Need new controller, flush mount preferred

[Manuel B]

The company that made my original flush mount controller is out of business, when it died I bought a Go Power 25 amp model, (now discontinued) but my original had a switch for house/engine batteries that I liked, the Go Power did not have this feature so when I'd run the engine battery down I would have to hook up a regular battery charger to it, today I decided I was tired of that so I took the toggle switch out of the old one and drilled a hole and mounted it in the new(er) one, now the LED lights that showed the charge rate are not working, or the amp/volt LED's, and the digital readout is also blank, but the charge light is on, (?)
I've searched for another flush mount controller and can't find one that handles two different sets of batteries, I have 2-12 volt engine batteries in parallel and 2-6 volt in series for house batteries, a 120 watt, 6.32 amp solar panel.

Does anyone know of a company that makes a charge controller for my setup ?

It's only been a couple of hours ago since this happened so I don't know yet if I'm cooking my batt's or not charging at all, will know more in the morning when I check voltages with my meter. Thanks.

[BendOR]

Not exactly what you are looking for...

"Morningstar SunSaver Duo ™ is an advanced PWM two battery controller for RVs, caravans, boats and cottages. Designed for 25 amps at 12 volts DC, at the same time calculate this product of two separate batteries and isolated as a “house” and an engine battery, based on user selectable priorities. This controller also includes a backlit remote meter which may be mounted in or on a wall, and displays digital image and status information about the solar power system." The controller should be placed near your house battery(s)

http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/sunsaver-duo/

Along with remote meter in place of the covered flush mount hole, you could add a Trimetric:

http://www.bestconverter.com/TriMetric-Battery-Monitor_c_66.html

Also, have you ever updated your converter? If not, its time to get a 3-4 stage.

[Ed-Sommers]

How about one of these Perko Boat Marine Dual Battery Disconnect Switch 3 Position New | eBay

Ed

[John Hilley]

Originally Posted by Manuel B

The company that made my original flush mount controller is out of business, when it died I bought a Go Power 25 amp model, (now discontinued) but my original had a switch for house/engine batteries that I liked, the Go Power did not have this feature so when I'd run the engine battery down I would have to hook up a regular battery charger to it, today I decided I was tired of that so I took the toggle switch out of the old one and drilled a hole and mounted it in the new(er) one, now the LED lights that showed the charge rate are not working, or the amp/volt LED's, and the digital readout is also blank, but the charge light is on, (?)
I've searched for another flush mount controller and can't find one that handles two different sets of batteries, I have 2-12 volt engine batteries in parallel and 2-6 volt in series for house batteries, a 120 watt, 6.32 amp solar panel.

Does anyone know of a company that makes a charge controller for my setup ?

It's only been a couple of hours ago since this happened so I don't know yet if I'm cooking my batt's or not charging at all, will know more in the morning when I check voltages with my meter. Thanks.

How did you wire the switch from the old controller to the new controller?

[jackfish]

Other options include an appropriate solar charge controller and a Trik-L-Start which will divert up to 5 amps to charge the chassis battery, or the Blue Sky Energy Solar Boost 1524iX, Solar Boost 2512i-HV, Solar Boost 3000i, or Solar Boost 3024iL, which all have a 2 amp auxiliary battery charger that can be connected to the chassis battery.

[jackfish]

I'd make this an opportunity to move the solar charge controller next to the house batteries and put a battery monitor where you previously had the controller.

[Manuel B]

Originally Posted by John Hilley

How did you wire the switch from the old controller to the new controller?

The toggle switch has the + wires from the house and engine batteries on it, I just drilled the hole, spliced the wires and connected the output on the switch to the + on the controller panel.
I don't know what happened but when I got home last night the controller was working, all LED's are working, display is showing volts and amps, this morning I switched it to engine batt. and it showed 12.5 V, by the time I finished my coffee and got dressed it was showing 13.1 V at 0.3 amps, no sunshine today here.

BendOr,
"Also, have you ever updated your converter? If not, its time to get a 3-4 stage." Thanks BendOr, my converter/charger is an Atwood SRV32, is this one that should be updated ?
My controller is this one, Manual: GPR-25 is it ok or should I update it also ? The original was a Heliotrope, http://www.heliotrope-pv.com/index.html

[BendOR]

Manuel B-

“Thanks BendOr, my converter/charger is an Atwood SRV32, is this one that should be updated ?”

Your converter is single voltage with a set quantity of amps.
http://www.sahararv.com/pdfs/072-086_Electrical.pdf

These types of converters were known to boil out batts if plugged in full-time. Also, their relatively high float voltage and low amp trickle charge did not re-charge low state-of-charge (SOC) house batts very quickly. They were superseded by 3-4 stage converters around 2000 that managed deep-cycle batts a lot better.

Check out Best Converters and maybe call Randy for a good replacement:

http://www.bestconverter.com/

“My controller is this one, Manual: GPR-25 is it ok or should I update it also ?”

Well, does it seem to be doing what you want it to do. For best use in charging the house batt, a controller needs to be near the batts to conserve controller output voltage. Temp compensation and a higher bulk charge voltage would be a good idea also. My above recommendation still stands but it is not the only option.

“The original was a Heliotrope, http://www.heliotrope-pv.com/index.html”

I know Heliotrope well. I’m still using one of their RV-30S’ and love it. They are no longer made and working units are scarce. When mine dies, it will be replaced with a Morningstar PWM.

Here is some reading (long but good):

The RV Battery Charging Puzzle « HandyBob's Blog

RV Electrical

[Manuel B]

Thanks BendOr, this morning I made a video clip of my controller acting crazy so I think I need to check out your suggestions.Solar Charge Controller Acting Weird Video by mbarje | Photobucket