Electrical confusion...

I think the Trimetric, or something like the Trimetric, should be standard given how sensitive our campers are to power usage. You can have what seems to be a strong voltage reading at both 65% battery full and 95% battery full. It is also helpful to have real time amp readings. Moving my camper a few feet, or having it parked slightly uphill or downhill can double the incoming amps.

Confirmed today that my 6th flexible is dead. The two rigids are fine, so it would seem that my camper system is not killing the panels.

Longhorn,

Your battery voltage depends greatly on the current flowing into or out of the batteries. So when you hook up solar the voltage goes up because you are charging the batteries. If the voltage doesn't go up the batteries aren't charging. So when you disconnected the solar panel the voltage dropped down to the battery level. Likewise, when the fridge or other load is pulling current out of the batteries the voltage goes down. The bigger the load, the bigger the voltage drop. Without a Trimetric or siimiliar, you need to wait until the fridge stops running (and turn off any other large current draws) for a few minutes before you can hope to get an accurate reading of the battery voltage.

I opted not to get a Trimetric when I installed solar since I reasoned that I could buy another panel for the same cost. I'm not convinced I made the wrong decision, but I am a little envious of those who know their battery status with just a glance.

Alan

I am back to the original title of my thread - along with getting bad panels or blowing the panels, still some odd things happening.

My battery separator gets hot, I mean hot, I can feel heat through the wood battery compartment cover. is this normal? This can happen even when my truck sits in the driveway all day with my solar panels running. How can I check that the separator is working correctly?

The other odd thing (to me) that I have observed several times - I will discharge over night to 70 - 74% battery with frig on high (its been blazing hot in So Cal). By noon I will be around 84% and see 14 amps at the roof plug and 4 - 5 amps at the Trimetric. At 4:30 pm I will be at only 86%, so only 2%+ all afternoon, and still see 10+ amps (lower sun angle) at the roof plug but only .8 amps at the Trimetric. Is this drop off normal at this range of battery capacity? Is there a way to check the solar controller?

Could the Trimetric itself be any source of issue? Given all measurements it displays seem to be in normal ranges it seems to be working ok so I assume it is installed correctly too.

With the amps I'm measuring at the roof plug it seems everything is stable on the roof now with the rigid panels. So something is happening from the plug into the camper - separator - controller - batteries.

Thoughts?

In 2011, a Product Safety Recall was issued on the SurePower Model 1314 battery isolator. Also in 2011, their new & improved Model 1314A was introduced. The recall details of the older 1314 are here...http://www.cooperindustries.com/content/public/en/bussmann/transportation/recall_info_NA.html

Surf... thanks for the lead, I checked and I do have the newer 1314A, which could still have an issue

DonC said:

My battery separator gets hot, I mean hot, I can feel heat through the wood battery compartment cover. is this normal? This can happen even when my truck sits in the driveway all day with my solar panels running. How can I check that the separator is working correctly?

Click to expand...

My 2012 model 1314A is the same way, very hot. After unplugging from shore power, with the truck and camper sitting unused, I noticed it is still just as hot a day or so later.

It seems to work fine? but I did notice that is rated for a 100 amp load and I know my alternator is a 160 amp model.
Guess I should contact the company.

Don asked me to insert my charging thread into this Post.

Click on Link "solar charging new battery"

There is a chart with data I recorded over a 10 hour period Saturday Sept 5th 2015

DonC said:

I am back to the original title of my thread - along with getting bad panels or blowing the panels, still some odd things happening.
...

The other odd thing (to me) that I have observed several times - I will discharge over night to 70 - 74% battery with frig on high (its been blazing hot in So Cal). By noon I will be around 84% and see 14 amps at the roof plug and 4 - 5 amps at the Trimetric. At 4:30 pm I will be at only 86%, so only 2%+ all afternoon, and still see 10+ amps (lower sun angle) at the roof plug but only .8 amps at the Trimetric. Is this drop off normal at this range of battery capacity? Is there a way to check the solar controller?

Could the Trimetric itself be any source of issue? Given all measurements it displays seem to be in normal ranges it seems to be working ok so I assume it is installed correctly too.

With the amps I'm measuring at the roof plug it seems everything is stable on the roof now with the rigid panels. So something is happening from the plug into the camper - separator - controller - batteries.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Looks like you need to troubleshoot your system. Check voltage and amps at every junction: roof, solar panel fuse, input to controller, output of controller, battery fuse, battery lug. Do the same on the negative side. Electrical circuit is like a water circuit: voltage = pressure, amps = flow. Voltage drop means a restriction (high resistance), amp drop means a leak. Amps should stay the same all the way from the panels to the controller. Controller modifies volts and amps, modified amps should stay constant from controller to battery.

If your Trimetric is set up correctly, it is connected to the Kelvin connectors on the shunt (the two small connections) and should only draw a couple of milliamps.