chas Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Hi - I shall be fitting a new leisure battery soon, its lasted nearly 7 yrs and about then I fitted a solar panel on the roof, it came in kit form, its been a major success ever since. Part of the instructions were to fit the battery terminals to the controller FIRST, before connecting the solar panel terminals to the controller. Now having to remove the old leisure battery I feel I must isolate the solar panel terminal before fitting said battery. Would anyone agree with that method. There is a on/off button on the regulator which is alight when in use. I could switch that off but to be double sure was intending to disconnect the live terminal from the panel as well. The regulator is a PWM solar charge controller. As worked perfectly since fitting. Many Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 When changing the battery I removed wire from input side of controller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kabundi Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Or through a blanket over the solar panel. This will stop any output from the panel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbygg Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Yes, I always drop the positive input connector at the controller end from the panels before working on the battery side Learnt the hard way a few year's ago when I disconnected the battery first on a 30A controller, that then went "pffft" and its magic smoke escaped, funny how it didn't work at all after that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Just cover the panel, if you disconnect inputs you're also increasing the risk of then not putting them back correctly (poor contacts & overheating, reverse polarity etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted February 27, 2020 Share Posted February 27, 2020 Many, if not all solar regulators are dual 12 / 24 volt items and can, without modification be used on either voltage. The way to set which voltage they are to run at is simple; connect the battery first and the regulator will be set to work on 12 volt. If you connect the solar panel to the regulator before the battery, there is the distinct probability that the regulator will set itself to 24 volt working (the off-load voltage of a panel is circa 22 volts) and as a result, fry the battery. Simple rule: Connect battery first, panel second and disconnect solar panel first, battery second.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chas Posted February 28, 2020 Author Share Posted February 28, 2020 Thanks for all the replies, its what I thought, and was planning to do, but reassuring to know the correct method.After nearly 7 yrs of faultless leisure battery use you can sometimes forget the sequence of connecting. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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