Hey from Tennessee, controller problems

[Watts up]

newbe here thought I would try a little solar power being the easy way out. Solar powered swing gates we have horses and mud. Nothing like jumping out of the truck and having to play in the mud. My driveway is about 800 ft from electric so I oped to do solar Have 30 watt panel and a 10 w that came with the unit as a back up for the electric. Had to get some bigger batteries to run the system all the time. Seems I did ok getting everything going. For about 6 months then things started happening I have had my Aleko LM118 replaced 3 times. That means every time they send me one I have been hooking it up and they have not been working. So I have triple checked my wiring, System worked for about 6 months perfect. But I have had no luck getting one to work sense. You have to hook the battery first, then I have been getting both lights on meaning a over discharge. before hooking anything else up I test to see if I get a load out (to control panel) no power coming out of controller. This I have done over and over.I call the place where I bought the system they send me a new one. Now i'm on 4. So before I hook this one up. I test with a old pair of batteries 23.4 volts. Soon as I hook it up to the battery one light comes on GREAT check the load side, presto I got power.So out to the gates I go hook up the battery to the controller bang 2 lights so I do my next test. Load test 0 So now I check my batteries for voltage 24.8. I'm thinking maybe that's to much for the controller so I run the gates to run the batteries down some. Control panel has a terminal for the bat and solar. Then I go through the steps again. No luck. Bring the controller back in the house to test on the other batteries Again now I'm back to square one with no power at the load. I have left the controller on the old batteries to see if it might kick back on. ANYBODY got anything to say ?? PLEASE !!!

Sorry for the long spill, tried to cover everything, Thanks

solar before hooking up was around : 44 volts

solar after hooking up 25.5 v

battery 12.7 -12.4 hooked up 24 volts around 25.3

load O

[sensij]

On the Amazon reviews, it sounds like at least one other has had this problem. I would suggest not using the load wires on the charge controller. Just hook up your load directly to the batteries.

Edit:
44.6 volts is the Voc for Aleko's 30 W panel, so that looks good. If it is operating correctly, that should drop to 36.5 V when charging the batteries.

What are you doing with the 10 W panel?

[Johann]

I think that you have a problem with the batteries at the gate.
You said that they have low voltage and the controller will not turn on the load, which in low voltage the controller should turn off the load and leave it off until the battery is charged mening that the voltage has to become higher before turning on again on the load trminal. A bad battery could act as load and may not charge.

I would charge the batteries that are at the gate with an battery charger first, not the solar charger. Then unhook the batteries from the charger and let the batteries set for 24 hrs. After 24 hrs of sitting not hooked to anything check the voltage of the batteries.

Hook the old batteries ( small batteries I guess) to the system that you have at the gate and disconnect the big batteries and then also hook up the controller and if that works at the gate then your controller is good and your big batteries are bad.

What kind are the new big batteries ?

And I guess that you have two 12volt batteries in series....right, since it is a 24 volt system?

[Watts up]

Just hook the load directly to the batteries

On the Amazon reviews, it sounds like at least one other has had this problem. I would suggest not using the load wires on the charge controller. Just hook up your load directly to the batteries.

Edit:
44.6 volts is the Voc for Aleko's 30 W panel, so that looks good. If it is operating correctly, that should drop to 36.5 V when charging the batteries.

What are you doing with the 10 W panel?

I'm using the 10 w panel with the 30 w panel. So I have 40 watts. If I hook it directly to the control panel will the solar panel over charge my batteries ?? Is the controller like a voltage regulator ?? Only lets so many volts go through at a time. What your saying if it will work would work for me. I have 3 of these LM 118's

Thank you !!

[Watts up]

Batteries are good

I think that you have a problem with the batteries at the gate.
You said that they have low voltage and the controller will not turn on the load, which in low voltage the controller should turn off the load and leave it off until the battery is charged mening that the voltage has to become higher before turning on again on the load trminal. A bad battery could act as load and may not charge.

I would charge the batteries that are at the gate with an battery charger first, not the solar charger. Then unhook the batteries from the charger and let the batteries set for 24 hrs. After 24 hrs of sitting not hooked to anything check the voltage of the batteries.

Hook the old batteries ( small batteries I guess) to the system that you have at the gate and disconnect the big batteries and then also hook up the controller and if that works at the gate then your controller is good and your big batteries are bad.

What kind are the new big batteries ?

And I guess that you have two 12volt batteries in series....right, since it is a 24 volt system?

My batteries at the gate are both good after sitting for like 6 weeks I had over 25 volts. Today with the controller that I checked out before install I had power coming off the load wires (I used the smaller batteries to check it) They were under 24 volts as was the load during testing. There is 2 lights on the controller 1 light is charge 2 lights is over discharge. test with power from the load 1 light. Soon as I hooked up at the gate both lights came on. Then when I tested the load I had 0. Those batteries were over 24 volts. I hooked the batteries to the control panel and opened the gate 4 times to get the voltage to drop to see if the load would show volts but got 0. I got these batteries with the 30 watt solar panel. My first thought was the batteries because what started this was at night the gate would stop working SOMETIMES. same durung the day sometimes it would work then it would stop. System worked great for the first 6 months
Thank you for your time and trying to help me figure this out. I really need my gate opener.

[Mike90250]

I'm using the 10 w panel with the 30 w panel. So I have 40 watts.

Maybe, if the voltages of the 2 panels are pretty close.

If I hook it directly to the control panel will the solar panel over charge my batteries ?? Is the controller like a voltage regulator ?? Only lets so many volts go through at a time. What your saying if it will work would work for me. I have 3 of these LM 118's Thank you !!

The charge controller IS the regulator that keeps the solar panel from cooking your batteries. But its not simply a voltage regulator, it has several voltage setpoints and time dwell at certain voltages to properly charge a battery.

Buy cheap stuff, and it breaks or arrives defective. Buy 5 or 6 and you may get lucky and find one that works.

[Watts up]

Cheap stuff

Maybe, if the voltages of the 2 panels are pretty close.

So how can I remedy this problem with my cheap controller ?? Is there some other controller I need to be using I do have about a grand in my system that doesn't work. Maybe junk But not cheap. Or maybe cheap junk LOL


The charge controller IS the regulator that keeps the solar panel from cooking your batteries. But its not simply a voltage regulator, it has several voltage setpoints and time dwell at certain voltages to properly charge a battery.

Buy cheap stuff, and it breaks or arrives defective. Buy 5 or 6 and you may get lucky and find one that works.

So how can I remedy this problem with my cheap controller ?? Is there some other controller I need to be using I do have about a grand in my system that doesn't work. Maybe junk But not cheap. Or maybe cheap junk LOL

[Watts up]

Charge controller

So how can I remedy this problem with my cheap controller ?? Is there some other controller I need to be using I do have about a grand in my system that doesn't work. Maybe junk But not cheap. Or maybe cheap junk LOL

Didn't think to check out charge controllers on the internet. Now I have a need to know knowledge of controllers. Can anyone steer me in the direction I need to be going with a controller for my gates. Like how many amps do I need can I use a basic controller ?PWM really do I need PWM ? How much should I spend.

[Legacy]

I am going to take a stab at this ,As you didn't say what the gate opener model is I looked up
the largest dual gate unit Aleko has and the motors draw 5 amps each for 10 amps total which
is probably the max this charge controller could handle on a good day on its load terminals.

The smaller gate drives still draw around 4 amps each 8 amps total so this is also close to max of
the charge controller
They may draw more depending on things like temp,mud build up etc.

If this is so then I would recommend you go to something like the Morningstar SS-20L-24
charge controller if you still want the protection of the low battery cut off.

http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/sunsaver-gen-3/

http://www.morningstarcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SunSaverENG_R3_5_12web1.pdf

If you are not worried about the batteries running dead then you could hook the gate
controller circuit direct to the battery and just use the solar charger without using the load
control.

Hope this helps you

[sensij]

My batteries at the gate are both good after sitting for like 6 weeks I had over 25 volts. Today with the controller that I checked out before install I had power coming off the load wires (I used the smaller batteries to check it) They were under 24 volts as was the load during testing. There is 2 lights on the controller 1 light is charge 2 lights is over discharge. test with power from the load 1 light. Soon as I hooked up at the gate both lights came on. Then when I tested the load I had 0. Those batteries were over 24 volts. I hooked the batteries to the control panel and opened the gate 4 times to get the voltage to drop to see if the load would show volts but got 0. I got these batteries with the 30 watt solar panel. My first thought was the batteries because what started this was at night the gate would stop working SOMETIMES. same durung the day sometimes it would work then it would stop. System worked great for the first 6 months
Thank you for your time and trying to help me figure this out. I really need my gate opener.

Just because the batteries are starting at 25 V doesn't mean they are good. Charging to the correct voltage but quickly dropping when load is applied is a sign of batteries that have been overworked.

If that 10 W panel is this one, it should not be combined with the 30 W panel. Doing so will prevent the 30 W from operating correctly, and you may get less power with them together than you would have just running the 30 W by itself. Your solar operating voltage should be something like 36 V.

If the panels haven't been hooked up right, the battery may not have been getting charged right and might have lost the ability to hold a charge.

[Watts up]

batteries are good

Just because the batteries are starting at 25 V doesn't mean they are good. Charging to the correct voltage but quickly dropping when load is applied is a sign of batteries that have been overworked.

If that 10 W panel is this one, it should not be combined with the 30 W panel. Doing so will prevent the 30 W from operating correctly, and you may get less power with them together than you would have just running the 30 W by itself. Your solar operating voltage should be something like 36 V.

If the panels haven't been hooked up right, the battery may not have been getting charged right and might have lost the ability to hold a charge.

I am getting on a sunny day around 40 plus volts. When I first started having problems batteries were 12.7 and 12.5. Solar was 41.7 before hooking it to the controller. The 30 watt solar is ALEKO® LM109 Solar Panel 30W 24V for any 24V DC Gate Opener

Gates are Lock Master LM 902 dual gate system with 10 watt backup solar panel. Power is 80 w each actuator current is 3 amp

Please explain why to not run these panels together

[sensij]

I am getting on a sunny day around 40 plus volts. When I first started having problems batteries were 12.7 and 12.5. Solar was 41.7 before hooking it to the controller. The 30 watt solar is ALEKO® LM109 Solar Panel 30W 24V for any 24V DC Gate Opener

Gates are Lock Master LM 902 dual gate system with 10 watt backup solar panel. Power is 80 w each actuator current is 3 amp

Please explain why to not run these panels together

Solar voltage "before hooking it up to the controller" will be the Voc. For two panels in parallel, it will usually be close to the highest Voc of the two, depending on how much backfeed into the low voltage panel occurs. For two panels in series, it will be the sum of the panel Voc's. Based on what you've posted, it sounds like you've got them in parallel.

Vmp is the voltage once it is connected to the controller. You can see from the specs here that the Vmp should be over 35 V.

Although Aleko lists a 10 W 24 V panel, the specs it shows don't match. Maybe it is a typo on their specs, but if you put two panels in parallel that are designed to operate at different voltages, you can get a circuit voltage that is probably not right for either of them. Based on your report that the solar voltage drops to 25 V when connected to the controller, it sounds like that is happening.

[Watts up]

Thank You This is what I needed all along.

I am going to take a stab at this ,As you didn't say what the gate opener model is I looked up
the largest dual gate unit Aleko has and the motors draw 5 amps each for 10 amps total which
is probably the max this charge controller could handle on a good day on its load terminals.

The smaller gate drives still draw around 4 amps each 8 amps total so this is also close to max of
the charge controller
They may draw more depending on things like temp,mud build up etc.

If this is so then I would recommend you go to something like the Morningstar SS-20L-24
charge controller if you still want the protection of the low battery cut off.

http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/sunsaver-gen-3/

http://www.morningstarcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/SunSaverENG_R3_5_12web1.pdf

If you are not worried about the batteries running dead then you could hook the gate
controller circuit direct to the battery and just use the solar charger without using the load
control.

Hope this helps you

Ok, looked up my Gates. They are 80w each actuator current is 3A. If I don't use the load will I still hook the Solar to the controller then run from the controller battery to the batteries then run from the batteries to my Control box and not use the load side. Now will the batteries get over charged this way ? If that will work til I can get a good controller ( like the one above) I will do it that way. I just don't want to screw anything up. Thank you so much for your help It is much appreciated.

[sensij]

Ok, looked up my Gates. They are 80w each actuator current is 3A. If I don't use the load will I still hook the Solar to the controller then run from the controller battery to the batteries then run from the batteries to my Control box and not use the load side. Now will the batteries get over charged this way ? If that will work til I can get a good controller ( like the one above) I will do it that way. I just don't want to screw anything up. Thank you so much for your help It is much appreciated.

No, the controller prevents the batteries from getting over charged. You will be able to over-discharge them, since you no longer have the protection of the controller to prevent that. However, that protection feature seems to be buggy on cheap controllers, and might be hurting more than helping.

[sensij]

Solar voltage "before hooking it up to the controller" will be the Voc. For two panels in parallel, it will usually be close to the highest Voc of the two, depending on how much backfeed into the low voltage panel occurs. For two panels in series, it will be the sum of the panel Voc's. Based on what you've posted, it sounds like you've got them in parallel.

Vmp is the voltage once it is connected to the controller. You can see from the specs here that the Vmp should be over 35 V.

Although Aleko lists a 10 W 24 V panel, the specs it shows don't match. Maybe it is a typo on their specs, but if you put two panels in parallel that are designed to operate at different voltages, you can get a circuit voltage that is probably not right for either of them. Based on your report that the solar voltage drops to 25 V when connected to the controller, it sounds like that is happening.

Sorry for the confusion... 25 V might be the normal operating point for a PWM controller. To check whether it is ok to put the panels in parallel, check the Voc of each of them individually (not hooked up together). If the Voc's are close, you can safely combine them, but if not, it is a bad idea.