Charge Control staying in sleep mode...

Crystal
Crystal Solar Expert Posts: 128 ✭✭✭
in PV Installers Forum - NEC, Wiring, Installation #1
The system is up and running! However the Rouge MPPT charge control is staying in sleep mode.

My four T-105 6 volt batteries wired in series/parallel. The two 210 volt panels are wired in series.
The Rouge charge control manual says that this could possibly be a array/battery miss match because array voltage must be greater than battery voltage by atleast
two volts. So, do I connect the panels in parallel rather than series, or do I need to wire the battery bank differently?

Also, is it harmful to be charging the batteries with the charge control in sleep mode?

Your advice is greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Crystal
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Comments

  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Charge Control staying in sleep mode...

    Okay, the panels are not 210 Volt. If they were the charge controller would be instantly fried as it can only take 60 Volts.
    How about 210 Watts? And if they are the Vmp is probably around 30+ which means if wired in series again they would be over the Rogue's input limit.

    Disconnect one panel from the string and see if the controller "wakes up". If not, it may be damaged due to over-Voltage.

    I presume this is a 12 Volt system if you have four 6 Volt batteries wired as two parallel strings of two in series.
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  • Crystal
    Crystal Solar Expert Posts: 128 ✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: Charge Control staying in sleep mode...

    Thanks! I'll try disconnecting a panel. Hopefully the Rouge is ok. :cry:
    Right...210 watts...that's what I meant.:blush:
    Yes, it's a 12 volt system.
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  • Crystal
    Crystal Solar Expert Posts: 128 ✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Charge Control staying in sleep mode...

    So, I disconnected a panel and it's still in sleep mode.
    I have a Trimetric meter and it has never gone over 16 volts so I'm hopeful that it has not damaged the charge control.
    When the Rouge is turned on it shows 13.1 volts nominal 12 volt system and when you press ok it still goes into sleep mode. This is a good sign that it's not damaged...right?
    How do I know for sure if it's damaged or not?
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: Charge Control staying in sleep mode...

    The Rogue & Trimetric are showing Voltage on the battery side of the controller only; not on the PV side.

    Disconnect everything from the Rogue. Connect the battery side first. The display should come up with the battery Voltage. Then connect the PV (either one or both in parallel) and see if charging begins. If not, use a multimeter to measure the Voltage on the PV side at the controller. If there isn't any present the Rogue won't wake up. If there is and it doesn't, something on the input side has probably fried.

    You can bypass the controller completely on a temporary basis to make sure the batteries get charged, but it will not be ideal as there will be no down-converting of the higher Voltage (you will only get panel current as a maximum) and there will be no regulation. It will be necessary to watch the battery Voltage and disconnect when it gets high enough (about 14.8 maximum).

    Contact Rogue directly for further details. Marc is very good with customer service. :D
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  • ggunn
    ggunn Solar Expert Posts: 1,973 ✭✭✭
    #6
    Re: Charge Control staying in sleep mode...
    Cariboocoot wrote: »
    Disconnect everything from the Rogue. Connect the battery side first. The display should come up with the battery Voltage. Then connect the PV (either one or both in parallel) and see if charging begins. If not, use a multimeter to measure the Voltage on the PV side at the controller. If there isn't any present the Rogue won't wake up. If there is and it doesn't, something on the input side has probably fried.
    If there is low or no voltage present on the input, the CC may have failed. It could be presenting the array with a short. Check the current with a clamp meter. If something close to Isc is flowing and voltage is very low at the CC terminals, the CC is probably toast.
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  • Crystal
    Crystal Solar Expert Posts: 128 ✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: Charge Control staying in sleep mode...

    Rogue is not fried.:D Marc was so patient and helpful. Just had the pv+ and bat.+ going through same breaker, so had fuse the pv+. So thankful for the excellent customer service from Marc.
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