Leisure Battery Change

Solar won't care but covering it is wise imho

I'm in the same position and about the change the leisure battery. We have a fuse specifically labelled Leisure Battery. Should I take it out? I'll cover up the solar as per previous suggestions.

kevjan wrote:Hi I changed mine 3 weeks ago and only turned the ex500 off. Had no problem just keep red ( live wire) away from anything else. Kevin

Mine controller is the EC328. Can't see anything to turn it off when it's not on EHU?

The manual for my solar regulator states:

"The solar panels should be protected from direct sunlight (by covering or shading) prior to connection (to the regulator)."
"Never operate the controller without the battery „Board I“. If the battery is not connected, the unit will not deliver a defined output voltage."

This tells me that the LB should not be disconnected or reconnected, which includes removing its in-line fuse, without covering the solar panel.  I guess this is in part to prevent arcing caused by any solar charge.  As has already been said, I think it is even more important to ensure there is no charge from the mains charger which must be switched off and/or disconnected from the EHU.  In a similar vein, there should be no load on the LB which can be ensured by turning everything off.  If all these precautions are taken, there should be no need to remove the LB in-line fuse as no current should be flowing.

Obviously, caution is better than lack of caution, but the solar controller in the EC328 is a pretty simple device, and the user instructions don't make any statements about always having the battery connected. But I know that some - including the original controller in the EC328 - are dual-voltage (i.e. 12V or 24V operation), and some of those cannot correctly detect the system voltage with the battery not present (so in theory the voltage at the battery and/or load terminals could be significantly higher than 12V with the battery disconnected).

Perhaps I've been lucky, but I have disconnected the LB during the daytime on my EC328 many times and didn't have any issues.

Incidentally, if you want instructions on how to configure the built-in solar controller originally fitted to the EC328, do an Internet search for an EP Solar EPIPDB-COM controller - the one fitted is typically the 10A version. The user manual should be quite easy to find online.

Not on the EC328 - the solar controller is just a sub-assembly, built into the housing of the power control unit. The external connections are directly to the panel, which by convention are not normally fused or switched on low-voltage solar systems.

For the information of anyone interested, the dual channel solar controller in the EC325 was an integral part of the Sargent circuitry not a sub assembly as in the EC328. The EC328 system performed better than the EC325 (that was adequate).