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07-29-2023, 01:12 PM
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#1
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Parker, CO
Posts: 7,644
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Nightmare Solar Controller Near Fire
This was installed by SMB Fresno many years ago, it's your typical solar panel. Two trips ago it was reading the house batteries at like 3v and I was like "oh no, time to replace" but then I realized everything was working just fine on the house side and power ports were reading 12v+. I thought something was loose in the back of the panel.
FF to today, the panel has been reading fine since but I pulled it to see what was going on. Full sun, so I was being very careful as the solar incoming is always hot, well it wasn't just hot it was roached. The char isn't new and the wires weren't themselves hot, but the back of the panel was hot to the touch. Not welding hot but black part in the sun in Arizona hot. The hottest was behind and slightly below the digital read out. Again the incoming wires were warm, but it seemed a radiant head from the unit being so hot.
So, what the heck and what should I do about it? Any ideas? I know it's not the rear door auto open eject module because I serviced that last week.
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it was good to be back
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07-29-2023, 01:34 PM
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#2
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Boulder, CO.
Posts: 2,554
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Get a Victron solar controller and call it good, surface mount it on a board in the same location so it has enough airflow for cooling, I wouldn’t stuff it back in that cabinet, that may have contributed to that one failing, although it is quite an old blue sky I assume.
Thankful it didn’t cause any more damage or a fire
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'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
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07-29-2023, 01:46 PM
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#3
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Member
Join Date: Nov 2020
Posts: 47
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Where your controller is located next to the skin of your vehicle with only insulation in the way, all the heat has nowhere to go.
I would add a small fan to blow on it. Even though the controllers are design to run hot, at a certain temperature they will reduce power output. Adding a fan will not be easy in that area, the fan can also be used to exhaust the air out of that area.
I think its a bad design with all the circuits exposed, it should at least have a metal cover to protect the circuits.
I keep the solar controller inside my van (with fan blowing on it) where it rarely gets over 100F, Areas that are not well insulated will easily reach 150F.
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07-29-2023, 02:01 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: So Cal
Posts: 4,074
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Quote:
Originally Posted by REF
Get a Victron solar controller and call it good
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^^^^^^^
Brilliant idea.....put the Victron wherever you want. The display is bluetoothed to your phone, as are all of the settings.
What do you have for solar panels? Watts?
The Victron Smartsolar series have bluetooth built in. The 75/10 is about $110 and the 75/15 is around $120.
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2008 E350 RB passenger 4WD SMB penthouse
2013 KTM 350 EXC
2008 KTM 250 XCF-W
2003 Honda Element
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07-29-2023, 04:45 PM
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#5
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Parker, CO
Posts: 7,644
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Quote:
Originally Posted by REF
Thankful it didn’t cause any more damage or a fire
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No kidding. My first thought was that insulation did it's job, being fire retardant. My second thought was "Is this supposed to be mashed into insulation?"
At least I'm glad to hear that it's a hot component and this isn't a symptom of something else. This feels like burying a CPU in cotton and then me asking why my computer isn't faster. It did get hot enough to make the plastic of inverter panel brittle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by boywonder
What do you have for solar panels? Watts?
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A single [s]750w[/s]. edit: Kyocera 185 which is 185w -
Quote:
Originally Posted by jage
Solar Panel Thread
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I'm going to have to think about this since they should have airflow and even a fan. What is the expected max temp of an encased solar controller with no fan? Anyone know?
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it was good to be back
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07-29-2023, 06:10 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Beaverton, OR
Posts: 2,506
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Commercial IC temp standards are 32°F to 158°F.
The specified operating temperature for this device is listed as 0 to +40ºC (32°F to 104°F). "Extended range –40 to +50ºC (-40°C to 122°F), will operate but may not meet/spec."
Blue Sky did make an optional mounting box (BSE part number 720-0011-01) it is 2.75" deep.
I agree that it would be a good time to switch to Victron SmartSolar unit.
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-greg
__________________________________________________ ______________
"Goldilocks" 2020 Ford Transit High Roof Extended 3.5 EcoBoost AWD Homebuilt
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07-29-2023, 08:23 PM
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#7
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 3,285
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jage
A single 750w.
I'm going to have to think about this since they should have airflow and even a fan. What is the expected max temp of an encased solar controller with no fan? Anyone know?
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That has to be a typo... maybe 250 or maybe 350watts???
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Ray
Beastie 3: 2002 7.3 EB Cargo: Agile TTB, CCV High Top, Custom Walk Through, Lots of stuff added. www.BlingMyRig.com
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07-29-2023, 09:20 PM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: So Cal
Posts: 4,074
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jage
A single 750w.
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Scratch the Victrons above.......they'll burst into flames when connected to 750W of solar.... ..You'll need a larger model......
....what panel do you have?...single panel??
__________________
2008 E350 RB passenger 4WD SMB penthouse
2013 KTM 350 EXC
2008 KTM 250 XCF-W
2003 Honda Element
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07-29-2023, 10:22 PM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Parker, CO
Posts: 7,644
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You guys, making me read my old posts, lol. It's a Kyocera 185 so 185w from June 11, 2011.
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it was good to be back
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07-30-2023, 08:18 AM
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#10
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Site Team
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Southern New Mexico
Posts: 10,179
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jage
You guys, making me read my old posts, lol. It's a Kyocera 185 so 185w from June 11, 2011.
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Damn, here I was thinking that your entire PH roof was one ginormous panel.
Herb
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SMB-less as of 02/04/2012. Our savings account is richer, but our adventures are poorer.
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