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Disconnecting Solar Panels. Again


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From what I've read you are supposed to disconnect the panels then the battery side. So presumably the reverse when reconnecting. That is connect the battery then the panels.  But the manual fof my Tracer 3215RN manual implies connecting the battery last.  So which is correct and how much does it matter?

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45 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

Always battery first so the controller knows if it is a 12V or a 24V system, then the panels.

 

Flip back two pages in that manual and it says "Step 1: Battery Wiring"

 

http://voile.org/panneaux_solaires/Tracer-3215RN.pdf

Where it states 'wire an in-line fuse holder. Do not insert a fuse at this time. Confirm the connections correct and then turn on the power'.

 

Step 6 says ' When battery power is applied and the Tracer powers up'.

 

So by 'turning on the power' do they mean insert fuse?

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32 minutes ago, pearley said:

Where it states 'wire an in-line fuse holder. Do not insert a fuse at this time. Confirm the connections correct and then turn on the power'.

 

Step 6 says ' When battery power is applied and the Tracer powers up'.

 

So by 'turning on the power' do they mean insert fuse?

It is very poorly worded imo,I have the same model. This has come up before on a previous thread.

 

ETA. Just checked mine is not the same model, but same kind of instructions.

Edited by rusty69
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13 minutes ago, pearley said:

Where it states 'wire an in-line fuse holder. Do not insert a fuse at this time. Confirm the connections correct and then turn on the power'.

 

Step 6 says ' When battery power is applied and the Tracer powers up'.

 

So by 'turning on the power' do they mean insert fuse?

If you connect your solar array first and it is higher than 12V due to the panels, the way the panels are wired(series/parallel) - ie 24v , 36v or even 48V - the tracer will use this as the operating system voltage.

If you connect your 12V batteries to the tracer now, you will boil them or blow them up in a very short time span.!!!!

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21 minutes ago, matty40s said:

If you connect your solar array first and it is higher than 12V due to the panels, the way the panels are wired(series/parallel) - ie 24v , 36v or even 48V - the tracer will use this as the operating system voltage.

If you connect your 12V batteries to the tracer now, you will boil them or blow them up in a very short time span.!!!!

That makes sense.  The new panels are slightly smaller than the old so tnere is some paintwork that needs attention so I can just unplug them, probably two at a time, when I get round to it.

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best to fit an isolation switch between the controller and the solar panels, and make a habit of always switching it off when messing with the system.  I have mains charging as an option - there is a big sign on the charger connection - DISCONNECT SOLAR.  You do not want to have a feed from the charger while the solar is connected.

6 minutes ago, pearley said:

...................  when I get round to it.

round tuits are available from any good DIY store.

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I have a big 100A isolator between my panels (2 x 100W in parallel) and the Tracer, and another between the tracer and the batteries.  Also big notice to say isolate panels before battery and connect battery before panels.

Despite connecting batteries first, the tracer display says "24V" in the information, but the charging information clearly shows it is operating on a 12V basis.

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1 hour ago, Murflynn said:

.  You do not want to have a feed from the charger while the solar is connected.

.

What is the reason for this, please? Does it also mean that solar should be disconnected when the engine is running?

Edited by Ex Brummie
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45 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

What is the reason for this, please? Does it also mean that solar should be disconnected when the engine is running?

 

The charging source with the highest voltage will dominate and any other charging sources will back off, so the batteries should eventually get float charged only by the dominant charger.

 

No real need to disconnect other chargers and certainly no need to turn the solar off when the engine is running.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Murflynn said:

You do not want to have a feed from the charger while the solar is connected.

Why not?

14 minutes ago, cuthound said:

The charging source with the highest voltage will dominate and any other charging sources will back off

And this will only happen once bulk charging is complete and the batteries are in Absorption. So it’s a complete non-issue. 

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4 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

No real need to disconnect other chargers and certainly no need to turn the solar off when the engine is running.

 

 

Thank the lord for that! It had me thinking that the panel I installed last year was the reason I had to purchase new (very expensive) batteries at Shepperton last year.

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7 hours ago, rusty69 said:

It is very poorly worded imo,I have the same model. This has come up before on a previous thread.

 

ETA. Just checked mine is not the same model, but same kind of instructions.

 Correct they screwed up when they tried to clarify the setup description but the update did not match the diagram. I had an email discussion with them at the time and they apologised and said they will amend future manuals so that it is clearer, unfortunately there are a lot of manuals out there with the ambiguous description. 

In the meantime the info given on here is the correct way. Disconnect solar before disconnecting the batteries. 

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Just found it in this thread see my post 52 in that thread for their reply. 

The key part of the discussion, which was agreed with, was around this :

 

Page 12
"Please don't turn on the fuse during the installation" 
 
Should I think say
 
"Please don't turn on the breaker during the installation" 

 

Edited by reg
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7 hours ago, WotEver said:

Why not?

And this's will only happen once bulk charging is complete and the batteries are in Absorption. So it’s a complete non-issue. 

Because the shore power will back feed into the panels which will upload to the sun making the sun hotter which will increase global warming.

  • Haha 1
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1 minute ago, Chewbacka said:

Because the shore power will back feed into the panels which will upload to the sun making the sun hotter which will increase global warming.

But surely that’s only helping to counter the discharge from the sun due to all those other folk draining it with their solar. 

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