Samlex Solar Controller
My 30 amp solar controller is dead. Left the camper this morning and it was working fine, came back this afternoon and it wasn't. Are these things fused or is a deal where if it quits you just replac...
Forum Discussion
I was going to suggest the same but Doug beat me to it.
Emergency charging without controller:
Connect the panels directly to battery (I assume they are 12V panels).
Check the voltage from time to time, to make sure it won't stay at 15V for more then an hour or won't go over 15. Then disconnect the panels or cover them with tarp, or run some loads.
First make sure that controller is dead of course. If it doesn't pass any voltage or current through, or doesn't regulate it so that it goes higher and higher, then it's dead. In the former scenario it "could" be a fuse in controller, but if you don't see any fuse then it's dead.
You do need a multimeter to measure voltage and current. Costs from $5 for a cr-ap to ~$40 for a decent one.
Emergency charging without controller:
Connect the panels directly to battery (I assume they are 12V panels).
Check the voltage from time to time, to make sure it won't stay at 15V for more then an hour or won't go over 15. Then disconnect the panels or cover them with tarp, or run some loads.
First make sure that controller is dead of course. If it doesn't pass any voltage or current through, or doesn't regulate it so that it goes higher and higher, then it's dead. In the former scenario it "could" be a fuse in controller, but if you don't see any fuse then it's dead.
You do need a multimeter to measure voltage and current. Costs from $5 for a cr-ap to ~$40 for a decent one.
