Inverter beeping

EMPTAGE123

Guest
Hello, last year I got 2 solar panels connected to my battery via a regulator. The battery is also connected to my inverter. When my solar panels are generating alot of power usually showing near 13amps this on the solar regulator (24v 30 amp regulator) suddenly drops to 0 and the inverter will then bleep and power out from the inverter stops.

It seems to me as though the solar regulator cuts off to prevent battery overcharge as the appliance being used is only a small drain but why is this also causing the inverter to stop supplying the device? I have a kill switch to stop power coming from the panels to my regulator and if I turn this on so no power is going to the regulator then to battery, the inverter works perfectly okay and doesn't beep unless the battery is low so I know that the panels are charging the battery fine and my inverter also works. Please help
 
Most inverters that I know of have an automatic cut out when the battery voltage drops to a certain level and if the alarm (beep) is ignored. Sounds like the battery isn't holding the charge for any length of time. Test and check wiring from regulator back to the battery.....process of elimination.

Switching the inverter off and on again has helped me in the past.....(weak starter battery)
 
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Rubbertramp said:
Most inverters that I know of have an automatic cut out when the battery voltage drops to a certain level and if the alarm (beep) is ignored. Sounds like the battery isn't holding the charge for any length of time. Test and check wiring from regulator back to the battery.....process of elimination.

Switching the inverter off and on again has helped me in the past.....(weak starter battery)
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As I said the inverter works fine when the kill switch is on (no power is coming from the solar panels to my battery) as the the system works perfectly when we eliminate the solar panel system it is clear the battery is in fully working order and holds a charge just fine. it is also worth saying that at night (natural kill switch) the system works perfectly fine when the actual kill switch is left off.

In other words something to do with the solar panels fully charging the battery while power is being drawn from it via the inverter is causing the inverter to act as though the battery is empty/not there, this might also be linked to the 0:0 on the amp meter though I assume this is an overcharge feature
 
EMPTAGE123 said:
As I said the inverter works fine when the kill switch is on (no power is coming from the solar panels to my battery) as the the system works perfectly when we eliminate the solar panel system it is clear the battery is in fully working order and holds a charge just fine. it is also worth saying that at night (natural kill switch) the system works perfectly fine when the actual kill switch is left off.

In other words something to do with the solar panels fully charging the battery while power is being drawn from it via the inverter is causing the inverter to act as though the battery is empty/not there, this might also be linked to the 0:0 on the amp meter though I assume this is an overcharge feature
Click to expand...

Just a thought, has it got some kind of overvolt protection? and is cutting out if the voltage is too high? As i said just a thought......
 
I could never understand why people have to make use of inverters, don't they realise that the thing itself uses power? There are so many items for motorhomes out there that will work quite happily on 12 volts power, even satellite systems and the relevant receivers will work on the 12 volt power, so get rid of your inverters and swap items for 12 volts>:scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter:
 
sparrks said:
Just a thought, has it got some kind of overvolt protection? and is cutting out if the voltage is too high? As i said just a thought......
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I believe both my solar regulator and inverter both have overcharge overload etc protection, here is my regulator Im not able to check the inverter

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/12v-30a-solar-charge-regulator-n28kr

But like I said I noticed this the most once when we are driving in high sun levels which also means the alternator would have been contributing which could result in overvoltage since 2 solar panels + alternator makes sense. The other times it seems to happen is just high levels of sun when the battery is near full anyway an example being waking up and trying to charge a laptop after it has been sunny all morning then after a few minutes bleeping.
 
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wineciccio said:
I could never understand why people have to make use of inverters, don't they realise that the thing itself uses power? There are so many items for motorhomes out there that will work quite happily on 12 volts power, even satellite systems and the relevant receivers will work on the 12 volt power, so get rid of your inverters and swap items for 12 volts>:scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter:
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You have provided a solution to a problem that is not the one I asked advice for.. As I live in a house many of my appliances are 240v, therefore to use such appliances when motor homing rather than buying a duplicate 12v for every single appliance I find an inverter a much more sensible way of doing things. Besides my solar panels make more than enough power to run all my things, this issue is not a matter of my inverter bleeping because the battery is low on power but something else
 
EMPTAGE123 said:
I believe both my solar regulator and inverter both have overcharge overload etc protection, here is my regulator Im not able to check the inverter

24V 30A Solar Charge Regulator | Maplin

But like I said I noticed this the most once when we are driving in high sun levels which also means the alternator would have been contributing which could result in overvoltage since 2 solar panels + alternator makes sense. The other times it seems to happen is just high levels of sun when the battery is near full anyway an example being waking up and trying to charge a laptop after it has been sunny all morning then after a few minutes bleeping.
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Not so.

If you are driving and your solar panels are feeding your batteries, the alternator will sense a voltage of, or more than, 13 volts and will not supply power to the batteries. if you are driving a long distance, you would be better served switching off your solar panels.
 
FULL TIMER said:
Is your leisure battery bank a 24volt set up ?, if not it looks to me like you are providing 24volt via the solar regulator to a 12v battery /inverter ie inverter probably has over voltage protection and shuts down.
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the regulator I linked is a 24V 30a (I never get over 16 amps so no issue there) regulator, the battery is a single 12V, I have had this setup for a year now and it charges fine and works fine when the panels are cut off from the system.

Like I said even when the panels aren't killed depending on the power in the battery and the power being generated it also works fine (allowing me to use an appliance and get power from the panels to battery).

It seems to be at the point where the inverter and appliance are causing so little drain the panels are able not only to sustain both but actually recharge the battery fully when the cut off occurs which means I have to then apply the kill switch and just drain from the battery until it is at a level where the panels wont fill it which is obviously a waste of sunlight but its the only way currently.

An example that supports this would be if in the morning when the battery is full and the sun is very rbight with maybe 13-15 amps worth of light I plug in two electric cool boxes some fans etc basically a lot of drain and the inverter will not bleep which correlates with the battery never being full during the inverter being powered on and having appliances run off it.

All in all the main issue with this system is me having to drain off a battery and then when I think it is low enough turning the kill switch off and letting the panels top up the battery so this is not an ideal system...
 
maingate said:
Not so.

If you are driving and your solar panels are feeding your batteries, the alternator will sense a voltage of, or more than, 13 volts and will not supply power to the batteries.
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The alternator would sense the voltage as you say and not overcharge but so should the solar charge regulator, I don't see the need to switch solar panels off or what is the use of a regulator, if you have to 'kill' the solar panels I would think your regulator is not working
 
EMPTAGE123 said:
the regulator I linked is a 24V 30a (I never get over 16 amps so no issue there) regulator, the battery is a single 12V, I have had this setup for a year now and it charges fine and works fine when the panels are cut off from the system.

Like I said even when the panels aren't killed depending on the power in the battery and the power being generated it also works fine (allowing me to use an appliance and get power from the panels to battery).

It seems to be at the point where the inverter and appliance are causing so little drain the panels are able not only to sustain both but actually recharge the battery fully when the cut off occurs which means I have to then apply the kill switch and just drain from the battery until it is at a level where the panels wont fill it which is obviously a waste of sunlight but its the only way currently.

An example that supports this would be if in the morning when the battery is full and the sun is very rbight with maybe 13-15 amps worth of light I plug in two electric cool boxes some fans etc basically a lot of drain and the inverter will not bleep which correlates with the battery never being full during the inverter being powered on and having appliances run off it.

All in all the main issue with this system is me having to drain off a battery and then when I think it is low enough turning the kill switch off and letting the panels top up the battery so this is not an ideal system...
Click to expand...

So if I have this right it seems you are charging your leisure battery via a 24v supply from the solar regulator, maybe ok for a short time whilst battery is very low but obviously overcharging later in the charging process , it would seem your battery is acting as a buffer while flat allowing you to use 12v items without burning them out, your inverter seems more sensitive and cuts out when sensing the over voltage causing the bleeping, whether you've had the same setup for a year or not It seems pretty dangerous to me and I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would wire up solar panels and regulator as a 24v setup to charge and supply a 12v system
 
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FULL TIMER said:
So if I have this right it seems you are charging your leisure battery via a 24v supply from the solar regulator, maybe ok for a short time whilst battery is very low but obviously overcharging later in the charging process , it would seem your battery is acting as a buffer while flat allowing you to use 12v items without burning them out, your inverter seems more sensitive and cuts out when sensing the over voltage causing the bleeping, whether you've had the same setup for a year or not It seems pretty dangerous to me and I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would wire up solar panels and regulator as a 24v setup to charge and supply a 12v system
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Have no fear. I have just discovered I was refferencing the wrong regulator, the model has 2 versions a 12v and a 24v. I have this 12v version :) 12V 30A Solar Charge Regulator | Maplin

here is the manual also, note both 12v and 24v versions are shown http://www.siliconsolar.com/documents/trupower-charge-controller-12v30a-instruction-manual.pdf
 
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tezza33 said:
The alternator would sense the voltage as you say and not overcharge but so should the solar charge regulator, I don't see the need to switch solar panels off or what is the use of a regulator, if you have to 'kill' the solar panels I would think your regulator is not working
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I have often observed my regulator give constant readings of amps coming in and then suddenly 0 when the battery is full, so it is doing its job it will not allow amps to flow after the battery is detected full it just happens that when the battery becomes full while the inverter is on via the panels the inverter cuts off as though the battery is flat.

Could it be anything to do with the way everything is connected on the battery terminals? Is there anything that could be connected wrongly at that end resulting in some crossover from the power coming from the regulator going directly to the inverter before it reaches the battery?
 
wineciccio said:
I could never understand why people have to make use of inverters, don't they realise that the thing itself uses power? There are so many items for motorhomes out there that will work quite happily on 12 volts power, even satellite systems and the relevant receivers will work on the 12 volt power, so get rid of your inverters and swap items for 12 volts>:scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter:
Click to expand...




I agree with you ,however,women do like their hairdryers:danger:
 
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