Hi all, please forgive my ignorance, we bought a used RV that already had solar equipped, the previous owner kept most of the manuals. The dealership had no idea, or want to help with it. I’ve read alot, searched these forums for a bit as well but i had a few questions so here goes:
Four large panels on the roof, not sure what wattage, but they are about 2’ x 5’ each
Two smart lithium Batteries LifeBlue
Magnum energy MagnaSine inverter
Victron Mppt 150/85 smartsolar controller
House batteries are a 12V setup
The single inline fuse is intact, it’s low amperage on a 16-18 gauge wire going to the Victron controller. All connections i looked at were clean and tight.
Whether hooked to shore power or not, the smartsolar controller has all three leds blinking constantly with a relay clicking noise, right now i have the inline disconnect opened, so it’s powered off. The unit doesn’t get hot or anything like that.
I have the Victron connect app, it shows no errors, and a steady discharge from the house batteries (normal, we live in it full time). I also have the victron toolkit app, but “bluetooth id” or “any error” doesn’t help me much.
how do i find out what error is present if any?
If it is working as intended, when does it start to charge the batteries? 90% soc? 50% soc? where can i find that information? If i can change the settings what would you veteran solar enthusiasts recommend?
During daylight hours, should there be voltage at the PV input connections on the smart controller?
4)There is a “GoPower” remote panel in the RV, it looks flimsy/cheap, i suspect this came with the panels and was disconnected when the upgrade to the victron controller was installed. The GoPower panel is never powered up, buttons do nothing. Can i ignore this gopower panel?
Sorry, i’m asking alot, but i am a solar virgin, and i really want to figure all of this out. Thanks in advance,
-PF
The three lights blinking on the solar charge controller may indicate a Bluetooth error. Are you actually connecting to the solar charge controller in VictronConnect? The clicking noise is odd though. The typical startup sequence for the solar charge controller is to turn on the connection to the battery first, then turn on the connection to the PV. Shutdown is turn off the PV, then turn off the battery.
16-18 gauge wire on that solar charge controller is way too small. Are you sure you read the wire gauge right?
Battery charging is based on the voltage of the battery. Victron defaults for LiFePO4 are bulk charge at 14.2 volts and float at 13.5 volts.
Yes, there should be voltage on the PV input side of the solar charge controller during daylight. The absence of current is normal if the battery is fully charged.
The GoPower panel can be ignored. It was probably left there instead of a hole in the wall.
-Am i sure i am connecting to the solar controller in Victron Connect? No, i am not sure. The only listed device is the BMV-712 Smart, i thought that was the controller? Apparently it’s the battery monitor? It’s the only device that comes up in the app, is there another one for the Solar controller itself?
-The 16-18 gauge red wire that has the tiny fuse in it is coming off the relay plug connection on the bottom of the controller. The 1/0 power wires if there is an inline fuse on those it’s a fuseable link thats covered by the cable sheathing, or fuseable links on the humungous buss bar, those all look good too. From look and feel those cables are all solid and intact
-The clicking noise could be for a bluetooth fault, maybe thats why i dont see another device i can bluetooth connect to?
Is there a seperate device listed for the controller itself? What would it be called?
Thank you for the manual, it’s different from the one i downloaded off the Victron support page. I thought i had the right one, but it’s different with troubleshooting page that makes more sense to me. looks like i have alot more reading to do
Ok, so it appears i have a bluetooth error on the smartcontroller unit. Outside of replacing the unit, is there a way to fix this? Has anyone gone thru the process of fixing it? It does not show up in the device list on the app, the 3 led’s blink in unison with 1 second intervals, sounds like a relay inside the unit clicking in time with the blinks.
This is my 1st attempt at all of this, i see that i may be able to connect via a laptop and physical cable connection, i’ll try that next, any insights or info questions are welcome!
Turn off the PV power. Then turn off the circuit between the battery and the solar charge controller. Wait a minute and then reverse the process. Kind of like CTRL-ALT-DEL for Windows, we’re restarting the controller hoping that will take care of it.
If you can see the BMV-712 then your phone’s communication is setup correctly. Did the prior owner give you the passwords?
Take a picture or pictures of your system so we can get an overview.
So this morning i was able to get the smart controller to populate the device list. Here’s what i did:
unhooked shore power
2)set the bayonet circuit breaker on the bay wall to off/open
3)turned on/closed the PV kill switch
4)reset the circuit breaker to closed/on
The bulk light stays off, the Absorb and float lights blink (data transfer). There was an update for bluetooth, i completed that. So far everything looks ok. No more relay clicking noise either.
Going forward i will leave the PV kill switch off until needed. In a few weeks we are visiting inlaws and will need the solar, they have a winding 1 mile driveway with lots of low branches, so leaving it on the back end of the property w/o shore power is the only option, i’d like the solar to keep the residential fridge going, based on the wattage/amp draw that should not be a problem.
To everyone who commented, thankyou, at my age learning new stuff takes a toll, and is very stressfull, you all have helped alot more than you know. I have a big learning curve to figure out settings for the smart controller, any advice?
Be thankful that the prior owner installed Victron components. Otherwise, you would be in a world of hurt when it comes to finding people that could help you out.
A suggestion for helping your system: Add strain relief. Anywhere that there is a wire in a terminal, make sure the wire cannot wiggle when the RV is going down the road. That wiggle can break wires and cause them to come loose in the terminal. I don’t think there’s any rosetta stone when it comes to strain relief other than, “eliminate the possibility that wires can come loose.”
