Hank the Tanks Dodgy battery and solar system

barryd

barryd

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Well it's been virtually a week since we arrived off grid here in south Dorset in the new van with the untested solar and battery.

Bit of a development last night. It all went a bit pear shaped. I figured something was up Friday night when after three days of sun the Swift control panel was showing the last level at bed time on the last green light (around 12v). After a sun free miserable day yesterday around 9pm an alarm went off on the panel and the battery appeared dead right round in the red. It had also dropped to Yellow then eventually red on the solar control box. Interestingly though the lights, water pump etc were not dim.

This morning it's showing two green lights around 12.5 but my guess is it's knackered.

Either that or it's just not up to the job. I've already emailed VanBitz in Taunton who from another thread might be a good option to get it sorted.

The plan was to let it charge today and see what happens tonight and tomorrow.

All we run is two laptops, two smart phones, sometimes a TV and sat system, water and led lights.

I reckon it's a 100 or 120w panel, controller and a boggy basic 110 ah battery. Old van had an mppt controller, 100w panel and 120 AGM battery and would be fine this time of year under similar load.

So. What to do? 😁

Pics and more info to follow.
 
Bite the bullit and get new battery Baz. Easy to fit we can talk you through it. They after all are consumerable items. Do some research on your options. Have a look at your EBL unit and see if there is a GEL/LEAD switch.
 
Thanks. I have no problem buying another battery, I was just hoping I might get a bit more of an upgrade while away. Plus, no idea where to get it from. VanBitz is 49 miles away so not far. The solar controller is now flashing both green lights which means fully charged!! WTF! The Swift control panel is showing 13v on both batteries. I have my laptop plugged in right now so its under load and its not wigged out yet, just dropped a level to the green light between 12v and 13v so it could I guess be anywhere between 12.3 and 12.7?

I wonder how accurate these panels are or is the solar controller falsely thinking the battery is charged when its not? How can both green lights be flashing showing full by 8:30am if the leisure battery was flat as a fart last night and how come the lights were as bright as ever?

Few pics showing the Swift control panel, Solar controller battery and battery box and the panel on the roof
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IMG20240624174331 (Large).jpg
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A battery can show charged but not hold its charge Barry. Good place for batteries? Wales!

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If I was in your position Barry I would bite the bullet and go for a new Lithium system with at least a couple off 100w of solar ASAP. Splash out and get the Victron gear to go with it. It's not worth just buying new lead/acid when you know you will be looking to change the system before too long.

It might cost a couple of grand all in but so what, it's a huge part of your life and you're a long time dead.
 
Robmac said:
If I was in your position Barry I would bite the bullet and go for a new Lithium system with at least a couple off 100w of solar ASAP. Splash out and get the Victron gear to go with it. It's not worth just buying new lead/acid when you know you will be looking to change the system before too long.

It might cost a couple of grand all in but so what, it's a huge part of your life and you're a long time dead.
Click to expand...
I agree Rob. Michelle won't of course but the question is who can do it and when? I'll call VanBitz in the morning. I found a couple of others down here but no idea if they are any good.
 
I think I have a meter somewhere. Probably knackered. I suspect it will read full. I think the issues will come after the sun goes down. It did ok for five days. I checked it each evening after we switched off and went to bed and it was generally on the second green light between 12v and 13v. Of course on the old controller on the old van it told you the exact voltage so I knew exactly how we were doing.

Got the inverter running right now charging this phone and another one at about 35 watts and it's ok right now. One or two days of shite weather like yesterday and we will be back to square one I reckon. That's no good.

Id like it properly fettling and quickly.
 
Solar controller I have l have in van looks a posh one, which was already installed when we bought van, it reads the actual solar input, battery voltage, which always reads higher than the van control panel. Sticking a meter on the battery posts, the meter reading mirrors reading on solar controller. This is all fine and well, but how long does the stored energy remain before draining down? A battery drop test is the only way I know of checking the actual battery condition, I use borrow college one from motor vehicle dept, Halfords do the same test, I think?
 
runnach said:
Solar controller I have l have in van looks a posh one, which was already installed when we bought van, it reads the actual solar input, battery voltage, which always reads higher than the van control panel. Sticking a meter on the battery posts, the meter reading mirrors reading on solar controller. This is all fine and well, but how long does the stored energy remain before draining down? A battery drop test is the only way I know of checking the actual battery condition, I use borrow college one from motor vehicle dept, Halfords do the same test, I think?
Click to expand...

Meter or not we will find out tonight. It all looks fine and it's charging but I bet it drops off quickly tonight. We will be out most of the day so I'm trying to charge everything first. The Inverter threw a fault just now though charging Michelle's laptop though so it's on the cab battery for now. Hopefully the controller will top that one up after though.

I always knew there was a good chance it would be shite and not up to our off grid style so it was a bit of a live test. I just hope I can find the right people to sort it all now.
 
Wully said:
I’d start by giving that solar panel a good clean and polish. If your budget allows it Barry go for a lithium battery a total game changer.
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Budget allows it, it's getting someone to do it and the right kit.

You have to laugh though. I just spent more than my last house cost on a van and I'm wandering around West Bay car boot sale looking for board games to play in the dark by torchlight on day 7! 🤣
 
My question is why are you using an inverter to charge a phone ? Converting 12 volts upto 240 volts then back down to 5 volts one of the first jobs would be fit a cigarette lighter socket or usb socket to charge your phones straight from the battery!
That will save you a good few amps to start with, an iPhone only charges at 1 amp the inverter will possibly use 5-12 amps depending on model
 
As you use littel power amps, buy a victron smart shunt and have live reading any time via blue tooth. all my vans will now be fitted with one.

we use as our goto base line.for all voltage and amps used in van.

side note as your heating runs by your battery's you can go for none heated and no Bluetooth battery's with the smartshunt.

use bms 15% discount code £80 and whatever you choose wet or dry you can still use, as it's future proof.

what invertor power / watts have you got ..?

These pics look like a lot of information but are clean and easy and can be reset for data of your time spent away used energy.

Come past ours next week as I finish work Friday and Donig all my vans upgrades Monday- friday I'm at Junction 23 or 24 of M5 you can park over night on drive.

No private massages .

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andyjanet said:
My question is why are you using an inverter to charge a phone ? Converting 12 volts upto 240 volts then back down to 5 volts one of the first jobs would be fit a cigarette lighter socket or usb socket to charge your phones straight from the battery!
That will save you a good few amps to start with, an iPhone only charges at 1 amp the inverter will possibly use 5-12 amps depending on model
Click to expand...
Im well kitted out.
charging.png
 
One of the problems with knackered batteries is a multimeter will tell you it is good after you have charged it as it will at a full charge voltage.
Plus ... you think you have a super charging system as it gets the battery from low to full so quickly (y)

But it is all smoke and mirrors! The only way to know how good your battery still is is to do a load discharge test. Simple enough to do ... just charge the battery until it takes no more current, then put a set load on it of around 5A per 100Ah of nominal capacity (the C20 rate that is usually quoted) and see how long it takes the voltage to drop to 12.0V - that will have discharged to 50% at that point. If say it takes 3 hours to go down to 12V, that will mean the battery has dropped from 100Ah to 30Ah.
 
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