Solar panel pushing out only .4 amps

[malejandro]

i have a no named brand 80 watt solar panel hooked up to a 30amp sunforce charge controller. the charge controller is connected to 7 12v 35ah batteries in parellel. My charge controller is only reading .4 amps with spikes to 1.6 etc, when the solar panel is charging. I know the solar panel was rated at 4.5 amps....Is this normal?
when i connect a multimeter to the solar panel, it reads 18volts... Any thoughts would be appreciated. The charge controller reads that it is charging...
Also, the wire size running from the panel to the controller is 10awg/20 feet

[Mike90250]

I'd suspect the charge controller. Many for sale nowdays, are junk. I only regonise sunforce, because I've heard complaints about it.
remove the controller, and just wire the pane to the batteries.
1) it wont hurt them, 245AH of batteries, 4.5A is nothing, for a day or 3
2) didconnect it at night, I have no idea if your panel has a blocking diode in it.
3) if the batteries are full, thy may not take much current at all.
4) if the batteries get used, the 80W panel is too small to recharge the bank.
Sulphation will start before the 7 days needed to recharge that size of bank.

[malejandro]

what size of panels do you recommend for that size of battery bank? The batteries are reading 12.7 volts. So, i guess it would be possible that they are full....

[Mike90250]

What kind of battery are they ? Flooded lead, Gel, AGM ??
That sort of decides how you charge them.
read up on batteries and charge controllers.
Battery FAQ:

http://www.windsun.com/Batteries/Battery_FAQ.htm

Charge Controllers:

http://www.windsun.com/ChargeControls/ChargeCont.htm

Generally, your PV needs to charge the batteries at about 1/10 of their capacity,
so for 250AH, you want a 25A charger.
You only want to drain down to a max of 50% discharge.