Solar is Dead

[chesaka]

I need help. My two lithium batteries got drained down over a two day period of rain. Now it’s sunny and the solar system appears to be dead. The Go Power display is blank. No lights. No power at all to the RV. What is wrong?

[Rockhead]

Is the disconnect switch on

[chesaka]

Battery disconnect is on.

[Vermilye]

Since the GoPower solar controller connects on the battery side of the disconnect switch, the switch position will have no effect on charging via solar. It will, of course, shut off all the 12V stuff if the converter isn't plugged into a power pedestal.

Unless you were running an absorption refrigerator on DC, or heavy inverter loads, a pair of 100 amp hour lithium batteries should get you through 2 days of low solar input, so it is likely that something is wrong.

If the batteries are shut down via the BMS because they are completely discharged, trouble shooting will be difficult since the GoPower solar controller is powered by the batteries, not the solar panels. You may need to find another way to charge the batteries (ie the tow vehicle or converter) until they reach sufficient voltage to power the GoPower solar controller.

If you want to check if the panels are working, use a volt meter to measure the voltage at the GoPower solar controller panel input. With decent sun it should show 18 - 20 volts. If you have voltage at the input to the GoPower solar controller, check that all the connections are tight, but again you may need to find another way to charge the batteries before the solar will work.

[Rockhead]

Also Ck the fuse at the batteries to see if it is blown

[John in Santa Cruz]

every diagnostic step I can think of starts with a volt meter. measure the PV voltage on a sunnny day at the input to the solar controller. measure the output/battery voltage at the output side of the solar controller.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

every diagnostic step I can think of starts with a volt meter.

1.

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

measure the PV voltage on a sunnny day at the input to the solar controller.

If there is no voltage there, the panels or their wiring have failed, or there is a panel disconnect switch or breaker open; this is unlikely.

2.

Originally Posted by John in Santa Cruz

measure the output/battery voltage at the output side of the solar controller.

If there is voltage there, the controller should be working (displaying something). If there is no voltage there, there is a problem with the battery or the connection to the battery.

3. measure the voltage at the battery terminals.

If there is no voltage there, there is a problem with the battery or it has just been discharged so low that the internal BMS has shut it down.

Once you know where the problem is, you can work out how to fix it.

[oldwave]

When the lithoum batteries have discharged to the bms cut off, you may have the wake them up. Some battery chargers will do this others won’t . For example the aims chargers will not, not sure about the wfco. If not you’ll have get a 12volt slight charge into the battery to reactivate the bms : https://youtu.be/TJ_Klwp-JyM

This will discuss the issue.

[John in Santa Cruz]

I would expect most RV converter/chargers would as they are designed to be able to run the trailers DC electrics without a battery, the PD4655L in Lithium mode will output 14.6V regardless of the state of the battery

[chesaka]

I hooked up to my tow vehicle and it woke up the system. Put it on a generator for a few hours and it increased to 13.0 volts but not more. The system said batts were 67 percent. Lights working and furnace working so far. Previously system used to say 100 percent charged. Have not turned compressor fridge back on. Weather should be sunny. I’m hoping I see solar input today.

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by chesaka

I hooked up to my tow vehicle and it woke up the system. Put it on a generator for a few hours and it increased to 13.0 volts but not more. The system said batts were 67 percent. Lights working and furnace working so far. Previously system used to say 100 percent charged. Have not turned compressor fridge back on. Weather should be sunny. I’m hoping I see solar input today.

A shunt measures amps in and out to calculate state of charge. Also I imagine the lithium batteries 100 is in the realm of 13.4 to 13.5

If you get them to full charge then reset your shunt then and it will begin to measure correctly again. Also there is a setting that sets the soc to 100 on a lost power event upon start up
I disable mine but I’m not sure what the default is

[chesaka]

It appears to be working. Sunny morning but very cold night where furnace struggled to keep up. Drawn down to 40 percent this morning. Two hours later 78 percent. Says 12.9 v. 2.91 kah. 4.9 a. I put the fridge back on and it’s at 67 percent.

[chesaka]

It’s coming up fast. 10:00 am. 81 percent. 13.0 v.

[Chasing Trials]

Originally Posted by chesaka

I hooked up to my tow vehicle and it woke up the system. Put it on a generator for a few hours and it increased to 13.0 volts but not more. The system said batts were 67 percent. Lights working and furnace working so far. Previously system used to say 100 percent charged. Have not turned compressor fridge back on. Weather should be sunny. I’m hoping I see solar input today.

Wow, That's good. Wonder what kicked it off in the 1st place? So you "hit the combo again".

[Mike G]

Long live solar!

[RF Paul]

Hoping I can get some advice that will lead to a similar happy ending…
My Go Power controller display is completely blank. I’ve tried both soft and hard resets, but still no display. Here are other details of my situation:
2017 Escape 21
Two 6V lead acid batteries
One ETI installed solar panel, 1500W inverter
GP-PWM-30 controller
At the battery terminals, I’m reading about 13.6V. At the solar terminals on the back of the controller, I read about 19V, but at the battery terminals on the back of the controller, I only have 0.5V. Seems like the solar is OK, and the battery has enough charge. The battery cables all feel secure. All other electrical systems (lights, furnace), including the inverter, are working fine. Is it possible the controller itself has gone bad?
PS…Apologies if it’s bad form to add on to this thread, instead of starting a new one..

[splitting_lanes]

Originally Posted by RF Paul

Hoping I can get some advice that will lead to a similar happy ending…
My Go Power controller display is completely blank. I’ve tried both soft and hard resets, but still no display. Here are other details of my situation:
2017 Escape 21
Two 6V lead acid batteries
One ETI installed solar panel, 1500W inverter
GP-PWM-30 controller
At the battery terminals, I’m reading about 13.6V. At the solar terminals on the back of the controller, I read about 19V, but at the battery terminals on the back of the controller, I only have 0.5V. Seems like the solar is OK, and the battery has enough charge. The battery cables all feel secure. All other electrical systems (lights, furnace), including the inverter, are working fine. Is it possible the controller itself has gone bad?
PS…Apologies if it’s bad form to add on to this thread, instead of starting a new one..

There’s a thermal breaker between the battery and the Go Power controller, I’ll bet there’s a problem there. If you don’t have battery level voltage at the controller, it won’t work, as far as I know.

Find out where your voltage between the battery and controller is being lost, and I bet you’ll find your problem.

[RF Paul]

An update…I discovered that I actually do have adequate voltage at the battery side. I had to move the wires around a bit to get good contact with my meter, and when I did, I was reading about 12.5 volts from the battery wires. That, along with the 19+ volts on the solar panel side, has given me confidence that the controller itself is bad. I’m awaiting arrival of a new one and will update again after it’s in.