HELP please. Will they ever charge?

[AWhitey]

I have two T105 RE for 12 VDC, one 100W Renogy solar panel with Wanderer chartge controller, and wired to vehicle battery with continuous duty solenoid. No other way to charge batteries at this time. The only thing running off the batteries are 3 small LED lights for less than 20 min an evening. Everything else is off the vehicle battery.
I received the batteries new and put them in service. They show charging by the solar charge controller but after 4 days of decent sun I have never seen them show float charge. Will they charge to float with only solar? Will they charge to float through my vehicle alternator? If so, how long might I have to drive? HELP please.

 

[Trebor English]

The charge controller switching to "float" may be interesting but it only means your controller quit charging. What is the resting voltage? What does the hydrometer say?

 

[B and C]

I have two T105 RE for 12 VDC, one 100W Renogy solar panel with Wanderer chartge controller, and wired to vehicle battery with continuous duty solenoid. No other way to charge batteries at this time. The only thing running off the batteries are 3 small LED lights for less than 20 min an evening. Everything else is off the vehicle battery.
I received the batteries new and put them in service. They show charging by the solar charge controller but after 4 days of decent sun I have never seen them show float charge. Will they charge to float with only solar? Will they charge to float through my vehicle alternator? If so, how long might I have to drive? HELP please.

Straight from the manual:

"Charge controller does not charge during daytime when the sun is shining on the solar panels. Confirm that there is a tight and correct connection from the battery bank to the charge controller and the solar panels to the charge controller. Use a multi-meter to check if the polarity of the solar modules have been reversed on the charge controller’s solar terminals."

A meter is your friend at this point.  Check the voltage and polarity on both connections at the charge controller while the sun is shining.  If you have to disconnect the cables at the charge controller, disconnect the PV panels first and connect them last to check the voltage and polarity of the PV panels and the battery at the charge controller.  Read the voltage on the battery in the morning before the sun comes up or disconnect the solar panel in the evening.  This will give you resting voltage of the battery and tell you if it is charging or not.  Sternwake always talks about the blinking light telling you that everything is fine.

I don't know what the indications of a blown charge controller is if the PV panels are connected to the charge controller before the battery is connected to the charge controller.  

I hope this gives you a starting point to begin the troubleshooting.

 

[AWhitey]

Straight from the manual:

"Charge controller does not charge during daytime when the sun is shining on the solar panels. Confirm that there is a tight and correct connection from the battery bank to the charge controller and the solar panels to the charge controller. Use a multi-meter to check if the polarity of the solar modules have been reversed on the charge controller’s solar terminals."

A meter is your friend at this point.  Check the voltage and polarity on both connections at the charge controller while the sun is shining.  If you have to disconnect the cables at the charge controller, disconnect the PV panels first and connect them last to check the voltage and polarity of the PV panels and the battery at the charge controller.  Read the voltage on the battery in the morning before the sun comes up or disconnect the solar panel in the evening.  This will give you resting voltage of the battery and tell you if it is charging or not.  Sternwake always talks about the blinking light telling you that everything is fine.

I don't know what the indications of a blown charge controller is if the PV panels are connected to the charge controller before the battery is connected to the charge controller.  

I hope this gives you a starting point to begin the troubleshooting.

 

[AWhitey]

Thank B and C
Will try as directed, if I understand correctly. More later.