Solar Panel, is it working? Swift Challenger 2019.
Hi Folk's,
Can any of you clever people give me an easy way to see if my solar panel is working, and by that I mean, delivering a top up charge to my leisure battery when required!
The reason I ask is that I have just replaced my leisure battery 105ah class B as my old battery has given up after six plus years!
My Caravan is a Swift Challenger 560 and was bought new Sept 2019 so everything should be working, but following the instructions tells me that lights should come on at the regulator when it is receiving a charge from the solar panel. I have never yet seen either of these two lights lit up??
Any pointers would be appreciated.
Cheers,
J100BBA
Comments
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Have you checked out the manual.
2.11 Solar Charge Management The EC601/602/652/653 PSU incorporates a built-in solar charge management feature, which will monitor the input from a separate solar panel and regulator. The Solar Active symbol will be displayed on the control panel when there is an amount of energy available to charge the battery. The voltage and current produced from the regulator can be viewed on the control panel display by selecting the Power menu item. Power Screen (12V) Here you can view battery levels, view charger and solar current and press the more button (right arrow) to view 230V current.
Selected Battery Use the selected battery button to select which battery you wish to use or charge with the 230V charger. The vehicle battery will only be available when thecaravan is plugged into the car. 230V Charging If a battery is being charged by the 230V charger a ‘lightning’ symbol will be shown below the dial and adjacent to the relevant battery in the header area. Solar Charging If a battery is being charged by the solar panel a ‘sun’ symbol will be shown below the dial and adjacent to the relevant battery in the header area.
Leisure Dial The leisure dial shows the voltage of the leisure battery. Press the centre of the dial to change to showing the leisure battery current (+ positive value is charging and - negative value is discharging) Vehicle Dial The vehicle dial shows the voltage of the vehicle battery (when connected). Press the centre of the dial to change to showing the vehicle battery current (+ positive value is charging and - negative value is discharging) Solar Dial The solar dial shows the current being supplied to the system from the solar panel (if fitted).0 -
If you didn't disconnect the solar panel before swapping out the battery, you've probably fried the solar controller. Put a multimeter across the connections on the controller to check the panel voltage and also the battery connections.
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Our solar controller has flashing / solid green, amber and red lights showing it is working and the state of charge of the cab and leisure batteries. This is located in the battery locker. However, probably the most obvious sign of wether the panel is working or not would be the interior display for the state of charge of the cab battery. If it wasn't being charged the drain of the tracker and alarm would soon show.
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I have a 2019 Swift Challenger 560 took delivery last November. You can tell the solar panel is working by the lights on the controller and also by checking the Swift command panel.
my caravan is kept in storage and hasn’t been used since mid July. The command app is telling me the battery is charged to 13.5 volts now at 8pm. The battery on the van was supplied when we purchased the van and has only been on mains charging when we have been away. The solar kept the battery charged from end November until July 4th when we went away in the van.0 -
Not sure why this post has just been resurrected, but your experience is exactly what you’d expect from a decent solar installation. Your battery life is likely to last longer to boot. I’ve got 14+ years service (and counting) from a car battery on trickle solar charge.
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