Solar stops working when trailer wiring reconnected to battery

[jbusby55]

Hi,

I'm new to this place and could use some help with my solar problem. I'm totally at a loss.I have a 2020 22RBS that came pre-wired for solar. I installed a 400W solar array on the roof and hooked up the charge controller and everything worked just fine. When I hooked up the trailers wiring back to the battery the solar stopped working. I measured the voltage at the charge controller and it was reading nothing. I disconnected the panels from the controller then and measured the leads coming from the roof and it checked good. Hooked everything back up and no solar again. Then I removed the trailers wiring from the battery and the solar started working again. Has anyone seen this before?

Jake

[chuckster57]

Welcome to the forum

Are you sure you have the + and - leads hooked up correctly?

[jbusby55]

Yes, I've checked it quite a few times.

[jbusby55]

And thanks for the welcome!��

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by jbusby55

Yes, I've checked it quite a few times.

How did you check it? Visually or with a meter? Some ( zamp) connections are reverse polarity of what other manufacturers use.
Other members more knowledgeable on solar but if your batteries are fully charged then I don’t think you would see much output at your batteries from the solar charge controller

[jbusby55]

I checked it with a meter. I also have the reverse polarity connection on there because the ZAMP connection was wrong originally. When I hooked up the trailer wiring to the battery, the charge controller shows its in night mode, meaning it senses nothing from the panels in direct sunlight. If you disconnect the trailer wiring ithe charge controller immediately registers the panels as active. Along with the charge controller, the voltmeter completely agrees. With the trailer wiring disconnected everything works as it should. Hook the trailer back into the system and both a voltmeter and the charge controller don't register the solar panels at all.

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by jbusby55

Hi,

... When I hooked up the trailers wiring back to the battery the solar stopped working. I measured the voltage at the charge controller and it was reading nothing. I disconnected the panels from the controller then and measured the leads coming from the roof and it checked good....

Jake

seems odd. Have you disconnected the charge controllers battery side, hooked everything up at the battery and checked voltage/polarity? on the battery side of the controllers wiring.

[jbusby55]

Yes, it's very odd and yes I've checked everything on the battery side and it's all good. I'm completely at a loss on this one.

[jasin1]

Some of the solar gurus may chime in but what I posted above about if the batteries are fully charged what will the solar charger show? Will it go into the night mode as you described in your post? Does it do that so it doesn’t overcharge the batteries?
Do you have it on shore power? And that is the problem by showing a fully charged battery?

How long are you waiting for it to show activity? Maybe the solar charger is in a time delay to see the state of charge of the battery before it starts charging.

Just guessing but it sounds like either you wired it wrong ( although I would think there is a error light or message or fuse that would blow)

Or

It’s doing what it’s supposed to do but needs a few min to see the state of the battery system before it kicks on or not if fully charged

[jbusby55]

I'm not totally sure what it shows when the battery is fully charged, I think it goes into float mode. I do know from the manual that night mode is only for when the controller senses no voltage from the panels. I've tried it on and off shore power and with all the ac breakers in the panel off. It's the same every time. No panel voltage at the controller. I've tested it for hours hoping the same thing about some time delay, but it never changed anything. Then immediately when I remove the trailer wires going back to the circuit breaker panel it starts charging. Every time.

I was hoping I wired it wrong too, but it just doesn't make sense that the system works properly when independent of the circuit breaker panel. I'm not changing anything in the solar system when I remove the trailer wiries from the battery. Checked error codes and lights too, it's not showing any issues.

[roadglide]

Are you plugged into shore power when you loose power to your batteries from the panel? I seen you where you tried it with shore power off of nothing here.

[LabRatICMP3]

Try disconnecting the panels from the solar controller then disconnect the controller from the batteries. Wait a minute then connect the controller to the batteries first. Then reconnect the solar panels. Some controllers need to be connect to the batteries first.

[chuckster57]

Originally Posted by LabRatICMP3

Try disconnecting the panels from the solar controller then disconnect the controller from the batteries. Wait a minute then connect the controller to the batteries first. Then reconnect the solar panels. Some controllers need to be connect to the batteries first.

I know renology has to be done that way.

[jxnbbl]

Originally Posted by LabRatICMP3

Try disconnecting the panels from the solar controller then disconnect the controller from the batteries. Wait a minute then connect the controller to the batteries first. Then reconnect the solar panels. Some controllers need to be connect to the batteries first.

Interesting I just followed the direction on my zamp install and never thought about sequencing of the power to the controller. In fact, I know that during the install they wanted the panels covered (I did this by cutting one side of the shipping box and taping it to the face of the panel).

[jbusby55]

I really appreciate all the responses I'm getting!

I've tried it both on and off of shore power. I've also tried the charge controller disconnect and waiting thing. Still the same results.

[jasin1]

Can you post the make and model of the solar charger?

[jasin1]

And it almost seems like you have the Polarity wrong and the controller is shut down....you said you have the zamp connections with reverse polarity adapters..are you absolutely sure that they are reading the correct polarity at the battery??

Double check double check double check…that’s what I do ..when I’m “sure” of something is when a glaringly obvious mistake is overlooked

[jbusby55]

It's a Renogy Rover 40 Amp MPPT charge controller. I've measured the voltage of everything before it hits the charge controller and the polarity isn't reversed. If it was the charge controller would tell me that.

I'm not a "sure"of anything type of person, but I've put in the work and research before I ask for help. I've already checked all of the things that I understand. This problem is repeatable. Happens the same way every time. I just don't know how to fix it.

[jasin1]

Originally Posted by jbusby55

It's a Renogy Rover 40 Amp MPPT charge controller. I've measured the voltage of everything before it hits the charge controller and the polarity isn't reversed. If it was the charge controller would tell me that.

I'm not a "sure"of anything type of person, but I've put in the work and research before I ask for help. I've already checked all of the things that I understand. This problem is repeatable. Happens the same way every time. I just don't know how to fix it.

Well I wish you luck, I’d probably give Renogy a call at this point

[jxnbbl]

I agree I would give them a call. For that controller the only things I have found are:


1. The battery must be connected to the controller first.
2. If it is in night mode then most likely the panel is connected in reverse polarity.