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[Music]  hi Jeff Cote here with Pacific yacht  systems a common question that we get  asked from other boaters is Jeff I've  got a solar panel but I'm not sure if  it's working how do I confirm that it's  doing what it should be doing so here  I'm gonna give you on this little video  some tips and tricks on how do you go  about troubleshooting your solar panel  so the first thing is let's remember how  does a solar panel interconnect to your  batteries you're gonna have a solar  panel either dedicated controller and  then a battery connected via fuse that's  sort of the process right you've got  solar panel connected to controller  either PWM or MPPT and then that  controller which converts the voltage  from the panel either up or down  depending on the size of the panel to a  fuse connected directly to the battery  that's how it should be worked so the  first thing is you want to make sure  that you do this in good sunny  conditions so try to go for you know  High Noon one-inch two-ish so we've got  the best conditions not cloudy blue sky  right so we have ideal situation so the  first thing you're going to want to do  is you're gonna put a blanket on top of  your solar panel you're gonna cover it  and then once it's covered you're  actually going to disconnect the nc4  connectors these connectors because you  want to measure the voltage output of  this panel when it's actually not  connected to your controller and you're  literally gonna put multimeter leads  right in here in here and you're gonna  measure what is called the open voltage  of this panel under direct sunlight like  we are saying around midday in good  sunlight that's one thing you're then  gonna basically recover the panel again  and then you're gonna basically connect  the leads back and now with the panel  again uncovered of course you're gonna  measure what is the voltage on the input  side of your MPPT or pwm controller  you're going to want to measure what  that voltage is then you're gonna  measure the voltage on the battery side  of your MPPT make sure that the battery  side sees the battery right you should  have some sort of voltage that is  representative of what the battery  voltage is and if you're unsure what you  can do is actually  put a blanket on here so basically your  solar arrays not working and you should  when the solar arrays not working you  should be able to see the exact  give-or-take voltage at the battery and  then at the battery connection on your  controller those two have to align and  if they don't it's probably means that  there's maybe a break in the line and  the break is likely the fuse between the  battery and your controller and then be  absolutely do have couple tests do a  test with a blanket on where nothing is  connected so you basically make sure  you've got good connectivity and then  take the blanket away and see what  happens to the voltage there's gonna be  an input voltage to the controller and  the input voltage is from the solar  panel and there's gonna be an output  voltage that's what the controller gives  the battery now don't be alarmed some  panels actually are outputting less than  12 volts there are some panels that are  giving nominal 8 volts 10 volts 12 volts  and the controller is built to boost the  voltage to the right battery voltage  some other panels are more 20 volts some  we put in a raise or you know 40 50 60  volts if they're wired in series that's  okay  you've got the voltage coming into the  controller and then the voltage is  converted and then it gives to the  battery what it needs so those are sort  of tips and tricks of things you've got  to look like or look for write all these  notes down right  make sure maybe you have put in an email  or something like that and then that way  when you present that to your technician  or another fellow boarder who's  knowledgeable they'll be able to start  making sense if your solar panel is  doing what it should thanks for watching