Now what do I do?

What you suggest will work and it doesn't matter at the battery if leads from the panel touch other wires attached to the battery as long as ithey are all the same polarity.

It would be better if you moved the controller to near the battery. 3 reasons for this.

1. It is more efficient

2 some controllers have a temperature compensation to sense the temperature at the battery and adjust the charging accordingly.

3. Best practise is to connect the battery to the controller then to the panel.

I wouldn't use MC4 connectors because these are used to make a fairly permanent connection and you need a tool to remove them Better off seeing what Maplins have

some people have used a cigarette plug and socket to make the connection. When I had a free standing panel I used a 110v socket and plug. I used this simply because it was lying about in my garage. It was supposed to be temporary but I used it for about 4 years until we changed the van.

We use a free standing panel.

Bought it from a specialist firm who also wired it in

for us. The leads from the panel have been lengthened to 6 meters so it will comfortably reach around the ends of the van when necessary.

Connection is made via a 12S socket. The male part connected to the panel and the female connected to a short lead and hooked onto the battery wires. Wires taken from the charging circuit and earth into the pins.

All tucks away in the battery box when not in use.

I caution against using plug/sockets that are recognisable for another purpose as someday, someone, will plug them in to the "obvious" connection and something will go wrong. There are recognised 12 volt connectors for this job.  Maplin (and others) will have them.

Right then, just been down to Maplins and ordered 4 x inline connectors - 2 x male and 2 x female plus a solar crimping tool. ETA 3 working days.

  Are  you  thinking  of  setting  up  as a  'Mobile  Caravan  Mechanic  {  electrickery  my  speciality } ' 

Giggle  giggle

LOL! Probably more tinkering than fixing! I'm on a roll now, just ordered a multi meter. Looking forward to poking it into all sorts of places

So Maplins isn't that bad a place after all, once you get into it. Apart from, of course, coming out with things you never knew existed before.

When I was first taught how to use a multi meter it was a box about the size of a large box of cornflakes, but it weighted many many times more. The first lesson was to always leave it switched too the highest AC (alternating current - the way the house mains work) range so that when you tested something new that you didn't know about you would not damage the meter. Still applies today - start high and work low. Oh - and keep your fingers off the metal bits of the probes when taking a reading!

Sounds  like  my  old  AVO  8  Nav  --  Still  prefer  a 'swinging stick'  meter  myself  as  long  as  it  is  treated  with  the  care and  respect  it  deserves.

{ Swinging  stick  is  a  non-digital  meter,  and  AVO  is  a  high  quality  calibratable  but  definitely  mistreatable  make  }

The AVO was a great improvement - small, compact and light compared to the Eversheds Bridge Megger. Still got one in its magnificent mahogany case.

Rosie, you don't need to bother about these last two posst!