Bruce, I have a similar setup, but with a smaller solar panel, and initially ran into similar troubles. It turned out to be helpful to install a solar charge regulator for each battery (house and starting); the output of each regulator is connected directly to the relevant battery - not through the off-1-2-both switch. When not running the engine (i.e. most of the time) I have only one or the other battery connected (i.e. 1 or 2 but not both). The solar panel output can be connected to the inputs of both regulators, but each regulator should go to only one battery.
This has worked well for the last three years - both batteries stay fully charged as they are being charged separately all the time the boat is on its mooring. Eric Frank Cat's Paw C&C 35 Mk II Mattapoisett, MA > Date: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 09:43:48 -0600 (MDT) > From: BRUCE BOLTON <bruce.bol...@shaw.ca> > To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com > Subject: Stus-List LInk monitor and solar panel issue > Message-ID: <876707633.43418433.1377531828779.JavaMail.root@cds015> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > I just installed two 100 watt Arenco panels through an MPPT controller ... > and it works very well, very happy with the output. I've got 320 amp hour AGM > house battery bank and a 120 amp hour starting battery connected through a > battery isolator switch (can keep them seperate or connect them into one big > bank). Link 20 monitor function for solar panels has been switch "on". > > The issue: I connected the controller output to the starting battery (because > of the size of the terminals on that battery), keept the battery isolator > switch in the "connect everything together" position and what happens is the > house bank shows charging via the solar panels, but the starting always shows > a discharge. I don't know why ... On a recent trip of a week without shore > power the solar panels almost keept up with demand (fridge/freezer on all the > time) maybe a minus 50 amps at the end of the trip on the house bank, while > the starting battery showed a minus 500 amps at the end of the trip! > > I believe that this is simply a link monitor issue and that this is > (obviously) not reality. Any Ideas on what can be done to get the link > indicating correctly would be appreciated. Perhaps when the battery banks are > not isolated the link then reads this as one bank only, and the starting one > is just recording the amount of power pulled from the bank over time ... > > Thanks for any feedback! > > Bruce Bolton > C&C35III > Apple Tree _______________________________________________ This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album http://www.cncphotoalbum.com CnC-List@cnc-list.com
