Hi all,I have the following setup. 230W panel2 new 6V batteries with new cable terminals20 amp MPPT charge controller Xantrex 600W inverter Solar red light is lit.Battery green light is flashing.Load light never comes on.System chareges during the day, shuts off at night and I need to reset the charge controller. Xantrex shows the volts so I know power is coming in.Batteries were changed only because the previous ones were eight years old. I hadn't used the trailer since March so I don't know the previous status except for the fact that it has worked fine for more than 5 years so I can't say that the battery change had anything to do with it.Why am I not getting a load light if I have interior lights turned on?Why does the MPPT have to be reset?The volts go as high as 13.4 during peak sun hours.I am not an electrician nor do I have a lot of battery experience. I installed the system with the help of friends and it has always worked.Thanks in advance for your comments.

You would normally only have four wires into the controller, omitting the two for Load, which is not needed in an RV.Your RV lights etc draw from the battery via the DC fuse panel. the inverter draws directly from the battery in the usual set up.So your controller is doing what it should. 13.4 is not very high, but could be a "loaded voltage" if the batteries are being drawn down by any loads at the same time, such as the inverter etc. You would usually set 14.8 on the controller for its high voltage. This time of year the sun is so low, and daytime so short, you might not ever see that , but anything you do get is a help.You do not need to reset the controller overnight. It will get going again in the morning.

May as well post the controller make and model number.What are you resetting on the controller every day?

Thanks for the response. Yep, I don't have any wires coming out of the load position on the controller.I will leave it alone and see if it comes back on in the morning. I had already reset it this morning. I will post again this week with what happens.

What controller? Do you have your loads wired through it? Some are positive ground, so you can't do that in an RV. And that controller likely only supports 20 A for loads, anyway.

Forget the load light You are not using the load circuitYou are not using the controller to control and external loadSuch as a security light or gate controller, where there is no other power,the load control is there to keep an external load from killing the batteryYou are only charging the batteries, the RV is connected to the batteries, not to the load control

MPPT Charge Controller Troubleshooting | Good Sam Community

qtla9111
Nomad
Nov 27, 2018
I had said earlier that I would disconnect the cables last night and see what happened. I made sure they were connected and the screws tightened.

Guess what? It came on this morning and is now up to 14.1 volts.

Let's hope that solved the problem. I'll wait a few days and update.

Thanks for everyone's help.
time2roll
Nomad
Nov 27, 2018
qtla9111 wrote:
Juta 2024Z.

I will give that a try tomorrow just to see what happens.
I don't see much information on these controllers to really help. When the sun is up pretty good in the morning check the input voltage and output voltages on the controller, post the results. Otherwise it sounds defective if it does not wake up and start charging. Only idea is that it may wait for the battery to be discharged a bit but never really heard of that to restart the initial charge in the morning.
qtla9111
Nomad
Nov 26, 2018
I left it alone yesterday thinking it would come back on, on its own. It was shut down.

So, I disconnected all the cables, waited 10 minutes and reconnected them.

I will update again tomorrow.
qtla9111
Nomad
Nov 26, 2018
Juta 2024Z.

I will give that a try tomorrow just to see what happens.
marcsbigfoot20b
Explorer
Nov 25, 2018
KD4UPL wrote:
If you mentioned the brand and model of MPPT controller it would be a lot more useful.
Some charge controllers do not like having PV voltage when not hooked to a battery and can be damaged in that situation. Did you unhook the solar panels while swapping the batteries?

Thats my first thought.
Disconnect the solar panels, then disconnect the batteries from the controller.

Reconnect the batteries to the controller, then reconnect the panels to the controller, see what happens.
KD4UPL
Explorer
Nov 25, 2018
If you mentioned the brand and model of MPPT controller it would be a lot more useful.
Some charge controllers do not like having PV voltage when not hooked to a battery and can be damaged in that situation. Did you unhook the solar panels while swapping the batteries?
qtla9111
Nomad
Nov 25, 2018
MrWizard wrote:
Forget the load light

You are not using the load circuit

You are not using the controller to control and external load
Such as a security light or gate controller, where there is no other power,
the load control is there to keep an external load from killing the battery
You are only charging the batteries, the RV is connected to the batteries, not to the load control

:C
MrWizard
Moderator
Nov 25, 2018
Forget the load light

You are not using the load circuit

You are not using the controller to control and external load
Such as a security light or gate controller, where there is no other power,
the load control is there to keep an external load from killing the battery
You are only charging the batteries, the RV is connected to the batteries, not to the load control
mike-s
Explorer
Nov 25, 2018
What controller? Do you have your loads wired through it? Some are positive ground, so you can't do that in an RV. And that controller likely only supports 20 A for loads, anyway.
qtla9111
Nomad
Nov 25, 2018
Thanks for the response. Yep, I don't have any wires coming out of the load position on the controller.

I will leave it alone and see if it comes back on in the morning. I had already reset it this morning.

I will post again this week with what happens.

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