85 V solar panel to 12 V Deep Cycle Battery via 150V max MPPT unit

Geo_Ocn

To start, I must admit I know very little about working with electrical current and batteries, less about using a multimeter and even less about solar panels.  Now that I've gotten that confession out of the way, can anyone help me with my issue?  I purchased a MPTT that has a 150V max rating.  I checked the output of the solar panel using a multimeter (hopefully correctly) and believe it was giving me a reading of 85V which met the rated output on the solar panel. When I connected the solar panel to the MPTT and took a reading from the terminals that are supposed to go to the battery, I was not able to get a voltage reading.  Any ideas as to my issue and what I was doing incorrectly?

mike95490

A MPPT controller has a small computer internally, and is powered by the battery.

  You connect the battery first, let it boot up for a minute, and then connect the solar, and you will shortly see the battery voltage start to rise.

Geo_Ocn

Thanks. When I didn't get the reading I expected out of the MPPT, I didn't want to take a chance on damaging the battery so I never connected the MPPT to the battery. Now with your input, it makes sense that the MPPT needs a power source to activate.