Heliotrope RV-30 Manual?

[Joe Lee]

Hi all!

I have had my 1996 Monaco Sig for about a year. I think my RV-30 solar controller isn’t working correctly. I’m currently in TX with full sun all day long. The RV-30 only shows about 5.8 amps max and my House batteries were at 12.3 volts. I really needed a charge and the solar isn’t doing much. Is that all I could except from this system?  And, does anyone have a manual for this controller?  
 

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance!

Joe

[jacwjames]

How many watt of solar panel(s) do you have. 

I have 325 watt of panels and only see 15-16 amp.  I checked the 3 panels by covering up two of them at a time and recording the amps. 

[vito.a]

If you still have the original 80 watt solar panel you are doing great with 5.8 amps. Many folks confuse watts with amps.  

[Joe Lee]

Hi Jim!

I have 2 panels. My guess is that they are 100 watts each. So, a total of 200 watts. And, they could be original panels that could have been installed in 1996. I have no idea how long a solar panel can last. 
 

Joe

Hi Vito - I’m reading the RV-30 display  that only shows Amps.  So, you think 5.8 is about all I could get from this old panels?

Seems it is time for a new system!  

[jacwjames]

Sounds like one of your panels isn't working. 

When I first bought my rig I thought I had a problem and tested the panels and found 2 dead, both of them were Kyocera which was known to have a problem.  So I contacted Kyocera and they had me send the SN of the two and they were both under recall.  They sent me two brand new panels not charge and I returned the old ones.  So they do go bad.

If you plan on doing a lot of boon docking I'd advise to upgrade the whole system.  Just depends on what you want. 

[Frank McElroy]

5 hours ago, Joe Lee said:

Hi all!

I have had my 1996 Monaco Sig for about a year. I think my RV-30 solar controller isn’t working correctly. I’m currently in TX with full sun all day long. The RV-30 only shows about 5.8 amps max and my House batteries were at 12.3 volts. I really needed a charge and the solar isn’t doing much. Is that all I could except from this system?  And, does anyone have a manual for this controller?  
 

Thanks in advance for any help or guidance!

Joe

A copy of a RV-30D manual is in our file Downloads electrical section under solar.  If this was your original solar system, with one panel, it was really designed to maintain battery voltage in storage and not a whole lot more.  Also, with age solar panels do lose power output.

Here is a link.

 

[jimc99999]

13 hours ago, Joe Lee said:

Hi Jim!

I have 2 panels. My guess is that they are 100 watts each. So, a total of 200 watts. And, they could be original panels that could have been installed in 1996. I have no idea how long a solar panel can last. 

Hi Vito - I’m reading the RV-30 display  that only shows Amps.  So, you think 5.8 is about all I could get from this old panels?

I have the Heliotrope RV-30 in my 1997 Windsor with 1 original panel and the most I ever see is 2.5A or so. It's enough to keep the batteries topped off in storage if I shut off the inverter and sales switch. If you want actual charging for daily use you really need a new system. The Heliotrope is a PWM controller, which is pretty inefficient (roughly 30% loss), but can handle panels of different outputs so you could just add another couple panels and get some benefit. An MPPT controller is more expensive, more efficient, but requires all panels to be the same output so you can't just add a couple panels.