Laptop keeps crashing my solar rig

[Pentos]

Hi folks, Newbie here with a bit of a prob I hope someone can help with. I have a very small simple rig set up in the shed at the end of the garden that's going to be my "office", comprising a 150w panel, a controller and a 100AH deep cycle gel battery. I've put in some 12v lights and these work just fine. The other thing I want to power is my laptop (a 2011 MacBook Pro). I've not incorporated an inverter as I plan to run everything on 12v DC, and have a car charger for the laptop for the purpose. BUT...whenever I plug this car charger in, everything cuts out, and thats before I even connect it to the laptop. Has anyone any idea what I might be doing wrong? In case it's of help, these are the specs of the charger. Its a 12v car charger (the cigarette lighter socket type) Input: 11.5v - 16v dc 5.6A max Output: 18.5v 4.6A The proper apple mains charger is: Input: 100-240v 1.5A 50-60hz Output:18.5v 4.6A Ive tested the rig with other 12v car appliances eg phone charger, which work just fine. I'm completely stumped so any help or suggestions very gratefully received. Thanks Pentos

[bcroe]

What, the LED lights work OK, but go out when the charger is connected? That is just about impossible,
unless you have something between the battery and the LEDS. Are you going through a LOAD connection
on a charge controller? If so try connecting the LEDs direct to the battery (series fuse is good), then add the
laptop charger the same way. The LEDs should come on, and stay on as the charger connects. Bruce Roe

[littleharbor]

Have you installed a 12 volt socket? If so does other stuff work fine on it? Just wondering if the polarity is reversed on the socket.

[Mike90250]

non-standard grounding can also cause a problem, but would likely blow a fuse (you do have fuses installed?)

But to run that laptop very much you are going to need more PV panel.

[Pentos]

What, the LED lights work OK, but go out when the charger is connected? That is just about impossible,
unless you have something between the battery and the LEDS. Are you going through a LOAD connection
on a charge controller? If so try connecting the LEDs direct to the battery (series fuse is good), then add the
laptop charger the same way. The LEDs should come on, and stay on as the charger connects. Bruce Roe

Hi Bruce, Thanks for your input. The only thing between the battery and the LEDs is the charge controller. Now, its possible that I'm doing something wrong with it, but I have even tried replacing it and the same thing happens. so I don't think this can be the problem. Routing through the controller the laptop and the LEDs are connected in exactly the same way. The only other thing I can think of is if the controllers are factory set to limit the power draw, but if they are I haven't been able to figure out how to change them.

[Pentos]

Have you installed a 12 volt socket? If so does other stuff work fine on it? Just wondering if the polarity is reversed on the socket.

Hi littleharbor. Yes, have a temp installed trailing 12v socket with alligator clips. I think the polarity is correct as the phone charger works fine in it

[Pentos]

non-standard grounding can also cause a problem, but would likely blow a fuse (you do have fuses installed?)

But to run that laptop very much you are going to need more PV panel.

Hi Mike. No, no fuses installed, and no grounding other than on the negative terminal on the battery. Should there be?

[Sunking]

Hi Mike. No, no fuses installed, and no grounding other than on the negative terminal on the battery. Should there be?

No bond to earth required and the negative polarity has nothing to do with ground. If I had to guess you have the polarity wrong on your brick power supply.

[SunEagle]

Hi Bruce, Thanks for your input. The only thing between the battery and the LEDs is the charge controller. Now, its possible that I'm doing something wrong with it, but I have even tried replacing it and the same thing happens. so I don't think this can be the problem. Routing through the controller the laptop and the LEDs are connected in exactly the same way. The only other thing I can think of is if the controllers are factory set to limit the power draw, but if they are I haven't been able to figure out how to change them.

Try connecting the Laptop DC wires directly to the battery terminals through a fuse. It sounds like you have both the LED lights and laptop connected to the "load" terminals of the charge controller which may be limited to what it can handle.

[jflorey2]

Hi Bruce, Thanks for your input. The only thing between the battery and the LEDs is the charge controller.

You want solar panel -> charge controller -> battery -> loads.

If you are using the "load" terminal on your charge controller you may be exceeding its current rating. They are usually intended for small (<10A) loads.

If you want to keep the LVD functionality, the go with something like a C40 - those are good to 40 amps.

[Pentos]

Thanks again for your advice guys.
I've tried connecting direct to the battery using the trailing cigarette lighter socket with alligator clips, and it works just fine.
The problem seems to be when running it through the controllers (tried two of em now )
Yes, both lights and laptop are connected through the load terminals of the controller, but the problem persists whether the lights are on or not.
The amp rating of the two charge controller I've tried are 10A and 30A, respectively.
Is there any possibility that the voltage difference could be causing a problem? i.e. the rig outputs 12v but the laptop requires 18v

[littleharbor]

Load control output on those cheap little controllers is intended for switching on/off a lighting circuit. They can be programmed to come on at a certain time and run for a certain amount of time. They will shut down if the battery voltage falls below a set point. That being said, unless you are using it for this purpose , it really shouldn't be used.

[Sunking]

Thanks again for your advice guys.
I've tried connecting direct to the battery using the trailing cigarette lighter socket with alligator clips, and it works just fine.
The problem seems to be when running it through the controllers (tried two of em now )
Yes, both lights and laptop are connected through the load terminals of the controller, but the problem persists whether the lights are on or not.
The amp rating of the two charge controller I've tried are 10A and 30A, respectively.
Is there any possibility that the voltage difference could be causing a problem? i.e. the rig outputs 12v but the laptop requires 18v

The load terminal is not meant to be used for loads other than very small items like and LED night light. Stop trying to make it do something it is not made to do. Th e10/30 amp you mention is the Controller output to the batery, NOT LOAD.

[Pentos]

The load terminal is not meant to be used for loads other than very small items like and LED night light. Stop trying to make it do something it is not made to do. Th e10/30 amp you mention is the Controller output to the batery, NOT LOAD.

Ahhhhhh. OK - so can you recommend one that would be right for my uses? (I tried searching for the C40 as suggested, but don't seem to be able to find one here in the UK)

[ButchDeal]

Ahhhhhh. OK - so can you recommend one that would be right for my uses? (I tried searching for the C40 as suggested, but don't seem to be able to find one here in the UK)

the load terminal is NOT right for your use no matter which Charge Controller you get. you should be attaching to the battery with a fuse.