Problem with my CMP12 charge controller. No output voltage [images]

[vitallica]

Hello,

I'm doing my first solar project for having electricity at a remote location in the woods for boys scouts summer camp. check it out here: m6xj.jpg

Here is a scheme: http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/1959/aiyp.png


My problem with my charge controller is that it has no output voltage (or very low).

It's my second CMP12 now in 2 months (received the second one for free because of warranty)

Here are a few pictures showing the results and showing the device:

Measured on the output
vg3l.jpg

Measured on the battery's
j5ta.jpg

Pictures of charge controller
m2hx.jpg
9hzt.jpg
i09w.jpg

It would be kind of you guys if you could help me out here

[SunEagle]

Hello,

I'm doing my first solar project for having electricity at a remote location in the woods for boys scouts summer camp. check it out here: [ATTACH=CONFIG]3425[/ATTACH]

Here is a scheme: http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/1959/aiyp.png


My problem with my charge controller is that it has no output voltage (or very low).

It's my second CMP12 now in 2 months (received the second one for free because of warranty)

Here are a few pictures showing the results and showing the device:

Measured on the output
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3426[/ATTACH]

Measured on the battery's
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3427[/ATTACH]

Pictures of charge controller
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3428[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3429[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3430[/ATTACH]

It would be kind of you guys if you could help me out here

First problem I see is that you wired your inverter to the Load terminals on the charge controller. Those terminals are only good for a very small 12 volt DC load not an inverter.

You need to connect the 12 volt DC wires from the inverter directly to the battery.

Second problem is how you wired your batteries. To make sure both get the correct charge and discharge you should put the Positive wire from the charger on the first battery and the Negative wire from the charger on the second. Use the same battery terminals to connect your Pos and Neg wire from the inverter.

I don't know the load of your refrigerator but I can tell you that it probably will draw more than the 150 watt your inverter can put out and may quickly drain your batteries.

Also refrigerators do not like Modified Sine Wave inverters. You should use a Pure Sine Wave inverter. They are more expensive but will work better on equipment with motors and electronics.

[vitallica]

First problem I see is that you wired your inverter to the Load terminals on the charge controller. Those terminals are only good for a very small 12 volt DC load not an inverter.

You need to connect the 12 volt DC wires from the inverter directly to the battery.

Second problem is how you wired your batteries. To make sure both get the correct charge and discharge you should put the Positive wire from the charger on the first battery and the Negative wire from the charger on the second. Use the same battery terminals to connect your Pos and Neg wire from the inverter.

I don't know the load of your refrigerator but I can tell you that it probably will draw more than the 150 watt your inverter can put out and may quickly drain your batteries.

Also refrigerators do not like Modified Sine Wave inverters. You should use a Pure Sine Wave inverter. They are more expensive but will work better on equipment with motors and electronics.

Thank you for your answer.

For the connection of my batteries you mean connect the like this:
batterys.png

[SunEagle]

Thank you for your answer.

For the connection of my batteries you mean connect the like this:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]3435[/ATTACH]

Not exactly.

If you want to keep the batteries as a 12 volt system then wired them in parallel like you originally had them.

Then run the positive wire from the charge controller to the positive terminal to the battery on the left. Then run the negative wire from the charge controller to the negative terminal to the battery on the right like you did in the latest sketch. This way the both batteries have a better chance of getting equal charging currents.

You then can connect your positive and negative wires from the inverter to the same battery terminals that the charge controller are connected.

One last thing you need to do is add fusing between the charge controller and batteries and between the batteries and inverter. The fusing protects the wire which based on the 150 watt inverter and batteries size would be minimum of #12 Awg.

[inetdog]

My problem with my charge controller is that it has no output voltage (or very low).

It's my second CMP12 now in 2 months (received the second one for free because of warranty)

It would be kind of you guys if you could help me out here

Look closely at the input and output connection sequence described in the manual for the CC.
Most, but not all, require you to connect the battery before you connect the solar panels. If you do not do this the microprocessor inside the CC will not reset/start up properly and the results are unpredictable.

[vitallica]

Look closely at the input and output connection sequence described in the manual for the CC.
Most, but not all, require you to connect the battery before you connect the solar panels. If you do not do this the microprocessor inside the CC will not reset/start up properly and the results are unpredictable.

Yes i did that, you can see in the picture from the measurement i numbered them. 1st goes the battery, second solar panel and third the load.

[Wy_White_Wolf]

My guess is you tried drawing more than 12 amps thru the load connection to the charge controller and blew the circuit. The charge circuit may not be working either as it looks like it's reading battery voltage and not any output from the charge controller.

WWW

[vitallica]

Not exactly.

If you want to keep the batteries as a 12 volt system then wired them in parallel like you originally had them.

Then run the positive wire from the charge controller to the positive terminal to the battery on the left. Then run the negative wire from the charge controller to the negative terminal to the battery on the right like you did in the latest sketch. This way the both batteries have a better chance of getting equal charging currents.

You then can connect your positive and negative wires from the inverter to the same battery terminals that the charge controller are connected.

One last thing you need to do is add fusing between the charge controller and batteries and between the batteries and inverter. The fusing protects the wire which based on the 150 watt inverter and batteries size would be minimum of #12 Awg.

So this is what i should be? I chose 10 Amps because the invertor can handle a miximum of 10 amps.

scheme here

[Wy_White_Wolf]

Is that 10amps at 12vdc or 10 amps at 120VAC?

How about a link to your inverter or a closeup picture.

WWW

[vitallica]

My guess is you tried drawing more than 12 amps thru the load connection to the charge controller and blew the circuit. The charge circuit may not be working either as it looks like it's reading battery voltage and not any output from the charge controller.

WWW

Thanks for your reply!

My first CMP 12 story:

I got it and connected on to the 100 Watts lamp as you see in the picture (using the charge controller's output)
I put on a refrigerator for an hour and it didn't work. the red light from the invertor was red all the time.

I measured on the output from the charge controller and it still gave me 12 volts. So i don't think it was damaged by overload.

My second CMP 12 story:

I read the manual on how to connect the charge controller. first you need to connect the batteries to it, second the solar panel and third the load.
But i didn't put any load on it, i first measured it but it had no voltage on the output.

[SunEagle]

So this is what i should be? I chose 10 Amps because the invertor can handle a miximum of 10 amps.

scheme here

The wiring diagram is correct. Although the 10 amp fuse between the battery and inverter may be too small.

If you use the 150 watt inverter you could technically draw over 10 amps at 12 volts. Both the fuse and wire between the battery and inverter should be sized based on the highest wattage the inverter can deliver.

What is the maximum watts the inverter can handle?

[vitallica]

Is that 10amps at 12vdc or 10 amps at 120VAC?

How about a link to your inverter or a closeup picture.

WWW

That will be 10 amps at 12v dc.

I contacted the manufacturer from the inverter and i got a datasheet for it: click here to view/download

got no picture for it but it's a 12vdc/230vac inverter for 150watts

In my country we work at a power grid of 230 AC.

[vitallica]

The wiring diagram is correct. Although the 10 amp fuse between the battery and inverter may be too small.

If you use the 150 watt inverter you could technically draw over 10 amps at 12 volts. Both the fuse and wire between the battery and inverter should be sized based on the highest wattage the inverter can deliver.

What is the maximum watts the inverter can handle?

nominal 150 watts with 300 watts peak

datasheet here

[SunEagle]

nominal 150 watts with 300 watts peak

datasheet here

Ok. A 300 watt load at 12 volts will draw 25 amps. So the fuses and wire need to be rated at 25 amps. You could go with a smaller fuse to limit what the inverter is using but then you may have to replace the fuses that fail if you draw more.

[Wy_White_Wolf]

nominal 150 watts with 300 watts peak

datasheet here

150W / 12V = 12.5 amps

300W / 12V = 25 amps

Your Charge controller is only rated 12 amps. As I stated earlier most likely you've pulled to much current thru the load circuit of the charge controller and damaged it. Time to replace it again and this time hook the inverter directly to the battery bank or get a LV disconnect rated high enough to hanle the load.

WWW