will a cracked panel with moisure short out controller?

[DeadPhan]

We had some crazy wind the other day. I have another system with panels screwed in but I have an old smaller 100 watt accordian kit type that's wired to a cheap pwm controller. 100 watts are panels. Anyway. They are to just keep a battery charged for 12 volt lighting. I noticed today the controller isn't working. Check out the connections. The panels are reading steady. No numbers jumping around. But I looked at panels and saw a lil hairline fracture in on of them. And possibly moisture. Wondering if that could possibly short out controller. Its a cheap controller. Propy couple yrs. Used daily. So maybe just **** bed itself. Gonna buy a new one and keep other panel disconnected for now. Let it dry out and seal it with some clear sealant. Any reccomeded ions? I could just nix the 25 watt panel as the 75 prolly enough to keep battery juiced for lighting. It takes very little. Anyway I was wondering if that could be the cause.

[Mike90250]

Once glass is cracked, moisture gets in, and you can't dry it out enough to save the panel.

But a bum panel should not damage a controller. Other panels in parallel backfeeding the bum panel, could cause a problem (fire) in the bum panel

[hroldan]

[...]wired to a cheap pwm controller
[...] noticed today the controller isn't working.
[...]The panels are reading steady.

Perhaps the cheap pwm controller is showing issues from being cheap, a coincidence then... but I don't think that's the case.

You might already know this but a cracked panel not only faces moisture issues, yes moisture it's a threat, but sometimes the cells are damaged, cracked, and have electric issues. Perhaps your controller is not receiving the proper voltage and amps. Why?? well, a classic issue on a broken + damaged solar panel (that's two factors combined) is...:

You measure the voltage and looks ok, but once a load is connected the voltage goes down noticeable and can't hold the amps. In such cases the only alternative is messing up with the panel and isolating the damaged cells, building new connections among the good ones. Sometimes the panels are made from 1, 2, 3 sets and one set is damaged, you can disable that one. You will loose voltage and depending how you wire your solution you can keep your voltage and lose amps, or the opposite.

And sure, protect it with a clear coat, but yes, there can be electric issues with your panel.