Schaudt Solar Regulators for EBL 99, etc - A Ripoff or £388 saving?

[aandncaravan]

The Schaudt LR1218 Solar Regulator comes with all the cables to be Plug and Go, it is so easy to fit in 15 minutes.

So why do Installers go to the trouble of charging £50 for a similar spec unit (remember the LR1218 charges both the Starter and Habitation Battery) and then charge you another 2 hours fitting at £40 an hour removing the Elektroblock to get to the wiring at the back, cutting the wires, soldering them in, etc. Often in the process of which they cause other issues, like the Water level display not working afterwards?.

 

Yesterday we had in a Motorhome with a Solar Panel fitted by a Big Solar Panel fitting team, that was a mess all because they had not used the correct Schaudt regulator. During the installation they caused damage to the Schaudt kit and then invoiced the Motorhome owner £384 for a new Schaudt IT994 Control display screen which 'broke on it's own' while they were doing the fitting.

The owners came to us because after spending nearly £900, it still wasn't working properly.

 

The Schaudt LR1218 has fitting instructions, fuses, 5 different cables, connectors, etc that really do make it plug and play. We can fit one in 15 minutes. While it is initially more expensive it is because of the inclusion of cables, missing from all other kits. The fast foolproof fitting time versus the longer fitting time of a cheaper regulator : finding the correct wires to cut into soldering them in etc means its a no brainer.

 

There is no risk of the Fridge trigger wire being cut into (yes it did happened : when the Sun came up the Fridge triggered to run off the Starter battery. Took a long time to find the "Starter battery runs down more quickly since we had it charged up by Solar" fault!!).

 

Minimal disturbance to the EBL wiring results in lower risk of getting a big bill from other damage.

 

Typical faults that come to us after Solar Install : Reverse polarity blowing up the box, broken connectors, blown fuses, damaged wires all of which can cost big money.

 

Brownhills sell the Schaudt LR1218 directly and also advertise on eBay at £79.

 

If you are thinking of going Solar on a Schaudt equipped Motorhome, make sure you know exactly what regulator the installer is going to fit.

 

It could save big money in the long term.

 

Just a reminder we don't fit Solar, just pick up the pieces.

 

 

[Tracker]

Well I for one appreciate your input Alan and whilst I don't always agree with what you say I respect that your views are born largely from the experiences of both yourself and your customers and that is always worth it's weight in gold compared to manufacturers blurb. A point amplified by recent revelations about battery manufacturers and their apparent ignorance regarding the actual use their products get in a Motorhome.

 

I am still undecided about whether to have a solar panel and/or a B2B charger for my twin 105ah Exrider xv272 'leisure' batteries that came with the van and seem to work OK - so far - and no, I've never heard of 'em either !

 

Wiring a B2B is simples enough but a solar panel is more tricky and as we had serial problems with our Sargent unit when a previous van had solar wired through it - so much so that I bought a separate regulator as a less expensive option to a replacement Sargent box of tricks. that otherwise worked OK.

 

Ho hum - decisions, decisions - not that anything will happen before we go next week until we return from the Pyenees in about 4 weeks time and the battery life experience over that trip will determine what, if any action, is needed.

[Brambles]

I am not sure but I think the gist of the discussion seems to be if you have a Schaudt system then fit a Schauldt regulator when fitting a panel. Fitting other makes/types can lead to expensive installation issues or faults and often works out cheaper in the long run using the Shauldt solar regulator kit as installation is faster, more fool proof, and less risk of damage to existing wiring.

Also there should be no compatability issues with conflicts of charging voltages and the Schaudt system. Also use a reputable installer with experience of Motorhomes.

 

right/wrong?

[Brian Kirby]

Brambles - 2015-08-23 1:14 PM

 

I am not sure but I think the gist of the discussion seems to be if you have a Schaudt system then fit a Schauldt regulator when fitting a panel. Fitting other makes/types can lead to expensive installation issues or faults and often works out cheaper in the long run using the Shauldt solar regulator kit as installation is faster, more fool proof, and less risk of damage to existing wiring.

Also there should be no compatability issues with conflicts of charging voltages and the Schaudt system. Also use a reputable installer with experience of Motorhomes.

 

right/wrong?

As I read Allan's post, spot on Jon!

 

There was nothing demonstrating antipathy to solar panels in Allan's post, just advice that the owners of vans equipped with Schaudt charger units should use the Schaudt solar controller because, although initially more costly than some, the fitted cost is attractive and its performance with the rest of the installation foolproof.

[Tracker]

Joe90 - 2015-08-23 3:05 PM

 

Just a reminder we don't fit Solar, just pick up the pieces.

 

 

But only of the ones that go wrong - there are thousands that never go wrong and maybe that bias towards one's own experience needs looking at in context.

 

I had a self fitted solar panel and regulator for over 7 years and it went from van to van when we changed and the only problem I ever had was when it was plugged into a Sargent control box - and that was eventually rectified by fitting the original separate regulator instead!

 

There is nothing wrong with having strong experience based views but it is up to the reader to take what he will from anyone else's opinion and disregard the rest and Alan's views would certainly not stop me having another solar panel if and when I felt I needed one.

[StuartO]

The output from generic regulators for solar panels are usually wired directly to the leisure batteries and purely for purposes of charging those batteries this arrangement works OK. There are clever regulators for more money which can extract more charging oomph from the sunlight than others, so it can be worth paying extra for those.

 

But if you already have a Schaudt Electroblok fitted to your MH, there are overriding considerations. The Electroblok is a very clever piece of equipment and they can look after both starter and leisure batteries and keep you informed about the charge status and rates to each - and the Schaudt solar regulator exploits this capacity by connecting via the Electroblok rather than being separately and directly wired to the leisure batteries. It also happens to be one of the cleverer types of solar regulator which can exploit the available sunlight and comes supplied with ready-made cabling and multipin plugs to facilitate easy connection to the Electroblok.

 

If you have an Electroblok fitting a Schaudt solar regulator to complement it is a no-brainer and any installer of solar panels who tries to tell you different is misleading you. They aren't much more expensive that other "clever" solar regulators anyway.

 

So if you already have an Electroblok it makes no sense to fit a non-Schuadt solar regulator because you would be denying yourself many of the integrated functional benefits.

 

[keninpalamos]

Tracker - 2015-08-22 7:55 PM

 

Well I for one appreciate your input Alan and whilst I don't always agree with what you say I respect that your views are born largely from the experiences of both yourself and your customers and that is always worth it's weight in gold compared to manufacturers blurb. A point amplified by recent revelations about battery manufacturers and their apparent ignorance regarding the actual use their products get in a Motorhome.

 

I am still undecided about whether to have a solar panel and/or a B2B charger for my twin 105ah Exrider xv272 'leisure' batteries that came with the van and seem to work OK - so far - and no, I've never heard of 'em either !

 

Wiring a B2B is simples enough but a solar panel is more tricky and as we had serial problems with our Sargent unit when a previous van had solar wired through it - so much so that I bought a separate regulator as a less expensive option to a replacement Sargent box of tricks. that otherwise worked OK.

 

Ho hum - decisions, decisions - not that anything will happen before we go next week until we return from the Pyenees in about 4 weeks time and the battery life experience over that trip will determine what, if any action, is needed.

I have a B2B charger and solar panels which are on a Steca regulator which I have had for 12 years. It was wired direct to the secondary battery bank directly but I have rewired it to the input side of the B2B as advised by CS and it works very well. I'm fortunate to have an older van where the electronics are a lot simpler than todays modern vans so I'm not recommending any of the above, only what works on my trusty 'ol Hymer

[Duncan MMM]

For repeated infringements of forum rules, Joe90 has been banned for three months.

[StuartO]

keninpalamos - 2015-08-24 8:52 AM

 

I have a B2B charger and solar panels which are on a Steca regulator which I have had for 12 years. It was wired direct to the secondary battery bank directly but I have rewired it to the input side of the B2B as advised by CS and it works very well. I'm fortunate to have an older van where the electronics are a lot simpler than todays modern vans so I'm not recommending any of the above, only what works on my trusty 'ol Hymer

 

So your solar panel output feeds through its own regulator and then through the B2B, is that correct?

 

Passing the solar output through the B2B after the solar regulator has already done its stuff can't do any harm but if your solar regulator is one of the simpler, voltage-limitation-only devices, will it do any good? Can the B2B still extract extra power from the energy source, as it does from the engine's alternator?

Either way I can see the value of having an electrical system which has separate identifiable, one-job functional units and doesn't depend on a central "black box" control unit which you cannot repair yourself.