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Old 24-04-2019, 14:48   #46
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Re: State of Charge

For anyone thar was or is interested this is where I am at the moment. My attempts to get the batteries back up while using the boat where a dismal failure, so I gave up and used the engines for abot 4 hours a day. After hauling and at the suggestion of Bruce Schwab who was incredible to deal with . He suggested ,since there was nothing left to lose, that I in crease the voltage .2 volts all the way up to 16 volts . I was to wait for tail amps at each stage . 14.6 went to tail amps very quickly as the batteries where fully charged as all loads where off. At 14 .8 they started to gurgle and I left them in this state for 30 hours with the tail amps sitting at a5.8 to 6 . After this I started doing load test the best I could . My last test I applied 10 amps for about 16 hours which took me down to 11.87 volts .
I was very pleased as this would have produced sub 10 voltage a month earlier.
I have found someone in Grenada who can cycle and load test the batteries on a bench . We shall see
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Old 24-04-2019, 14:50   #47
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Re: State of Charge

Before you ask Bruce said that since the batteries where charging for so long at 14.8 raising the voltage may not be necessary and to test now .
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Old 24-04-2019, 16:04   #48
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Re: State of Charge

Quote:
Originally Posted by admiralslater View Post
John first off thanks for all your help .
I went to the victron web site and there is a switch when you use your Smartphone or tablet . I just trned it off and on and it reset . Bruce Shwab suggested that .
My absorption is set for ten hours. Today I ran the engines and switched things off and on all day . Perhaps confusion followed
I am assuming you mean that the controller will not go back into bulk the same day as it went into float but the next morning it again goes into bulk. This is exactly what it is supposed to do. The voltage is based on battery charging requirements, not your house load. Once the controller goes into float for that charging cycle it should not go back into bulk until the voltage drops to a set threshold. Usually this is around 12.9v and normally occurs only after the sun gets low on the horizon or sets. Your refrigeration load will run fine at float voltage but the battery internal resistance is too high for any significant charge to flow into the battery. The solar controller should provide enough amperage to handle the house load, assuming of course that there is sufficient power available from the panels. Most days my controller goes into float at about noon and amps into the battery fall off to less than one, but the controller is putting out 6-15 amps handling the house load which varies depending on what I'm running. On rare occasions when I get a couple of hours of heavy overcast during the day my battery voltage will dip below 12.9 and the controller will switch back into bulk when the sun comes back out. I don't think you have anything to worry about as I've seen my controller putting out 580 watts at 13.3 volts when under heavy house load while in float with less than an amp going into the batteries. If you are in float mode and your battery parameters are set properly on your controller then your batteries are fully charged and there is no reason for the controller to go into bulk mode. A house load will pull the battery voltage below float. The controller, again assuming enough power is available from the panels, will put out enough amperage to hold the programmed float voltage. That power does not go into your batteries but runs your house load.
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Old 24-04-2019, 16:42   #49
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Re: State of Charge

That's a great description, Bill.


It is fascinating watching the evolution of battery charging. Used to be we'd be lucky if we could get between 50 & 85%, and usually started out with well depleted house battery bank.


Nowadays people are working on or "hassling about" being full all the time!


It's an enjoyable place to be when you're running a boat.
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