Thread: Traxide system, and solar charging.

My folding panels have the regulator on the back and that works fine when I plug the panels into an Anderson plug on the vehicle.
My fixed panel on the roof rack has the regulator next to the battery and that also works fine.
From this I conclude that, in practice, it doesn't matter much where the regulator is mounted.

It is recommended to put the regulator as close to the battery as possible. In your case I would mount it next to the batteries if possible, if that is the only thing connected to that circuit. Solar panels can output up to around 21volts from memory with the regulator controlling that down to around 14.7 volts. So the further away the batteries from the regulator output, the higher the drop in voltage. In saying that I recently ended up purchasing the 180w Projecta folding panels which have the regulator on the back of the panels. The voltage drop over the 5mr lead is spec' at 0.25v max, with the regulator measuring this and compensating for such, so I wasn't really concerned.

We use regulated and unregulated leads rather than having them on our RedArc amorphous panels. Gives me total flexibility to either charge the car or add to the Q+ system. We either plug a regulated cable into the rear Anderson plug which is part of the Traxide system or use a battery clamp system to charge with the bonnet up. Either way never had a problem in 2.5 years

Rob

I use a good quality 15A MPPT regulator at either the rear Anderson plug on the D4 (Traxide kit) or at the camper draw bar Anderson plug.
The sketch shows the camper but it works the same at the rear of the D4. I have two panel sets but obviously it would work with just one.
I find this non-fixed option quite handy and it doesn't suffer much voltage loss thanks to the size of the cable running to the battery in both the D4 and camper.
Often the regulator that comes with the panel is not very good quality and the cables are small.
The little power meter is very handy for monitoring how much charge is coming in or I can move it to monitor what demand I am actually drawing.





Cheers,
Scott

I brought one of the little power meters but found it difficult to read it...I ended up getting the dongle thingy and use the app in the phone.

Originally Posted by weeds

I brought one of the little power meters but found it difficult to read it...I ended up getting the dongle thingy and use the app in the phone.

Where did you get your "dongle thingy" from Weeds? I'm interested in a power meter for my panels.

Brought it from springers low voltage but I assume eBay would do them...handy and super easy to use.

VE.Direct Bluetooth Smart dongle - Victron Energy

Hmmm. $140 for the high quality reg, or the same for another set of cheap cells to double my max from 160W to 320W. Even if I was to say it's only 200W of true capability, crap reg on panels seems better value, but I love the idea of Bluetooth