Newie from Nova Scotia, Canada.**
Hoping someone can help. I am having an issue with house power. I installed a renogy 50a DC to DC mppt a few weeks ago. Everything worked perfectly at that point. I was in my yard today doing a few things to the van and had the solar and inverter turned on as I have done a couple of times recently. Went inside to grab some lunch and the inverter started with a warning noise. Thought everything was good. Disconnected the inverter and battery, hooked it all back up and same thing. Only thing I was running was a mini fridge. Happen to have another inverter so I tried that. Same thing. App for the battery showed 99% charged. Everything I could find about the warning was for low voltage. Any help would be great!!! I am in Wolfville if there is someone local that might be able to help. Thanks in advance!! I have a 700w renogy inverter and the second inverter I tried was a Cobra 2500w. My renogy inverter came with 6AWG wires and I was told that I could go to a lighter (8AWG wires). Just don’t want to start a fire or something!!! I have tried to have my battery tested, which is a 12v 100ah lifepo4. No one in Nova Scotia can do diagnostics on one of these batteries to tell me if a cell is dead!!! I do have another battery on the way,
Greetings & Welcome!
Solar can be a royal pain where a pill won’t reach. I used to do mobile solar trouble shooting, and was so flooded with business I couldn’t keep up.
Each component needs to be checked. Start by disconnecting the solar panels, then the battery(s). I use a clamp on amp/volt meter, so I can check both sides of connections, without disconnecting them whenever possible.
Check each solar panel individually both voltage & amps/watts, then each connection between them. Once connected together, check the combined output, again both voltage & amps/watts.
If all is acceptable, check again at the controller input, with the controller disconnected. If all is well, it’s time to reconnect the battery(s), BEFORE you connect the solar to the controller. The controller should come on because it is powered by the battery(s), not the solar.
Now you need to consult the manual for the controller to configure it correctly for your battery(s) specs.
Now use a clamp on amp/volt meter on the cables leading to the battery(s). If all is well, you may have a battery(s) problem. If you have more than 1 battery, check the connections between them.
Inverters are a whole different set of problems, they can draw power even when not in use if they’re left turned on. You never turn off the solar if the inverter is still on, because the battery(s) will need that charging.
Cheers!
& creative solutions for the win." ~ Old_Soul