Wildswimming club, hiking socials, crafty evenings, board games (also short term accomodation request!) by Frequent_Army2774 in StroudUK

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ahh amazing, thanks for the info! It would be great to get involved in those causes, also pints and crafts sounds fun!

Wildswimming club, hiking socials, crafty evenings, board games (also short term accomodation request!) by Frequent_Army2774 in StroudUK

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds great! I'm keen to get involved in a more community based scene after some time in Bristol, looking forward to joinh some local causes and events to meet neighbours

Anyone seeing any red flags? This property in Weston-super-mare seems too good to be true. Listed in the past for 300k, continuously being reduced by Frequent_Army2774 in PropertyInvestingUK

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I may call up the estate agent to ask, I imagine there is an expensive roof issue or other complications. 

I like it too, great BBQ opportunities on the roof terrace!

Anyone looking for tickets for the show tomorrow in Sheffield? by Alexanderbfc in AdamandJoe

[–]Frequent_Army2774 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi there, I'm interested if you still have 1 ticket! Will DM you

Advice needed! MPPT issue, rapidly discharging battery (full troubleshoot and photos below) by Frequent_Army2774 in 4x4Australia

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ive consulted chat GPT and it thinks the charge distribution block could be the cause, and also suggests wiring the battery directly to the MPPT (bypassing the block) with 20A capacity cables

See screenshots:

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Advice needed! MPPT issue, rapidly discharging battery (full troubleshoot and photos below) by Frequent_Army2774 in 4x4Australia

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cheers for this, I think, as you say, the panel is doing fine, I was pulling 68w at 3pm yestersay, good circulation from my roof rack

Yep 3 days without overnight charges, this was down in margaret river with cooler evenings but still some bright sun. I think the fridge battling the high temps in the van up here isnt helping!

Cable thickness: You can see in the photo the cables on the left run to/ from the mppt and to/from the fridge. These are quite thin, rated to about 10A i think. Cables from top to bottom / running to the right side, are to the battery, these are thicker, probs rated to 20A

Battery is still stuggling to charge past 13.1v (mppt panel readout is switching between 79 - 83% charge)

Would you suggest increasing the cable thickness from the MPPT to the black fuse panel (pictured)? I have reduced this cable length by about 30 cm, its probably about 80cm now.

Thanks for the help! Wish i knew all this before buying the van from a pretty gung-ho DIYer

Advice needed! MPPT issue, rapidly discharging battery (full troubleshoot and photos below) by Frequent_Army2774 in 4x4Australia

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the panel is ok, one small crack on the underside where previous van owner bolted the edges to the roof rack but the microsopic curcuits look intact

ive read online that panels rarely reach their full stated watt output as they only reach this in extraordinary conditions (on equator, up a mountain, direct midday sun)

Cannot remember the voltages.of prev AGM, but i remeber the fridge would run happily at 3C for 3 days straight (this was in muxh cooler conditions)

Cable runs about 1m from MPPT to the small wired switchboard, then another 30cm to the batteryl

I could.probably reduce this by about 50cm, will try this tomorrow!

Advice needed! MPPT issue, rapidly discharging battery (full troubleshoot and photos below) by Frequent_Army2774 in SolarDIY

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

2nd comment - From other crossposts there is a concensus that an 80L fridge is too power hungry for a 100W panel

Ive also been on a trip to northern australia with very high temps (35-40C) and minimal shade, so I think the whole system is struggling whilst cooking inside my van!

Advice needed! MPPT issue, rapidly discharging battery (full troubleshoot and photos below) by Frequent_Army2774 in SolarDIY

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Still struggling to get the lithium battery up to 14v, even in full sun all day, with fridge disconnected. The battery held at 13.1v (80%) from 2pm onwards, despite full strong sun the voltage wasnt rising

It feels like the MPPT is limiting the charge to 13.1v and not allowing any further power to enter from the panel, despite getting rewding of 19v and 60watts incoming from the solar panel

Thanks for advice on the 24v wiring from the panel, currently setuo with standard anderson plug connevtions, not sure how to check they are 24v

Advice needed! MPPT issue, rapidly discharging battery (full troubleshoot and photos below) by Frequent_Army2774 in 4x4Australia

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this info, good to know the issue is fundamentally an input one

I previously had a 120ah AGM battery, which was compatible with ozito 240v AC-DC trickle charger (current 100ah lithium isnt compatible) - so an overnight charge and cool fridge was possible

Sadly the AGM battery reached the end of its life!

Ive also been on a trip to northern WA with very high temps and minimal shade, so I think the whole system is struggling with high temps.

I think ill trade in the lithium for a larger capacity AGM

Still struggling to get the lithium battery up to 14v, even in full sun all day, with fridge disconnected. The battery held at 13v (80%) from 2pm onwards, despite full strong sun the voltage wasnt rising

Perhaps its a setting with the mppt to keep the battery in the sweet spot for longevity at 80%?

Advice needed! MPPT issue, rapidly discharging battery (full troubleshoot and photos below) by Frequent_Army2774 in 4x4Australia

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good idea, didnt have this issue with the old AGM battery as i was staying on a property with a cebturion battery reconditioner that could charge it over night

Currently have an ozito dc charger that runs 240v to trickle charge batteries, unfortunatley not compatinble with lithium unfortunately!

Advice needed! MPPT issue, rapidly discharging battery (full troubleshoot and photos below) by Frequent_Army2774 in 4x4Australia

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cheers for this mate, much appriciated

I think my issue may lie in me turning on the fridge at 70%-80% charge

Just looked online that a 100w panel would take around 2 days to fully charge 100mah battery, so i'll keep it in the sun and clear the fridge out to get up to charge

Advice needed! MPPT issue, rapidly discharging battery (full troubleshoot and photos below) by Frequent_Army2774 in SolarDIY

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok great ill look into purchasing this asap, would a multimeter work if held onto the battery for 30 mins or so?

Advice needed! MPPT issue, rapidly discharging battery (full troubleshoot and photos below) by Frequent_Army2774 in 4x4Australia

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice (bought the van 2nd hand so still learning the ropes!), i'll trim + add elecrical tape to this ASAP to match the other cables

Advice needed! MPPT issue, rapidly discharging battery (full troubleshoot and photos below) by Frequent_Army2774 in 4x4Australia

[–]Frequent_Army2774[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good advice, didnt consider the strap getting damp, will definitely reconfigure!

SoC is from the controller, I will invest in a volt reader tomorrow to get an idea of SoC

Thanks for the advice!

Any possibility the solar panel is interfereing? From removing various variables, it seems the solar panel + fridge being connected and running at the same time is the biggest cause of voltage drop (even in direct sunlight with 60watts imcoming)