solar panel not charging

Hi jomack, the minus 0.2amp on your control panel suggests the natural drain on the selected battery. This was the case on our previous Broadway EK that did not have a working solar panel at the time. Therefore it is likely that you have a sort of disconnection with the solar panel. Today's sunshine was putting in almost 3Amps into the V battery as displayed by the EC480 digital Control Panel (Colour graphic display).

jomack wrote:The control panel shows a minus reading of -0.2a.

Was it showing -0.2A with the sun shining on the solar panel? The Amp reading is an instantaneous reading of what current is going into or coming out of the battery at that point in time - it's not cumulative.

If you get a negative reading all the time, it may just be that the Sargent current monitor needs to be recalibrated - that aspect of the Sargent controllers is very much subject to drifting over time. If after a recalibration (which you can do yourself) it still shows current going out of the battery, that's the time to start worrying about a current drain.

-mojo- wrote:

jomack wrote:The control panel shows a minus reading of -0.2a.

Was it showing -0.2A with the sun shining on the solar panel? The Amp reading is an instantaneous reading of what current is going into or coming out of the battery at that point in time - it's not cumulative.

If you get a negative reading all the time, it may just be that the Sargent current monitor needs to be recalibrated - that aspect of the Sargent controllers is very much subject to drifting over time. If after a recalibration (which you can do yourself) it still shows current going out of the battery, that's the time to start worrying about a current drain.

Have you a link to the recalibration procedure? I have been in conversation today with Sargent as I have never seen my system switch from A to V with the solar panel charging.

Saying that, both batteries seem ok so some thing must be happening. Was advised to switch on headlamps and see what happens when the voltage drops and yes it did change over to V charging.

PLOUGHLIN wrote:I googled Sargent EC480 and found a Sargent PDF covering Battery Amps and voltages readings.

It says to reset amps.

Calibration of the Ammeter – EC480\EC300 Control Panels
The ammeter is within the EC500 PSU and requires calibration to the EC480 (Or EC300) control panel
at initial install. Following this initial calibration you may need to re-calibrate if the reading is
inaccurate, one cause of an inaccuracy could be due to a replacement control panel being installed.
To re-calibrate follow the below instructions:
1) Turn off the 12V Power to the van
2) Turn off the Battery Charger
3) Where possible solar panels should be covered
4) Scroll to the active battery screen (Battery Current Screen on EC300)
5) Press and hold the select button (<) to start the calibration process.
6) Note the "A" \ "Batt Amps" Reading reset to 0
7) Once calibrated you should see a more accurate display of the current.

See Sargent FAQ for EC500 system fifth question for a download. https://sargentltd.co.uk/tech-support/article/EC500-System/18

Thank you I will give it a go

Depending on the size of panel, 0.8-1.0 Amp is probably not too bad at this time of the year, as the sun is still quite low. If you have not yet recalibrated your EC328, the procedure is documented in the fault table section of the User Manual.

jomack wrote:I had a second leisure battery fitted at the dealer and that does not seem to be charging

Depends on how the second leisure battery is connected - the normal way is simply to wire it straight across the first leisure battery, in parallel with it. So the only likely way it can be not charging is if there is a fuse blown somewhere.