What did you do to your rig today?

[BernieQ2]

Jon_D smaller inverter may help (just need some one to pay for one) and yes I can check at the controller as you suggest , when at max amp input or any old time ?
The other Jon if they are bugged they have been for three + years but still run the house , my bus is 24v and the house is 12v and no charging between the two its stand alone . These batteries from new have a rest voltage at 12.7 and that's where they go when the sun drops . But the missing amps is what I'm looking for , regardless of our mate Terry saying that's its not getting to 100% its gotta be getting somewhere .
How do I get to see real SOC ?
Thanks for the input .
Bernie .
PS: I also have the diesel heater running this morning battery's at 12.4
PPS: the inverter has a stand by volt thingy at o.8 to 1.8v according to the paperwork .

[jon_d]

Just in full brightness, with one wire lifted off the controller.

The panel will go Voc pretty easily with no load. (Voc = open circuit.)

[BernieQ2]

Hi Jon 17v open circuit .
Bernie .

[T1 Terry]

Jon_D smaller inverter may help (just need some one to pay for one) and yes I can check at the controller as you suggest , when at max amp input or any old time ?
The other Jon if they are bugged they have been for three + years but still run the house , my bus is 24v and the house is 12v and no charging between the two its stand alone . These batteries from new have a rest voltage at 12.7 and that's where they go when the sun drops . But the missing amps is what I'm looking for , regardless of our mate Terry saying that's its not getting to 100% its gotta be getting somewhere .
How do I get to see real SOC ?
Thanks for the input .
Bernie .
PS: I also have the diesel heater running this morning battery's at 12.4
PPS: the inverter has a stand by volt thingy at o.8 to 1.8v according to the paperwork .

5 amps per 100Ah advertised capacity load, in your case 24 amps. Apply this load for 5 mins and then read the battery voltage while the load is still applied.
12.8v 100% SOC as new
12.6v 80% SOC available either through battery loss of capacity or not having reached 100% SOC while charging
12.4v 70% SOC available either through battery loss of capacity or not having reached 100% SOC while charging
12.2v 60% SOC blah blah blah
12v 50% SOC blah blah blah

This is a reasonably accurate indicator of the true health of any lead acid battery whether it is a flooded cell, AGM, Gel or lead crystal, it is just indicative of the basic chemistry of a lead acid battery.
The battery may well have reached its 100% SOC at the end of charge and this figure represents the capacity the battery now. Say the figure is 12.6v, a 20% loss of capacity, the true capacity is now 380Ah so the adjusted 5% load would be 19 amps. Fully charge the battery and try again with the new load, this will give an even closer guide to the remaining capacity if you really want to be that exact. You could also try charging the battery via a mains charger for 48 hrs with no loads applied and redo the test after a 1 hr rest period. Being a Gel battery I don't recommend attempting a de-sulphation charging regime or an equalising charging regime, Gel batteries react badly to such treatment. One of the down sides to using true Gel electrolyte batteries for cycling use, they are far better at Standby applications where the load is known and the battery sized to match it or exceed it but otherwise remains in a constant float charge state.

Be aware that not all batteries labelled as Gel batteries are true Gel electrolyte batteries, many are just AGM batteries claiming to be something they aren't ..... not actually an unheard of thing eh Another test of true capacity when new is weight, 100Ah @ 12v nom. weighs between 30kg and 32kg depending on the amount of electrolyte. The old Trojan deep cycle batteries had a lot of electrolyte as reserve capacity to protect against low electrolyte damage and acid dilution when topping up as well as an improved cooling area by having more electrolyte in contact with the case.

T1 Terry

T1 Terry

[T1 Terry]

Hi Jon 17v open circuit .
Bernie .

umm..... I bet you don't see a very high peak charge current and that explains why you can't get the batteries up to 14.4v or higher. I'm surprised you can actually get the MPPT controller to turn on at all as most require 5v or more higher input voltage than target battery voltage and have no ability to boost solar voltage. The very expensive top of the line units do have this ability but the foot print for one of these units is quite large due to all the electronics required to do both a Buck and a Boost type controller.
With a 17v open circuit you will even have difficulty getting a PWM controller to give you all you need.
Try the tracer controller with the 3 panels connected is series if the specs say it can handle a 50v solar input.

T1 Terry

[T1 Terry]

Bernie.

Terry we have a 230 lt 240v fridge running 24/7 thr a 2000w inverter.

I have the same, but thinking about it, it may be wise to run it off a 300W inverter. Less power usage when the fridge is not cooling.


Re: Voc. Disconnect the panel wires at the controller and measure it there.

If it is an inverter type fridge, these are so cheap it would be hard to ignore https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Victron-12V ... Swcj5ZUI~d
If it isn't an inverter type fridge then I doubt the 375w will start it up when cycling. If the 2000w inverter is an IP2000 Projecta I doubt you will find a more power efficient inverter, especially in ECO mode ... as long as you unplug all the wall warts
The lastest model with the built in RCD also has the upgraded pass through to what ever is available compared to the 2000w limit of the earlier models.

T1 Terry

[BernieQ2]

I cant do any of those test Terry we are parked in the bush , don't have any gizmo's to do the tests .
I cant change from parallel to series . It is what it is ..and as I've said before its working other wise I would have hot beer and runny butter .
The butter doesn't worry me but the beer would .
Its not a inverter fridge .
I cant check watts in or watts out or amps in or out . Even tho the paperwork with the remote says I can , Jon tried three years back to change things but they don't change ?
For some thing that you keep telling me wont work its proving you wrong in this instance , as it does work and is showing 100% SOC at the moment , don't know when it went there today we have been into Yarrawonga , and just home now ( as in motorhome).
Bernie .
18.5 at the moment VOC .

[T1 Terry]

I cant do any of those test Terry we are parked in the bush , don't have any gizmo's to do the tests .
I cant change from parallel to series . It is what it is ..and as I've said before its working other wise I would have hot beer and runny butter .
The butter doesn't worry me but the beer would .
Its not a inverter fridge .
I cant check watts in or watts out or amps in or out . Even tho the paperwork with the remote says I can , Jon tried three years back to change things but they don't change ?
For some thing that you keep telling me wont work its proving you wrong in this instance , as it does work and is showing 100% SOC at the moment , don't know when it went there today we have been into Yarrawonga , and just home now ( as in motorhome).
Bernie .
18.5 at the moment VOC .

The VOC would be affected if the panels are in the shade, so you need to do that teat when they are in full sun.
Are you going to Stone The Crows or Taggerty this yr?

T1 Terry

[BernieQ2]

No Terry will be in Tasmania from next Monday for twelve months ,Or that's the plan at the moment .
Have been in full sunlight for the last three weeks I only park in full sun if I can .
Bernie .

[jon_d]

Terry, the controller has very few programmable settings.

And even less information about power usage. The SOC monitor would be the way to go.