Specialty Concepts ASC-Plus - Manual (Page 23)

ASC-Plus
- F I E L D T E S T P R O C E D U R E
The following is a field test procedure for the standard ASC-Plus charge controller. For
BENCH TESTING, substitute a properly current-limiting power supply for the array.
TEST 1: Alternate A ( Active solar array required )
This will test the basic operation of the ASC-Plus by testing the FET’s (not shorted or open).
Requirements: digital multi-meter (dmm)
active solar array, Voc at least 17 volts
1) Connect the array plus and minus wires to the appropriate terminals on the ASC-Plus
(no battery connection).
2) Measure voltage at BATT(+) and BATT(-) terminals on the ASC-Plus. The reading
should be between 14.0 and 15.0 volts. If this reading is very high, 16-20 volts,
or very low, 2-5 volts, the unit is defective.
TEST 1: Alternate B ( If no active solar array is available )
Tests for the most common failure condition: shorted FET’s. This problem would cause a “no
charging” condition.
Requirements: digital multi-meter (dmm)
1) Remove all connections from the ASC-Plus
2) Set multi-meter to the 200
Ω
resistance scale
3) Take measurements from ASC-Plus terminals. Contact positive lead of the meter to
ARRAY (+) and negative lead of meter to ARRAY (-). Reading should be open
(>200
Ω
). A short (<10
Ω
) indicates unit is defective.
TEST 2
This procedure tests the condition of the blocking diode.
Requirements: digital multi-meter (dmm)
1) Remove all connections from the ASC-Plus
2) Set multi-meter to the 2K
Ω
resistance scale
3) Take measurements from ASC-Plus terminals. Contact positive lead of the meter to
ARRAY (+) and negative lead of the meter to BATT (+). Reading should be less
than 2K
Ω
. Above 2K
Ω
would indicate a defective unit.
4) Reverse contacts (positive lead to BATT (+) and negative lead to ARRAY (+)).
Reading should be greater than 2K
Ω
. Below 2K
Ω
would indicate a defective unit.