# Replacing 3 Leisure Batts - implications for solar panel/reg



## Yaxley (Jul 25, 2008)

I will shortly be replacing my 3 leisure batteries Fuller Power Station Type 6110 110Ah (2x7 year old 1x6 year old). I have looked back at the 'Electrics' section and taken on board the various views on leisure battery type, manufacturer etc.
Are there any implications for the solar panel/regulator during the disconnection/reconnection? Anything else I should take account of?
Would appreciate views from anyone who knows about these things.
Ian


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Hi Yaxley
You should make sure the fuses are removed from the solar panel controller and to be double sure cover the panel with a coat or some black bin liners until its all connected up. Panels dont like supplying power to nothing so make sure the power has sonewhere to go.

You will have seen the various conversations of how to wire things up so thats a chioce that you have to make for yourself as to be honest i dont think theres a right and wrong way - only different methods. I have 2 x 110ahs and the panel goes to the bettery nearest the panel but thats just due to conveinience.
I hope that helps
Phill


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## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

Fully agree with drcotts.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

When fitting a solar system you ALWAYS connect the battery to the regulator first, (so the regulator can read the battery) then the solar panel last.

The reverse of the above is the correct way to remove the batteries, no need to cover the panel so long as the fuses are removed.

So disconnect the panel, then the batteries.

My panel is on the roof and not covered, and not attached to anything, so long as the cables don't touch anything it'll be fine.

If the above is wrong then please tell me how, as I have been told to do it this way by a panel fitter.


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## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

Hi Kev,

I have the fuse on the + line between the regulator and batteries. With the fuse removed, the reg. cannot sense the voltage. Also the reg will be sensing the input from the panel(s). That is why I cover the panel. Easy for me because mine are freestanding.

It's all black magic to most people.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

The panels will not suddenly gasp and die if they are outdoors and not connected to anything, just don't short the leads out when the panel is in strong sunlight.

Sequential connection for the controller is recommended, but you won't kill anything if you don't get the sequence right.

Polarity MUST be right!

When we were trying different controllers in the trailer, we had connections off an on repeatedly and nothing expired or failed to operate correctly, but we were careful not to short anything out and polarities were faithfully observed.

Peter


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Back in the 70s when you had to fit your own car radios I got into the habit of havin the +ve lead shorter then the -ve so they couldn't short out to each other easily, I also made a habit of using bullet connectors and always made the females +ve so it was concealed if it happened to touch the chassis, I continue to do all 12v this way and never had a short, simple but effective, I never use continuous connectors unless I'm never going to see it again IE out of sight, lately I've got into the habit of using shrink sleeving to as that helps to keep the connectors connected and also dryer, a little grease if it's going outside helps too.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Fused feeds are good..... 

We've used that little fuseboard in the trailer for everything, including the two incoming charge feeds etc.

Some of the larger 110V battery systems we get involved with are quite hairy. Short-circuit currents into the thousands of amps, and at 110V DC, they arc as well 8O










Peter


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

listerdiesel said:


> Fused feeds are good.....
> 
> We've used that little fuseboard in the trailer for everything, including the two incoming charge feeds etc.
> 
> ...


Do you actually get involved on the shop floor on a daily basis Peter or are your talents more on the design side, it's be interesting to see your place of work and how you put stuff together, if you were closer I'd have been by now.

I think I've asked this before, but memory fails me, why not build charging systems your self for the MH community along with batteries, I suppose too involved and not enough in it to gear up for the amount of us there is.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> Do you actually get involved on the shop floor on a daily basis Peter or are your talents more on the design side, it's be interesting to see your place of work and how you put stuff together, if you were closer I'd have been by now.
> 
> I think I've asked this before, but memory fails me, why not build charging systems your self for the MH community along with batteries, I suppose too involved and not enough in it to gear up for the amount of us there is.


I do the design work, sales, make the tea and also do assembly in the workshop. In a small company you have to be able to do everything, there's no place for 'armchair directors'!

Our two boys and myself do the workshop and site work, Rita (SWMBO) looks after the office side.

We have looked at building consumer products, but it's a case of chasing your backside all the time. We build to achieve a 20+ year life with 24/7 operating times, so everything is twice the size of things that are only really sized to work intermittently in consumer use.

Most motorhome owners are more concerned about price and size/weight than whether it's going to outlast the van!

Utility companies are more concerned with total life costs, lack of maintenance and reliability. With our kit supporting a lot of major cities and airports in the UK, we cannot afford to build at less quality than we do now, that's what our reputation is built on.

Here are a few chargers for the railway that are going out this week:




























Peter


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

It's good to see that you're busy and that someone still does things properly.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

We try 

It's a very small market, high-power thyristor chargers are ideal for rail operations and much more rugged, the three-phase ones are more complex, the one in the pictures is a 29V 100A unit, we got up to 29V 200A in a mobile, 110V 100A in fixed or much bigger in specials.

These are 29V 100A/200A dual outdoor chargers for Scotrail:










Peter


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

I forgot to ask the obvious questions, what do they use them for anyway, and do they have a need for repairs and replacements due to improper use and theft.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Kev_n_Liz said:


> I forgot to ask the obvious questions, what do they use them for anyway, and do they have a need for repairs and replacements due to improper use and theft.


All locomotives, DMU's and general carriage rolling stock have a battery set each.

The batteries are 24V, 72V* or 110V* and all need chargers at some time or other.

We don't get a lot of repair work on ours, but there is always misuse and we also do refurbishment work on other people's chargers, of which there are some hundreds within the rail community.

The main need on DMU sets is for cleaning in the evenings, as they are not allowed to run the engines now to power the lights and electronics, so they use the chargers as shore supplies.

Bombardier use them at their main depot at central Rivers near Buxton, they are 12kW, 110V 100A output. If they run the engines for too long, there are issues with bore glazing and the environmentalists get stroppy because of the fumes from the exhausts.

Peter

* Charging voltage. I think the Class66/67 batteries are 60V nominal and the Class 47 and Mk3 rolling stock are 96V nominal. We always refer to them by their output voltage.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

It's a whole different world out there, and I'm always amazed to see things which normally you don't get access to, I used to be a courier and I got into some top secret type places where the public don't have access.


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## Yaxley (Jul 25, 2008)

Thank you drcotts, 747, Kev_n_liz and listerdiesel for the advice.
We certainly covered a lot of ground in this post.....from leisure batteries to railway chargers!!
Appreciate the help with things to do and things to avoid.
Ian


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Yaxley said:


> Thank you drcotts, 747, Kev_n_liz and listerdiesel for the advice.
> We certainly covered a lot of ground in this post.....from leisure batteries to railway chargers!!
> Appreciate the help with things to do and things to avoid.
> Ian


Apologies for leading Peter astray and taking it a little off topic  :lol: :roll: :wink:


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