Specialty Concepts SC3/10) - Manual (Page 12)

SC3/10 Case 6 - The "CHARGING" light can be on very dimly at night if the panels are
under even very low levels of light (moonlight or street lights). The "CHARGING" light
is on brightly at night would indicate one of the following:
•
The controller is miswired. See CONTROLLER MISWIRED (Help Note #10)
••
There is a blocking diode located within the solar panels or in the panel connection.
This is not a serious problem, but should be removed if possible.
••
The SC3/10 may be defective. See CONTROLLER DEFECTIVE (Help Note #12)
TEST: Disconnect the panel (ARRAY (+)), if the light goes off, then it may be possible
that the panel is receiving enough light for a slight charge, or a diode exists in the
connection.
SC3/10 Case 7 - The “CHARGING” light going on and off rapidly can indicate one of the
following:
•
This could be a normal condition that results from a high charge rate, a full battery and
a load on.
•
The battery could be bad (one that is unable to maintain a charge). See BATTERY
PROBLEM SECTION
•
This could indicate a bad battery connection. - See BAD CONNECTION: BATTERY
(Help Note #9).
TEST: Take a voltage reading at the battery with an accurate meter. If the voltage
reading stays steady while the “CHARGING” light on the SC3/10 continues to go
on and off, then suspect a bad battery connection. If the voltage here also moves
up and down rapidly, this may indicate the battery bank is bad or too small. This
may also indicate this normal condition: when the battery is fully charged, and the
array can provide a lot of charge current, the controller can pulse on and off
rapidly, particularly when there is current being used by a load. This is a normal
operating condition and is not a problem.
SC3/10 Case 8 - The buzzing sound is caused by the controller switching on and off very
rapidly and is a problem relating to a bad battery connection. See BAD
CONNECTION: BATTERY (Help Note #9).
SC3/10 Case 9 - The SC3/10 may get warm during normal operation. If the unit should get
too hot to touch, consider it defective. See CONTROLLER DEFECTIVE (Help Note
#12)