solar charge controller test
I installed a 100 amp solar panel and charge controller package on my 2008 camper, and shortly thereafter my converter went bad. Ive replaced the converter, but am unsure about hooking up my solar con...
Forum Discussion
First confirm you have wired the controller properly. 6 holes. Do not use the two "Load" ones. Make sure you have the "Battery" wires in the controller with red to pos and black to neg. Assuming those two wires have ring terminals to go on the battery posts, and using your truck battery not the camper's, and using your jumper cables, clamp the jumper clamps to the ring terminals-red to red, black to black.
Ok, with the truck not running, clamp the jumpers to the truck battery red to pos and black to somewhere on the truck frame (or to the battery neg post if you don't mind a spark)
Check the controller to see if it lights up and the display shows stuff.
it should show battery voltage at 12.x. If so, now connect the panel to the "array" holes on the controller red to pos and black to neg.
The display should now show battery voltage has gone up to say 13.x.
Not normal for the solar to cause a converter problem soon after. If it happened right away, I would guess you wired it wrong so that somehow your battery wires got reversed and you blew the reverse polarity fuses. If that was all, you could just replace those and wire it right and not need a new converter, but too late for that now. Keep it as a spare or sell it maybe.
Ok, with the truck not running, clamp the jumpers to the truck battery red to pos and black to somewhere on the truck frame (or to the battery neg post if you don't mind a spark)
Check the controller to see if it lights up and the display shows stuff.
it should show battery voltage at 12.x. If so, now connect the panel to the "array" holes on the controller red to pos and black to neg.
The display should now show battery voltage has gone up to say 13.x.
Not normal for the solar to cause a converter problem soon after. If it happened right away, I would guess you wired it wrong so that somehow your battery wires got reversed and you blew the reverse polarity fuses. If that was all, you could just replace those and wire it right and not need a new converter, but too late for that now. Keep it as a spare or sell it maybe.
