Solar Charging Question... October 30, 2024, 02:36:10 pm I just came back from a short camping trip from City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico. A YouTube channel I follow (Debra Dickinson) has a yearly gathering called KOKOfest (KOKO = Keep On Keeping On. It was quite fun as she was an extra in Nomadland, and her friend Charlene (Swankie Wheels) who was in the movie sent an autographed license plate from the movie for a raffle and one day we had a conference call with her. However, my question is about my solar charging. I have two 100 watt panels (Renogy and probably 10 years old) and two lithium batteries (probably 4 years old). I usually charge up quickly and then go to "float." However, my charge controller read-out only got to 13.1 and when I used my blue-tooth battery it said the batteries were at 90%. My RV has been in covered storage since mid-May and before was working just fine. I'm just wondering what the issue could be and where I should examine first. Thanks in advance...
Re: Solar Charging Question... Reply #1 – October 30, 2024, 04:51:07 pm Not a lot of trees there, but this time of year days are short and shadows long. Could there have been any shadowing from the rocks? If you have a battery monitor, check the charge current into the batteries with full sun, and if the panels are un-shaded, nothing 'on' in the rig, then you should expect a decent charge current. If not, you have a problem. The storage should not have adversely affected the lithium batteries unless you left some things on to drain them down.Steve