3
\$\begingroup\$

I recently got myself a CMG-2430 PWM charge controller(pretty cheap I know) and a 12v deep cycle battery. The problem is that the charge controller doesn't charge the battery when I connect the solar panel. ....I know that is a cheap solar charge controller but I really what to ask you guys about opinion because I might just have missed something simple. Here are all the informations about the solar panel, charge controller and battery and after that I will give some more info about the problem.

Solar panel Pmax: 20.0 W Ipmax: 1.20 A Vpmax: 16.9 V Isc: 1.24 A Voc: 21.5 V

Battery Voltage: 12 V Capacity: 20 Ah Initial current: less than 5 A

Solar Charge Controller (CMG-2430) Voltage: 12V/24V automatic Current: 30

Now, when there is no sun (or the solar panel is disconnected) it show's the moon symbol and when I connect the solar panel it does change to the sun symbol but shows 0.00 A even in full sun, and when I check the current on the battery it does confirm that is not charging. Maybe you guys have an idea of what could possibly be wrong.

enter image description here

update:

I did find the problem....I finally opened the controller and guess what. ...it has a black spot and a burned moosfet near the solar input. ....thanks everyone anyway!

\$\endgroup\$
5
  • \$\begingroup\$ This question is too open ended to be answered here and is probably off topic \$\endgroup\$
    – Voltage Spike ♦
    Commented Jan 6, 2018 at 22:06
  • \$\begingroup\$ How could this be off topic? .....It doesn't work and I asked for help....sorry if it's off topic \$\endgroup\$
    – Alexandru Goman
    Commented Jan 6, 2018 at 22:08
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Well repair questions are off topic, and the other problem is this question is too broad as it stands. You haven't listed any troubleshooting information on what your setup is or any measurements. It could be several reasons why this isn't working, you could have a bad charge controller, you could have the polarity wrong, you could have a bad battery. It would be like throwing darts as to guess why this doesn't work. \$\endgroup\$
    – Voltage Spike ♦
    Commented Jan 6, 2018 at 22:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ Ahem... A 12 volt battery is normally charged with 13.8 to 14.4 volts, just to bring it up to the 12 volt level. It has to do with losses in the battery chemistry. Chargers for 12 volt lead-acid batteries use the higher voltage to charge, then stop when the battery is at 12 volts. \$\endgroup\$
    – user105652
    Commented Jan 7, 2018 at 2:41
  • \$\begingroup\$ Never connnect the solar panel directly to your battery as you will burn the cells of your battery at you should never go above14.5 volts to chage your battery and a 250 watt solar panel gives out 34 volts.Connect to a charge controller of min 20 amps and measure that 14.5 volts is being fed through your controller into your battery.Some controllers are set to 12 volts which will never charge your battery. \$\endgroup\$
    – Erden
    Commented Aug 26, 2018 at 18:52

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1
\$\begingroup\$

When the Sun is shining.. you can measure the input current, with a Multimeter.. On the side off the Solarcell... If there is a current off example 1 Amp. ... Then, the CMG-2430 PWM gets hot after a while.. if there is no current going to the Battery..

\$\endgroup\$
5
  • \$\begingroup\$ I just did what you you said and it's really weird.....first of all the input isn't even significant and second it fluctuate a lot.....I'd say somewhere between 20 mA and 91 mA. .....but then another thing came in my mind...Instead of the solar panel I hooked up a lab bench power supply set to 17.5V and max 2A. ....and had the exact same result.....what do you think? \$\endgroup\$
    – Alexandru Goman
    Commented Jan 6, 2018 at 23:10
  • \$\begingroup\$ Maybe you can make a picture of the cable-connections you made.. \$\endgroup\$
    – Danny
    Commented Jan 7, 2018 at 0:22
  • \$\begingroup\$ The unit itself uses also a min. of 30mA. I think.. \$\endgroup\$
    – Danny
    Commented Jan 7, 2018 at 0:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ For the connections I just connected the solar input the battery and measured the amps with my clamp meter. But I found the problem anyway. Thank you! \$\endgroup\$
    – Alexandru Goman
    Commented Jan 7, 2018 at 14:30
  • \$\begingroup\$ It's a bit oversized Solar charge Controller... (30A) I hope there is a lot of Sun.. The solarpanel is 1,2 A . A bit strange that the Mosfet is dead... \$\endgroup\$
    – Danny
    Commented Jan 7, 2018 at 16:21

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.