdo it if I get more current. What do you think?
Most guides say you should ground the battery to the car chassis, can't see that they did that anywhere except at some of the lights and the fridge. What effect could this have?
And lastly, even though as far as I know, there is nothing on, the solar controller shows a load of 0.4A. I assumed it might be what it uses itself, but it doesn't really measure that right? So, what can I do to find out? Could it be their bad cable work leaking somewhere? Or maybe something is running I don't know about, but really can't think of anything...
I'm extremely greatful for any help, our vacation is just ticking away while we are working with this piece of 💩... ☹
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