R-27 solar panel

[sleepyboat]

Andrew,

After Sallison returned from her maiden voyage from Cape Cod to Newburyport I noticed that the status light on the solar panel remote was yellow. After going through all the main screens it showed that there is zero output from the panel. When I ran diagnostics it showed error code 5, Damaged or removed remote temp sensor. What should I be looking for? I am going to the boat today and recheck connections and fuses. It was a rough return trip, with waves breaking over the bow and coming down on the entire vessel. It was quite exciting yet we all felt very safe. Might you have any suggestions?

Thank you,
John DeCaro (Sallison)

 

[sleepyboat]

Well, this was interesting. After talking with Knotflying and his advice to call Morning star and their support person's advice, I did the following. The first problem was a damaged or missing remote temp sensor (none was installed) the support tech told me that a moisture condition can cause a resistance to build between the terminals where this connects and give a false reading and to strap the terminals together. That being done it did not correct the error code or start charging the batteries. Next I moved on to remove cables on the controller for the solar panel; the RJ11 cable to the remote panel then battery # 2 then battery number # 1 and then the solar panel itself. I did this on the 23rd of July, mid-day and full sun. I metered the leads from the panel and got 19.81 vdc. I taped every lead I removed and let it sit while I hydrated. I reconnected in the same order I removed them (2,1,solar) with the RJ 11 going in last and crossed my fingers. The status light had gone from yellow to green and was charging both banks. A visit 24 hours later and the refrigerator was cold and house batteries were over 12.5 volts.

John DeCaro - Sallison aka Sleepyboat

 

[Andrew Custis]

Hello John,

This is exactly what I reccomend to most of our customers when a panel needs to be reset. The reset procedure usually fixes all of the issues I have had with the solar panels. Thanks for the report back of the fix.

 

[JerryE]

Hey John,

If I read your first post correctly, you do not have a temperature probe installed. Assuming you have your controller installed in the cabin, you should consider the Remote Temperature Probe which attaches to one of the battery terminals and sends information to the controller about the battery's temperature. It costs $26 and works with the Morningstar Dual Battery Charge Controller. The idea is if there is more than a 9º temp difference between the battery and the Charge Controller, you need to tell the controller what the battery temp is so it can adjust current load accordingly.

Here's a link to the Probe from a good outfit with probably the best prices you'll see. http://www.solar-electric.com/prosremtempr.html . They answer questions and you can duplicate the factory provided system as an aftermarket add-on using their products.

In my case, since I'm on a mooring (or an outdoor rack mount) I need to compensate for a low constant battery drain going to a continually operating vent which is needed for a composting head. So I bought a cheap $95 solution by Sunforce (http://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-50033-15 ... sim_auto_6) having a 15 watt panel and 7 amp controller. There is no option for temperature monitoring of the battery temp differential from the controller which I mounted in the cabin. My system works just by dangling the wire from the roof rack mounted panel through a roof hatch going to the controller which sends a cable to a cigarette lighter plug hanging from the ceiling in the helm area. So far I've had to send back the controller and the cigarette plug was broken, too. I guess you get what you pay for. The Kyocera panel is definitely the best bang for the buck and the panel is only about $337-$360 at http://www.solar-electric.com/kyso130wa12v.html or http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Pa ... nel/p7655/. By the time I built an aluminum frame for the little 15 watt panel, I wished I had invested the energy in the Kyocera.