newbie, here! had an oddly low state of charge

Thanks for the reply!!! I actually have the pv panels wired in 2 strings of 3 panels each.. optimum output is 18.9 v and 5.29 amps per panel.. That would effectively bring my array to 56.7v and 10.58 amps.. I have it wired that way to take advantage of my charge controller's 100v maximum input to keep wire size down.. Do you see a problem with this set up^^  Sorry, question mark button is broken lol

Not sure about that 100 volt input to the controller you mention or the reasoning behind inputing 56.7 volts. Perhaps you can give the model number or link to the manual. Otherwise as I mentioned in my previous post

"Rewire your panels for two panels in series (24 volts) sent into a combiner box, then out of the combiner into the charge controller, then out of the controller to the batteries."

Not sure why you are thinking you can just add any amount of voltage into the controller, unless that is how it works. Never heard of one til now.

look on page 22. it shows max solar input for 12 and 24 volts...operating voltage.....the 100 v is what it can handle max input without frying it. ..just like the V oc on your panels. it's always higher than operating voltage and is the max it will output without being connected to anything..the mppt part of the controller is to adjust for varying sun over the course of the day, not the input voltage....are there any lights flashing on the controller?

first you should check output voltage from the panels...confirm 24 volts...then hook up your batteries to the controller....then hook up your pv to the controller....you can check output to the batteries from the ports on the controller...you should be getting 24 volts....though if your batteries are connected the reading will be 24 volts anyway unless you have a disconnect between the controller and the batteries then you can check it there.....
......indicator lights on the controller should confirm all inputs and outputs

stepping up voltage is common to reduce wire gauge size as long as all voltages are in sync.....

Meant to say not sure if it's safe to unhook the bank and check voltage output at the controller

Thanx for all your input... I have mixed emotions about the pv array wiring... It I've gone over over everything else in the wiring... I'm going to contact the manufacturer in the morning an see what their take is on the pv voltage... I will definately post my findings and results here... Any and all other input or ideas would be wonderful!!! It's looking like I may have a dead controller on my hands.... Seems to be the only logical explanation at this time.... I'm perplexed about the array voltage now... It seems I've read that it's okay to run high voltages as long as you don't exceed the max input of the controller... For instance people that run long distances between their array and their controller?? Is this not common practice?

Dang, man... Not much of a people person are you? I understand exactly what you are saying... But you haven't answered the question as to why the higher voltage is bad or not commonly used or whatever before you assume I'm a retard... If I took took that too harshly then my bad but geez!!! I came here for insight... Anyway... I got beer in my fridge that I unplugged that I gotta drink now before it goes bad lmao! Let me digress for the sake of argument .... I have pv voltage coming from the panels... Be it 99.9 volts or 24.... My controller doesn't seem to be charging my bank.... I do appreciate your input... I guess I picked a bad day to join a solar forum... Cheers!

OK, jumping in here a bit late, sorry, was away for the weekend. Let's step back and summarize the situation. Note that we don't sell Renogy products, so my knowledge of the details is from reading the manual.

Six Renogy 100W panels. 22.5Voc, 18.9Vmp, 5.75A Isc, 5.29A Imp
Renogy MPPT 40A charge controller
battery bank: 6=12v, 155 ah wired in 3 strings of 2 in series to make 24v and 465 ah.

The charge controller is MPPT, so you can input more than the nominal 24V and it will adjust the output voltage down and current up. 100V max is the temperature adjusted Voc output. You are in TN, so it doesn't get insanely cold (compared to up here in New England), so let's say 1.15% increase in voltage when it gets cold. 100V max \1.15 = 87V max Voc input. 87V / 22.5Voc of your panels = 3 panels max in series. So you can do 2 parallel strings of 3 in series. The MPPT charge controller will drop the voltage to the 24V battery bank, and increase your output current to about 12A per string x 2 strings = 24A out. (This is all theoretical without system losses calculated).

The manual is confusing on page 22. What it is saying is that for a 24V battery bank system, the most power you can put in is 800W. It's not saying the most voltage you can put in is 24V. You can do strings of 3 panels in series.

So, let's figure out what is going on. It's good that you got a display, that will help with troubleshooting. Did you set the amphour on the display? The default is 200Ah, you have to change it to 465Ah.

Now that you took care of the beer (good thinking), and have the fridge unplugged, it will be very good to see if the solar is able to recharge the battery bank without a load on it.

I think the meter shows the amps going from the charge controller to the battery bank. Next time you are there when it is sunny, see what it is saying. On a perfect day, you should be seeing in the 20A range. Also, it should be keeping track of amp hours added to the bank, that will be important to see. Are you making about 80Ah a day?I'd also like to confirm the power used by the fridge, I'd recommend getting a Kill-a-watt meter to keep track of the actual power usage of the fridge plugged into the inverter (https://www.altestore.com/store/Meters-Communications-Site-Analysis/Meters-Battery-Monitors/Power-Meters/Kill-A-Watt-Electricity-Usage-Meter-P4400/p932/) It may not work perfectly with a modified sine wave inverter, but you should get a good feeling for it. Being a "cheapo modified sine wave", the inverter itself may be using a lot of your power as well, not just the fridge.

Now let's look at the system as a whole, to see if it is correctly sized. 600W of panels, although you started with 400W. Let's guess 4 sun hours. 400W x 4 sun hours x .6 system losses = 960Wh generated a day. Fridge draws 80W. Continuously? Or is it on half the time? The Kill-a-watt meter will tell you that. Let's be nice and say it's on 12 hours a day. 80W x 12 hours = 960Wh a day (which is what you estimated). So you started out theoretically making exactly what you needed for the fridge, but not figuring any losses by the inverter. It's maybe 85% efficient, so you are losing 15% through that. So you started out at a deficit. You then added 200W of solar, giving you 1440Wh. If you always have perfect sun, that's probably fine. but you had a rainy day, so you lost 1140Wh for that day. Plus starting a bit low from when you had 400W of PV. I think it just started to snowball down from there.

Sooooo, long way of saying, let's see what you get this week without the fridge plugged in, and go from there next weekend.

Amy
Solar Queen
altE Store

Gosh, you're making me blush.

I'm sure the batteries are fine, you are not the first person to get a bad start to their system. If you kept repeating what you were doing and had them deeply discharged often, you would certainly damage the batteries. But once, you're probably fine.

Looks like you are getting more rain in TN today, so I'm not sure if your trip out there today will be very telling. Maybe stay home and rescue another beer, and head out another day after you have a good day of sun.

Amy
Solar Queen
altE Store