Removing a Tracker

mistericeman said:
Looks like Sargent Ec462 ....

Manual download on here ...

EC462 Control Panel | Shop | Sargent Electrical

sargentltd.co.uk

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Brilliant! I think thats it. Will have a proper read up on that tomorrow

I don't think the solar kit on this goes through the Sargent system though. It just looks like a cheap Controller wired straight down to a single 110ah battery. This will be my next thread I think. :D I had planned to move the 120ah AGM battery out of the old van and my MPPT controller and do a swap. Not sure how straight forward that will be.

This is the set up in the new van. Maybe no need for a new thread.



 
mark61 said:
My point was, the advice to disconnect has been consistent for donkeys years. Nothing to do with modern motors.
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dont need to unless a faulty diode in the altonator, my car says dont disconnect or use jump leads. :eek:
 
My (possibly flawed) logic is :-

The battery could be getting charged from the Sun, EHU or Driving, none of which require disconnection so why do it if using a charger especially a smart charger???

I am not saying it doesn't need to be done but like most people, I'm more likely to do something if I know why I'm doing it.
 
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Pudsey Bear said:
My (possibly flawed) logic is :-

The battery could be getting charged from the Sun, EHU or Driving, none of which require disconnection so why do it if using a charger especially a smart charger???

I am not saying it doesn't need to be done but like most people, I'm more likely to do something if I know why I'm doing it.
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Are you suggesting I dont mess with it Kev and leave the current panel and controller in place? I thought it was you that suggested I moved my controller? I am wondering if it would be better to leave well alone and just wing it and see how it goes. Trouble is where we are off to will be off grid for several weeks with not much moving of the van. This works fine with our current set up in Hank 1. If it works fine with this unknown panel, controller and 110ah battery (Which I think is fairly new) then that will do for this year. Ill get it fettled with something better for next year but maybe let a professional do it.
 
I would take the good MPPT controller out of Hank and put it in Hanky Panky, and put the other into Hank, easy enough to do just remove fuses first to avoid any problems and of course obey the solar/controller connection rules.

What I wrote in post #105 has nothing to do with the controller Barry.

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Pudsey Bear said:
I would take the good MPPT controller out of Hank and put it in Hanky Panky, and put the other into Hank, easy enough to do just remove fuses first to avoid any problems and of course obey the solar/controller connection rules.

What I wrote in post #105 has nothing to do with the controller Barry.

View attachment 132396

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Will get a better look on Monday afternoon when I finally get the van back here. All I have is those two photos to go by. Its all worrying me a bit as I dont want to cock it up as there is nobody that can help me here if I do.
 
it's really easy mate the infor above is a bit OTT for your setup

Start in Hank and remove the fuse/s to the battery and panel, assuming you put some in when you fit it all, if not cover the panel then disconnect the two panel + & - wires, the main thing is not to let the wires touch, so you could remove one at a time and tape it, even masking tape will do, then the wires to the battery, remove the controller and take it to Hanky Panky, do the exact same thing in there, you will have two to play with then.

Get Hanks controller and insert the wires (while it is NOT fastened to the wall ) to Hanky Pankys battery first, then the panel, I say to do that first as I know they are a bit awkward to see where they go on that controller, then fasten it up in a convenient position but you're on site and it might be easy to fix it to the wall first, on mine it was impossible to see.

Then fit the old PWM controller to Hank.

You can ring me if you get stuck of course, but like most things, once you have looked at it properly it's more obvious.

You do need to know which wires are Panel or Battery but that will be obvious as you just removed them.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
it's really easy mate the infor above is a bit OTT for your setup

Start in Hank and remove the fuse/s to the battery and panel, assuming you put some in when you fit it all, if not cover the panel then disconnect the two panel + & - wires, the main thing is not to let the wires touch, so you could remove one at a time and tape it, even masking tape will do, then the wires to the battery, remove the controller and take it to Hanky Panky, do the exact same thing in there, you will have two to play with then.

Get Hanks controller and insert the wires (while it is NOT fastened to the wall ) to Hanky Pankys battery first, then the panel, I say to do that first as I know they are a bit awkward to see where they go on that controller, then fasten it up in a convenient position but you're on site and it might be easy to fix it to the wall first, on mine it was impossible to see.

Then fit the old PWM controller to Hank.

You can ring me if you get stuck of course, but like most things, once you have looked at it properly it's more obvious.

You do need to know which wires are Panel or Battery but that will be obvious as you just removed them.
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There is a fuse between the current controller and the battery. In theory it all sounds straight forward enough. The unknown is how the new one is wired up. I would also like to swap the batteries I reckon. Ill maybe take some more photos and a video when I get it all back here and start a new thread.
 
barryd said:
There is a fuse between the current controller and the battery. In theory it all sounds straight forward enough. The unknown is how the new one is wired up. I would also like to swap the batteries I reckon. Ill maybe take some more photos and a video when I get it all back here and start a new thread.
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All the controllers I've seen have six terminals Barry 2 solar, 2 battery and 2 for load etc wich I've never wired in so only 4 wires in each van & you only touch two at a time, + & - so one less than wiring a 13a plug
 
Pudsey Bear said:
My (possibly flawed) logic is :-

The battery could be getting charged from the Sun, EHU or Driving, none of which require disconnection so why do it if using a charger especially a smart charger???

I am not saying it doesn't need to be done but like most people, I'm more likely to do something if I know why I'm doing it.
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EHU = battery charger anyway!
There's multiple dedicated maintenance devices like the Ablemail, Votronic Vanbits etc and of course the Clive Mott fuse link, these and many more methods are a perennial source of discussion on forums and have been discussed to death but don't think I've ever seen the topic of disconnecting the battery first ever being mentioned before.
I suspect it's a theoretical risk of damaging the ECU or other components IF the charger fails and bumps the battery voltage to some ridiculous voltage???? If so then the same potential issue exists WRT an alternator fault on every vehicle on the planet 🤔
 
Pudsey Bear said:
All the controllers I've seen have six terminals Barry 2 solar, 2 battery and 2 for load etc wich I've never wired in so only 4 wires in each van & you only touch two at a time, + & - so one less than wiring a 13a plug
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I think they are already on here Kev. Will post them again here

This is whats in the new van. The controller is above the battery in one of the lockers. The battery is under a panel under the rear lounge drivers side seat





There are two sets of 2 x wires coming down from that one but only one battery.

This is mine in Hank

 
barryd said:
I think they are already on here Kev. Will post them again here

This is whats in the new van. The controller is above the battery in one of the lockers. The battery is under a panel under the rear lounge drivers side seat





There are two sets of 2 x wires coming down from that one but only one battery.

This is mine in Hank

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One set to leisure battery
One set to starter battery

?
 
I need a clear close up picture at 90° really to see what is what and where, hence the WhatsApp rather than on here so it isn't degraded by the forum software.

No rush I don't think.
 
Might be better tomorrow Kev when I finally get the van here. Ill be surprised if one of those sets of wires goes to the cab battery. It don't look like a professional installation to me.
 
I'd bare my arse in Tesco if it did too, but neither will Hanks you'll need a B2B for that ot Motts fix.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
I'd bare my arse in Tesco if it did too, but neither will Hanks you'll need a B2B for that ot Motts fix.
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Its possible there were two leisure batteries at one point so maybe the second set of wires was for that one. Dunno.
 
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