Thread: My propensity for buying faulty goods continues.

Tents are so cheap these days i wouldn't bother.

True. Tents are cheap, but don't just bin it. Cut it up to make bin liners, and coil up all the rope , because everybody loves string.

Originally Posted by cuppabillytea

True. Tents are cheap, but don't just bin it. Cut it up to make bin liners, and coil up all the rope , because everybody loves string.

Or only use it in summer.

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Or only use it in summer.

When it rains more?

We bought a 160w folding solar panel. I took it when I went camping last weekend. It didn't put out enough power to charge the deep cycle fridge battery.

I put a multimeter in series and saw it was delivering only about 1.5 amps (varying).

When I got home I connected it via my Mooshimeter Remote Multimeter and noted that with a semi-discharged battery at 12.1 volts, the max charge was about 2.5 amps. I was hoping for up to 8 amps.

Here's a small sample of the recorded data:

160w panel.JPG

Probably the crap pwm regulator on it, get a better one and it should be good.

or a loose connection and only 1 panel is charging.

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Probably the crap pwm regulator on it, get a better one and it should be good.

The regulator runs extremely hot. I have been thinking of updating the reg. It's not the same as my 120 w panel reg which applies full power almost immediately. This new one ramps up slowly. When I log the data with a faster sample rate, I can see the current going up and down.

Originally Posted by Eevo

or a loose connection and only 1 panel is charging.

I thought of that but it's a bit hard to check - the wiring is potted with epoxy or similar making it hard to access.

I don't want to do anything too drastic at the moment, I have an query in with the supplier. With a bit of luck, they'll just send another unit and not ask for this one back (that happened with three Pebble watches which I subsequently repaired).

To make the weekend worse, I couldn't charge from the car alternator as the dual battery controller kept switching off - and it rained every afternoon reducing the charging period - then the cloud didn't clear until close to midday each day.