Regulator

After checking the van after it had been on Electric hook up the light on my Sargent panel was flashing and I was unable to turn the power on so I covered the solar panel and everything was normal.So I disconnected the regulator and it's all working ok.So the question is does it matter what regulator I buy as I don't know the rating of the solar panel and what could cause it to pack up besides being faulty it is only 4 months old fitted by A/S 

Thanks. Rich

If your Sargent Controller is original to the van (your post does not make clear exactly what was fitted by A/S 4 months ago) then it may have a firmware issue and need updating. What Sargent controller do you have, and what firmware version is it running?

As a total numpty with electronics, I'm not about to pontificate.

However, I was told that the integral controller in the Sargent unit couldn't have cost more than seven quid - including VAT!!

I can believe that as it's more or less a free gift, and not a principle part of the unit so no complaints against Sargent.

The chap who told me this has an excellent reputation, and he wasn't trying to sell me anything as he had just given me an MPPT controller as a sweetener on a fairly costly deal.

Don't know if it's worth paying the extra for a separate MPPT controller, but no doubt someone will.

Gromit wrote:I was told that the integral controller in the Sargent unit couldn't have cost more than seven quid - including VAT!!

Maybe if you are in the trade - it's now quite an old unit, having been made for maybe six years, which is (almost) an eternity for devices of that type.

But you can still buy them retail, both with and without the external status display:

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They vary in price from £30 to maybe £60, though some of the more expensive ones are the higher power 20A version (not needed unless you've got a ~lot~ of solar panel on your roof!).

I haven't looked into it in detail, but I think the design of PWM controllers lends itself well to dual-battery charging. I'm not sure that MPPT is so naturally suited to that type of use - which may be why Sargent kept using it for so long.

I can't say for sure, as I have quite an old Sargent unit, but I don't think that they use the EPIPDB-COM in their current higher-end controllers. I ~think~ they have moved to a built-in single-channel MPPT-based solar controller.

Sorry to confuse,,it's not the Sargent,the question was supposed to be about the regulator to the solar panel.The regulator is only 4months old fitted by A/S ,I do not know the output of my solar panel so can I fit any regulator.

That's odd that A/S fitted an independent solar regulator, rather than using the one built in to the Sargent power controller. What model Sargent unit do you have? The symptoms you have indicate that the solar controller is generating an output voltage that is too high for the Sargent controller, I think. If A/S did the work, I would suggest that it is a problem for them to resolve...

O

-mojo- wrote:That's odd that A/S fitted an independent solar regulator, rather than using the one built in to the Sargent power controller. What model Sargent unit do you have? The symptoms you have indicate that the solar controller is generating an output voltage that is too high for the Sargent controller, I think. If A/S did the work, I would suggest that it is a problem for them to resolve...

On the Sargent 155 there is not a built in regulator.
All I need to know is although I don't know the output of my Solar panel can I fit any regulator ?

rich g wrote:After checking the van after it had been on Electric hook up the light on my Sargent panel was flashing and I was unable to turn the power on so I covered the solar panel and everything was normal.So I disconnected the regulator and it's all working ok.So the question is does it matter what regulator I buy as I don't know the rating of the solar panel and what could cause it to pack up besides being faulty it is only 4 months old fitted by A/S 

Thanks. Rich

Were you not given the information supplied with the panel and regulator? If not I would expect your invoice to specify what parts were installed.

rich g wrote:
On the Sargent 155

Well I guess if you had said that in your original post it would have helped.

rich g wrote:All I need to know is although I don't know the output of my Solar panel can I fit any regulator ?

No, you can't. If you don't know the spec of what's there, nor the spec of the panel that you have in place, you can't just fit anything.

Peter Brown wrote:

rich g wrote:After checking the van after it had been on Electric hook up the light on my Sargent panel was flashing and I was unable to turn the power on so I covered the solar panel and everything was normal.So I disconnected the regulator and it's all working ok.So the question is does it matter what regulator I buy as I don't know the rating of the solar panel and what could cause it to pack up besides being faulty it is only 4 months old fitted by A/S 

Thanks. Rich

Were you not given the information supplied with the panel and regulator?  If not I would expect your invoice to specify what parts were installed.

Yes on the invoice it said replace and fit regulator.