Wayne and Cheryl Byrne Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 As this was our first longer trip in our topender we are unsure what solar output we should be getting out of our 3 x 120? (not sure what size as our van is second hand) with 4 x 120 amp hr batteries. After a week of free camping at Manangoora we noticed the voltage kept dropping below 12v and decided we had better read up on the regulator directions and it appeared that the panels were not producing many amps sometimes none, the best we noticed was 6 amps going in and that has also been since we have arrived home. Just looked back on some old posts and noticed someone had a fuse problem with theirs - we kept the batteries up by running the 4.2 generator on it (as we did not get a generator before heading off). Any ideas on what our problem could be?ThanksWayne & Cheryl :helpsmilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dazmit Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Hi Wayne & CherylIn full sun either side of midday you should be getting at least 20Amps from 3 X 120W panels (if at Brisbane or further north).There was a bad batch of solar panels from approx 2003 which were failing and were being replaced under warranty - could be worth a 12V specialist checking the output from each panel.CheersDarryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod and Mavis Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 G-day Wayne & Cheryl Agree completely with Darryl go for some specialist assistance each individual panel should be producing what you are seeing from your three.The best we have seen from our three is 21 amps.Regards.Rod and Mavis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne and Cheryl Byrne Posted June 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Okay thanks for that we thought there must be a problem, will get it checked out our van was built in Feb 2006.Wayne & Cheryl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosco Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Wayne & CherylTry covering all panels but one with a blanket or cardboard then take a reading. Repeat this for each of the other panels. This should tell you which panel is down on charge, if any.Regards, Rosco :thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian and Jill Brown Posted June 25, 2008 Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Hi Wayne & Cheryl,We picked up our TE in December last year and took 6 weeks to get it back to Perth.During that time, we had poor output from our 3 solar panels (2 days max supply!).When having the fault checked out before adding a 4th panel, we found that one of the fuses had been left out in the first battery box (5 holders and 4 fuses installed).One new fuse and everything works fine.The Kedron guys were a bit embarrassed, but December was extremely busy for them and it was just one of those things that can happen.Might be worth checking out.Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne and Cheryl Byrne Posted June 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 We did as Rosco suggested and it appears that only 1 panel which is on drivers side is working, the 2 on the other showed no reading at all - all fuses look fine, guess we will have to get a solar guy to check it out to see if the panels are faulty or wiring???Wayne & Cheryl :confused1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne and Cheryl Byrne Posted July 6, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2008 Well we had the panels checked out on Saturday and it was a corroded crimped connection under one of the panels (see attached pics of crimp connections replaced one was okay but the other one the wire had corroded completely away), looked like it had been sitting in water. So looks like it is a good idea to keep the van out of the weather when not in use. We had purchased a stormcover for our van as we cannot fit it in the shed we have, it is supposed to be hail proof as well so we will have to bed it down now until our next trip. Thanks to all for your feedback.Wayne & Cheryl Byrne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cvtripper Posted July 7, 2008 Report Share Posted July 7, 2008 Hi Wayne & Cheryl,Tell me they're not automotive crimp lugs. :sad: It's a little hard to tell from the pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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