Solar + alternator = faster charge?

[daveb]

Originally Posted by janliness

Also, why would one use a separator for solar applications?

later,
jan

Helps maintain the starting batteries while the vehicle sits. As soon as the voltage reaches a high point with respect to the house battery system the separator closes and charges the starting battery system. A separator can also be used to jump start the vehicle in case the starting batteries are at a low enough state that the engine is struggling to start.

[janliness]

Ahhh...I see. My setup will not have the solar charging the starting battery. I do have a switch installed by SMB to use the house battery to start the engine, so I'm covered.

Still need to check the isolator, so that's tonight's task (in the rain, ugh! )

later,
jan

[janliness]

Really???

Found the problem. While disconnecting the cables to perform the separator test I found a layer of corrosion on the #2. So I cleaned it. When putting the cables back I discovered that the nuts (of which there were 3 different thicknesses) were all 5/16 ... and they should have been M8x1.25!!! The nuts couldn't process down the studs more than a thread or two. So basically the #2 was never snugged, was loose, and then corroded. So cleaned and snugged the house circuit shows 14.4VDC when the engine is running. All good!

So the important thing to take away is that you guys offer great advice and troubleshooting always requires getting dirty and seeing what's going on.

thanks guys!
jan

[daveb]

Seems you could have just closed that jump switch and the voltage would have jumped up as well.

Glad you found the problem. Corrosion is a common problem with those.

[BroncoHauler]

Originally Posted by janliness

Really???

Clearly Murphy doesn't know the difference between English and metric threads. Glad you found the issue, and I always find a lot of satisfaction in resolving problems myself.


Herb

[boywonder]

Nice! Did the screw-up come from SMB or is it of unknown origin e.g. previous owner?

[Scalf77]

Glad to see you nailed this down, great job

I do wonder about the jump start switch, I had not heard of that on Vans with a isolators.

-greg

[janliness]

Previous owner reports he had issues with it charging reliably. I'd guess this was from the factory, then.

[Scalf77]

I realize this is an old thread, and it somewhat drifted from the title. But, I happened to be playing with my carputer today and captured these pictures that pretty much tell the story. It is late September but a sunny day in the PNW, and the SOC or the battery is about 78%. I have about 15.03 Amps coming from my solar controller. Of that 4.58 is getting to the battery. Currently Carputer, stereo and refrigerator are running.



The next shot is after I start the Van, as you can see the alternator (via the Blue Sea ACR) is providing 11 Amps of power, the solar controller has dropped to 14.3 amps for a total of 25.3 Amps, we now have 16.09 amps going to the battery.



And lastly I disconnect the panels from the solar charger and we see the result. We now have 24.6 Amps coming from the Alternator with 16.04 amps to the battery




The Solar and Battery currents are read using Shunt Resisters, while the Alternator is measured using a Hall Effect Sensor. (read that as slightly less accurate)

-greg