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Solar charge controller red light


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On Saturday’s trip I noticed the battery symbol light was red which would appear to indicate ‘battery over discharge’. Hadn’t had any issues with power delivery and the green indicator on the battery was showing well. 
I pulled the inline fuse on the + and both lights went out, plugged it back in and normality was restored. Not long after it was flickering an orangey colour and later went red again. 
 

What does battery over discharge actually mean as there doesn’t seem to be any issues?

7007FD2B-E1A5-4409-AA5A-A20C756015C8.jpeg

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42 minutes ago, thejollysinker said:

On Saturday’s trip I noticed the battery symbol light was red which would appear to indicate ‘battery over discharge’. Hadn’t had any issues with power delivery and the green indicator on the battery was showing well. 
I pulled the inline fuse on the + and both lights went out, plugged it back in and normality was restored. Not long after it was flickering an orangey colour and later went red again. 
 

What does battery over discharge actually mean as there doesn’t seem to be any issues?

7007FD2B-E1A5-4409-AA5A-A20C756015C8.jpeg

I think it means you need a new boat and full replacement fishing tackle!!

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https://www.engineersedge.com/battery/battery_over_charging.htm

In essence it means that the battery has been discharged too much/too low and may not now be capable of holding a full charge so well.

So that red light has done you a favour as it's telling you that it has to keep charging up the battery more regularly than it otherwise should do, which indicates that the battery doesn't hold a charge as well as it should. Time to replace the battery I reckon (but sadly not the boat and tackle as @Saintly Fish would have you believe!).

Edited to add: there's a chance that the wiring between the charge controller and the battery has some corrosion somewhere, causing unexpected resistance, so before you go to the expense of replacing the battery, check the wiring & joints/connectors and clean them up if needed.

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44 minutes ago, Andy135 said:

Edited to add: there's a chance that the wiring between the charge controller and the battery has some corrosion somewhere, causing unexpected resistance, so before you go to the expense of replacing the battery, check the wiring & joints/connectors and clean them up if needed.

You know how these things snowball. First it's a wire, then a battery and before you know it the whole boat has to be dumped and replaced because it makes more financial sense. Isn't that what you did with Jersey Girl?? Get rid rather than sort the list !!!

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1 minute ago, Saintly Fish said:

before you know it the whole boat has to be dumped and replaced because it makes more financial sense.

So how's your water pump replacement coming along then? Or will that snowball into a newer, bigger boat?

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1 hour ago, Andy135 said:

https://www.engineersedge.com/battery/battery_over_charging.htm

In essence it means that the battery has been discharged too much/too low and may not now be capable of holding a full charge so well.

So that red light has done you a favour as it's telling you that it has to keep charging up the battery more regularly than it otherwise should do, which indicates that the battery doesn't hold a charge as well as it should. Time to replace the battery I reckon (but sadly not the boat and tackle as @Saintly Fish would have you believe!).

Edited to add: there's a chance that the wiring between the charge controller and the battery has some corrosion somewhere, causing unexpected resistance, so before you go to the expense of replacing the battery, check the wiring & joints/connectors and clean them up if needed.

funnily enough I was just reading that link... and no there ain't a new boat in the offing unless santa's feeling very generous this year 🤣

I'll do a double check on the wiring as it seemed odd that pulling the fuse and re-connecting cured it for a short time. It would probabbly do my battery some good if it had a small drain overnight as the solar panel is quite big and does a wonderful job keeping it topped up all the time... I wonder?

Anyway, thanks for the helpful reply. If it is the battery I have another knocking around from the caravan and I could use that 🙂

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5 minutes ago, JonC said:

That’s frustrating, even though they are honouring the warranty it’s still a pain. 
When my pump went tits up (around the same time as yours) the shaft was pitted, the bearings and seals could be replaced but the shaft wasn’t available. I wonder if they reused the same shaft on yor won ? 

This will be the 3rd time in a year that I've removed it and sent it tu them. Like yes say, it's a max payne

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Looks like a low cost PWM regulator, I usually upgrade to a reputable brand MPPT https://www.solaronline.com.au/solar-regulators.html  . If the battery has been drawn down to low on occasion they can sometimes be recovered with a recovery cycle with a decent battery charger.  A bluetooth 12v battery monitor is very handy to have on boat batteries, they are reasonably cheap and simply fit between the +- terminals. An app then allows you to check your battery health from a phone.

 

Dropping the voltage bellow 50% can greatly shorten a lead batteries life.

1188872464_ScreenShot2021-10-01at7_20_23pm.png.b8b5e07c0d34d42ae6348c45837f6839.png

 

 

Edited by JDP
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10 hours ago, JDP said:

Looks like a low cost PWM regulator, I usually upgrade to a reputable brand MPPT https://www.solaronline.com.au/solar-regulators.html  . If the battery has been drawn down to low on occasion they can sometimes be recovered with a recovery cycle with a decent battery charger.  A bluetooth 12v battery monitor is very handy to have on boat batteries, they are reasonably cheap and simply fit between the +- terminals. An app then allows you to check your battery health from a phone.

 

Dropping the voltage bellow 50% can greatly shorten a lead batteries life.

1188872464_ScreenShot2021-10-01at7_20_23pm.png.b8b5e07c0d34d42ae6348c45837f6839.png

 

 

it's what came with the kit I ordered. Are you saying it's not really up to the job and I 'should' replace it or is that just a recommendation if one has the spare dosh?

I might just do that, whip it off and bring it home for a good charge with my unit at home. The bluetooth monitor sounds like a good idea, thank you 🙂

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