SOLAR MELTDOWN......almost a FIRE!!!

[mbohuntr]

Here is a video on voltmeter usage in series resistor circuits. The lights can be thought of as a simple resistor, because they are just that. Two equal value resistors in series divide voltage, in parallel, they divide current. Hope this helps you...

Series circuits, ammeters, voltmeters - YouTube

 

[mbohuntr]

How to Wire An Ammeter and Shunt - YouTube

Here is a shunt resistor wired up. The shunt is wired "in line", the meter "in parallel"

 

[Boeing]

The best thing you can do is draw up an accurate wiring schematic of your system the way it was before the meter melted. Then post that picture here so everyone is clear on what you had.

Then draw up another wiring schematic of the way it is now that the volt meter is not in the system.

MossRoad, Bowhunter and everyone, tHANK YOU so much for taking the time....
I'm NOT a mechanical engineer or a cartographer so please excuse the attempt to draw circuits....
After looking at the youtube links it APPEARS that the V meter was wired correctly.....while the AMP meter was not. The V meter DID operate correctly for over 5 years....the AMP meter never did operate. Now I see why...
Here are the drawings....try not to laugh....

 

[Boeing]

While I have all this outside "help" please clarify another thing for me....The purpose of the AMP METER was to see how much current that I am drawing when the water pump is turned on or when I use an "inverter" to run a 110V drill....
The water pump is usually run at night for a shower when NO SOLAR VOLTAGE is coming in. Shouldn't the Amp meter be wired in AFTER the batteries rather than between the panels and the batteries?

 

[Mendonsy]

While I have all this outside "help" please clarify another thing for me....The purpose of the AMP METER was to see how much current that I am drawing when the water pump is turned on or when I use an "inverter" to run a 110V drill....
The water pump is usually run at night for a shower when NO SOLAR VOLTAGE is coming in. Shouldn't the Amp meter be wired in AFTER the batteries rather than between the panels and the batteries?

The amp meter is normally used to display the amount of current that the solar panels are supplying to the batteries. It could be used as you suggested, but you would have to be sure that the amp meter is rated for the maximum current that the batteries could supply. In the case of a short that could be several hundred amps depending on your battery configuration.

 

[Boeing]

OH, thanks Mendonsy. I have 4 Marine Batteries...all 700 "cold starting amps" wired in series. Guess that's alot of amps. I occasionally run a circular saw, a belt sander etc thru the 1200W inverter. I don't know what the 12V water pump draws. It's also a marine unit.
BTW, if the solar panels are passing 14 volts or so....that's all they can do with the existing sun....why I care about the AMPERAGE that they put out? Shouldn't I be more concerned about the amperage that I am USING? (draining the batteries?)

 

[mbohuntr]

While I have all this outside "help" please clarify another thing for me....The purpose of the AMP METER was to see how much current that I am drawing when the water pump is turned on or when I use an "inverter" to run a 110V drill....
The water pump is usually run at night for a shower when NO SOLAR VOLTAGE is coming in. Shouldn't the Amp meter be wired in AFTER the batteries rather than between the panels and the batteries?

You are correct in one respect. A solar system can be thought of as a panel filling (pouring) current into your battery to "fill it up" , You must have an idea of how much you use per 24 hrs (Amp hrs/day) and calculate how fast to "pour" the current into the batteries in the limited amount of sun you can use per day. If yours was installed, someone probably did this for you.

An amp meter on the downstream side of the batteries only tells you how much current you are using at the moment you are looking at the meter. It will vary greatly when a pump turns on, and you can't tell how much it was once it turns off. You can, however estimate the amount by figuring amps/time , in other words... 5 amps@15 minutes, 4 times a day = 5 amp/hours. (you used 5 amps in one hour.)

Your battery is rated at (X) amp hours, and you can only use a certain percent of it without damage to the batteries, I think it is 50%, but there are websites dedicated to solar that do the math better than I. There are also meters that tell total amp hours used, but I'm not sure what they're called.

Your incoming panel current is nice to know to see your panel health, and output. Remember, DC current has a polarity, and you can damage an analog(needle) meter by connecting it backwards. Digital meters will give a minus sign for reverse polarity.

 

[mbohuntr]

OH, thanks Mendonsy. I have 4 Marine Batteries...all 700 "cold starting amps" wired in series. Guess that's alot of amps. I occasionally run a circular saw, a belt sander etc thru the 1200W inverter. I don't know what the 12V water pump draws. It's also a marine unit.

If you have them wired in "series", the voltage adds, and the current stays the same.48 volts with 700 A/hrs
If they are wired in parallel, they keep the voltage at 12 volts, and add the usable current to 2800amp/hrs.

A cautionary note... Even though the voltage is low enough to reduce the shock hazard, 12 volts isn't much after all... if you have jewelry, rings etc. on, or use uninsulated tools, the arc can and will be big enough, and hot enough to remove fingers, or even kill you if it explodes.

My best friend almost lost his finger changing the 12V battery on his camper. The uninsulated wrench he used, was touching his wedding band, which touched the negative terminal. He spent the rest of the day in the ER trying to cut off the ring, and repair what used to be his finger...

 

[MossRoad]

No one's going to laugh at your drawing. That's a good start and helps you and anyone else troubleshoot the system. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Boeing]

If you have them wired in "series", the voltage adds, and the current stays the same.48 volts with 700 A/hrs
If they are wired in parallel, they keep the voltage at 12 volts, and add the usable current to 2800amp/hrs.

Guess I misused my terms....all FOUR batteries are wired Solar controller in-POS-POS-POS-POS...line out. The LED lights and water pump are all 12 V. So, that makes it PARALLEL?
Anyway..."you know that you read what you THINK I mean but what I meant isn't what you read" (or words to that effect):laughing:
Anyway, I would like to replace the V and Amp meter with good ones and properly wire the AMP meter. One more question about APMS "IN" IF a bright day and the batteries are low the controller allows up to 18V then pulses every 45 seconds or so. I guess that is fairly high Amperage.... When the batteries are well charged and/or scattered clouds it only has about 13Volts. Again, I've never had a problem before. Weird. Thanks for all the input.