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jc0wl3y avatar image
jc0wl3y asked

Huge voltage drop when connecting to batteries

Hey guys, 4x sun power solar panels wired series / parallel (2 together in series to make an array and then the two arrays in parallel) and a Victron mppt 100/30.


Having an issue where I have 38 ish volts from the charge controller but as soon as I hook to my batteries I get a voltage drop down to 1 volt on the volt meter.

I tired testing to a spare battery and got the full 38v.


Could it be that I’m trying to charge 3 batteries hooked in series? One bad battery? Any ideas?


Solar Panel
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snoobler avatar image snoobler commented ·
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36V?


What does each battery show for voltage?


You should be connecting the MPPT to the batteries first to set it to 36V. You may need to set this manually in VictronConnect.

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3 Answers
Trevor Bird avatar image
Trevor Bird answered ·

According to the spec sheet the 100/30 does not do 36 volt systems.

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jc0wl3y avatar image
jc0wl3y answered ·

Sorry I mis spoke. I have 38 or 39 volts coming from the solar array. Out of the converter I have 13.7 ish volts when hooked to a spare stand alone battery. However when I connect to my boat batteries (3 in series) the output voltage from the converter drops to 1 or 2 volts so it’s not charging the batteries. The batteries are configured in a 12 v system.


I also tried changing controllers and have the same issue. Another boat with a similar configuration tried using my controller and it worked so it’s not that.


Has to be something with batteries but I’m at a loss.


The batteries to charge fine with a shore power charger and run the boat.


Any ideas?

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seb71 avatar image seb71 commented ·

However when I connect to my boat batteries (3 in series) the output voltage from the converter drops to 1 or 2 volts so it’s not charging the batteries. The batteries are configured in a 12 v system.

If those are 12V batteries and you wired them in series, you have a 36V battery (36V system).

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snoobler avatar image
snoobler answered ·

To state it bluntly, you are trying to use a 12/24V charger to charge a 36V battery. You can't do that. The only way you could use this charger sensibly is to run the batteries in parallel and charge at 12V. That would likely be inconvenient as you'd parallel the for charging and then series them for operation.


Your shore charger is likely either a 36V charger or a charger capable of charging each 12V simultaneously.

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