New System, Battery not charging ??

[John Barrett]

Hi, I am having problems with my solar system not charging the battery?? Im new to this so sorry if its something simple. I purchased my solar system from here, http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=250287012207 I also purchased an additional 10w solar panel and I have replaced the battery with a larger battery that is 12v 9ah.

I have daisy chained the 3 solar panels and connected them to the regulator. I then connected the new 9ah battery to the regulator, and also connected the inverter to the regulator (I did not turn the inverter on). I then left the system for 3 days so it could fully charge the battery. On the regulator there are 3 lights that show you how charged the battery is. For some reason only 2 lights show, never 3??? Even after 3 days of charging??

After the 3rd day I turned the inverter on and did not connect anything to it at 8pm, and at 1am the battery died / ran out of juice (Only lasted 5 hours)?? The inverter has a fan in it which must of drained the battery. But how can this happen?? Surely the inverter doesn’t need that much electricity?? I read the manual and it says it used very little power?? So I am confused as to what the problem is??

I guess the battery not charging properly ??? Any ideas what I can check??

Thanks

[Joe Blake]

Hi John.

Welcome to the board.

What sort of regulator do you have? I've got three different ones, only the Arrid has the three lights. However, it VERY seldom shows the "Third" light, which is float, which means the battery is FULLY charged. This is because I have a 12 volt freezer connected up 24/7 so the battery seldom gets topped right up. I find it better to use a voltmeter. However, on my electric trike charger I can SEE the needle flicking up to 28 volts then dropping back to 26, which indicates (a) the battery is being charged and (b) the regulator is actually working.

As for switching on the inverter, in some cases an inverter which is "on" but not under load can drain 5-10%, so don't turn it on unless you are going to actually use it.

I'm clutching at straws, but lacking readings from a voltmeter, I'd say there's a possibility you've incorrectly connected the regulator.

Joe

On Edit: Rereading your post, when you say "daisy chained" your solar panels, do you mean hooked them in series? Remember that a panel may have a nominal voltage, but that's only under a "no-load" condition. eg a panel may be nominally 12 volts but under load it will drop to 8 volts or so. For me to charge my 24 volt batteries for my tricycle, I've hooked four x 12 volt (nominal) panels in series to give (nominal) 48 volts, which then will drop down to 24 volts, but with an increased amperage to give the same total power.

Further Edit: I clicked on your link to e-bay to have a look at what you had. I've got two inverters, the smaller one seems to be exactly the same as the one on e-bay, so I know that draws (roughly) about 5% without being under load. But the fan is always on, even without a load, which I'm not keen on, because of (a) the noise and (b) the wasted power.

Personally, I would prefer to take loads from a fused terminal board connected to the battery, rather than the regulator, but without knowing much about the regulator itself, it's hard to say whether that's a good idea.

I'd still get a voltmeter and perhaps go through each component separately and check. Eg is each solar panel generating, are there loose connections etc etc.

J