Jaboni Solar Controller setup

[JJ353G]

So I bought the factory solar upgrade package for our 2021 353G and the first few months we were always hooked up so didn't really pay much attention, over the last couple of months we have been exclusively boondocking and we realized that we are getting absolutely nothing from our solar panel setup. The charge control on a beautiful day with direct sun exposure reads either 0W or 1W. battery is at half to test. I have been trying everything i can to find the issue, everything seems to be properly hooked up. battery is set properly. any suggestions? or do I have what I have been hearing about on other forums as a bad unit. a lot of people have3 been commenting on that for the Jaboni's. Any help would be appreciated. thanks.

[howson]

So I bought the factory solar upgrade package for our 2021 353G and the first few months we were always hooked up so didn't really pay much attention, over the last couple of months we have been exclusively boondocking and we realized that we are getting absolutely nothing from our solar panel setup. The charge control on a beautiful day with direct sun exposure reads either 0W or 1W. battery is at half to test. I have been trying everything i can to find the issue, everything seems to be properly hooked up. battery is set properly. any suggestions? or do I have what I have been hearing about on other forums as a bad unit. a lot of people have3 been commenting on that for the Jaboni's. Any help would be appreciated. thanks.

To start, list the current control settings on the Jaboni. (See attached owner's manual.)

What panel (or panels) are connected to the controller? Need the specific model of panel to identify the specifications. How are the panels (if more than one) electrically connected to the controller? Series? Parallel?

What type of battery (or batteries) is/are connected to the controller?

With a bit more information we can probably track down the issue.

Howard

[webposer]

I am having this same problem. Did you ever figure it out? I wake up every morning to a dead unit. I spent 2k in lithium batteries last year to go with the solar. It used to work great! Now the fridge kills my charge overnight on the lowest setting. I'm beyond frustrated!!

[ncitro]

I am having this same problem. Did you ever figure it out? I wake up every morning to a dead unit. I spent 2k in lithium batteries last year to go with the solar. It used to work great! Now the fridge kills my charge overnight on the lowest setting. I'm beyond frustrated!!

Unfortunately the post you are responding to is from 2021, and the original poster has not been on since then. What fridge do you have? How many amp hours of batteries do you have? The prices are all over the place lately so the amount you spend does not tell us much about the capacity of your system. Do you have a shunt battery monitor? That should tell you if the solar controller is putting out power and charging the batteries or not.

[webposer]

Thank you for your reply. I just noticed the date (came from Google). I have the Furion electric fridge. I'm running two Sun Cycle lithium batteries (100AH each) in parallel.

I've attached the Jaboni MPPT readout. It doesn't seem right. The input power specifically at 001 or 002W consistently.

Edit: 2021 Momentum 25G.

[Country Campers]

Your Furrion "electric" fridge is a 12 v dc fridge. I see in your picture that you have an inverter switch. If you have an inverter and are using it to power items in the RV, microwave, ac, TV, those items will be drawing quite a bit of power from your 200 ah of battery storage. Another item may be if the converter/charger is also on and working when you have the inverter powered on, the converter/charger needs to be off when using the inverter. The inverter should only power a few circuits and the converter/charger should not be on any of those circuits but it would be good to check.

You may also have an issue with the MPPT, a complete power down and back up may help but not sure, remove battery cables and shore power.

Brian

[ncitro]

webposer Brian is right, check you are not running your inverter. If you are doing any kind of dry camping I recommend everyone get some kind of battery shunt monitor. I am a fan of the Victron, but there are a bunch of options. This device will let you see exactly how much capacity your batteries have left at any time, as well as let you see the current going out of them or into them. That said I think there might be something wrong with your solar controller, I am not familiar with that model but check for fuses on the output maybe? Otherwise if you have a meter and know how to use it I would check the voltage coming into the controller and see if its a problem with the panels or controller.

[webposer]

the inverter switch is off, and is not needed to run the fridge. I've reset the controller already, and it didn't help. I've checked fuses. I don't have a meter on me, but will check the runs when I get home.

[Jlawles2]

You state that the shunt is not reading power draw and charge correctly. I suggest you check the shunt installation. ALL ground wires from the batteries MUST run through the shunt for it to read properly.

[howson]

Jlawles2 -- unless I'm missing something, webposer never stated there was an issue with a shunt (battery monitor) reading. (I just looked again...don't see it.) A Momentum doesn't have a battery monitor anyway, unless there was an aftermarket one installed?

I suggest the previous recommendation to check the incoming voltage from the solar panels (at the controller) is the way to troubleshoot this issue, assuming the problem is solar related.

On a bright sunny day, the input voltage at the controller will be significantly higher than the battery voltage. (Every installation will be a bit different, but if you find at least 28V then the solar panels are operating correctly and the voltage is making it to the controller.)

If there's little to no voltage at the controller input--there's a wiring issue or a failed solar panel. The wiring issue could be at the gland on the roof (where the panels connect to the wiring going to the controller), or the actual panel could have failed. This can be found by measuring the output of the solar panel(s) by disconnecting (and measuring voltage) at the wires coming from the panels.

If there is good voltage at the input to the controller AND the batteries are not 100% charged, then there should be power flowing from the controller to the battery bank. If the wiring (and any protective devices) from the controller to the battery bank all check out, the controller is the most likely culprit.

Howard

[Jlawles2]

howson Howard, I was looking at the solar monitor thinking it might be measuring the amp input and draws of the battery.