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Post by tattoo on Jan 30, 2017 6:09:48 GMT -8
You batteries need to fully charged from time to time for long life. Your controller is supposed to get them to 14.8v and hold that for 2 hrs on a regular basis. Letting them stay discharged allows the sulfate to harden and possible never be reversed, this causes a loss of capacity. Yea that's what I was thinking..... I think I might have a problem with my batteries. In 48 hours my fridge has used only 0.77w at least that's what my killawatts meter says. By the way I haven't seen more than 13.3v yet.....
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Post by tattoo on Jan 29, 2017 17:44:15 GMT -8
By the way that's an awesome Charge controller I'm going to check into one of them for sure....
Another question will that CC work with a wind charger???
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Post by tattoo on Jan 29, 2017 17:40:01 GMT -8
maxed out, NO, you are near a min of 5% charge rate. Wow that's no where near what I thought I was at.... No wonder it's taking so long to charge up to full float.. I'm still not at full charge but we have had some cloudy days and I turned my fridge on but it's holding at 12.3 over night.. I've seen it as much as 13.3 during the day but the batteries haven't stayed at 12.7 yet... What would you suggest??
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Post by tattoo on Jan 29, 2017 13:58:03 GMT -8
Ok Now that I'm understanding this more I have a question??? I'm wanting more charging so now that I know I can only add one more panel that's no help. So if I want to add 4 more panels or a wind type charger. I will have to add another CC I know and I assume my 2000w inverter should be just fine. My question is do I just hook it up to my 4 batteries the same way they are hooked up now and bypass my current CC or will it have to be wired up differently to the batteries?? Or is my batteries maxed out? Man this can be confusing.....
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Post by tattoo on Jan 28, 2017 5:54:31 GMT -8
Thanks for the info..^^^^ So this is a common problem?? Well not a problem but it's something they don't really come out and tell you when your looking for a system... This is a true learning curve for me and I'm sure many other people...
I figured you could add more panels to this 40a MPPT charger but I think I'm understanding now. OK on a 60a charger you can have as many as 6 maybe 7 panels? Or a 10a charger you can just use only 1 or 2 panels am I right???
I really like my system don't get me wrong but the more I learn the more I have to learn... But I guess that's why you have to ask many many questions... Thanks for all of the help..
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Post by tattoo on Jan 27, 2017 19:44:28 GMT -8
Adding panels will definitely help it charge faster, but your current 40A charge controller will not be able to handle the additional current safely. Your current 4 panels would max out at 33 amps, which is within the controller's rating. Adding a fifth would raise the potential current to around 42 amps, and a sixth would raise it to 50A. As far as batteries go, my rule of thumb is one group 27M 12V marine battery (90AH-ish) per 100 Watt solar panel. 50% drain = around 45AH which would take a single panel supplying 8 amps around 6 hours to recharge. If you limit the depth of discharge to 70%, that charge time falls to 3 to 3-1/2 hours. As for "how many panels can I add to the system before you have to get more batteries," that's not really the way to look at it. You can add as many batteries as you want, but it will take longer to recharge them. And, given the right capacity charge controller, you could add as many panels as you want to decrease the amount of time to recharge the batteries...plus have surplus power to run your loads while you charge. Thank you and I had no idea...... So in other words I didn't buy what I thought or lead to believe I was buying??? I thought I was buying a system that I could add to if needed but it's about maxed out like it is???
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Post by tattoo on Jan 27, 2017 9:21:20 GMT -8
Ok I have a question.. I'm thinking about adding 2 more panels to my system... I'm assuming that will help it to charge faster or will it?? If I'm right how many panels can I add to the system I have now before I will have to get more batteries???
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Post by tattoo on Jan 26, 2017 18:20:33 GMT -8
I want to thank you both for all the help... It's been three days and I'm almost there.... When I looked before the sun went down today they were at 12.5 so I would think tomorrow or the next day for sure... I will let you know... Thanks again...
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Post by tattoo on Jan 25, 2017 18:53:16 GMT -8
Oh yea I only get about 4hrs of direct sun this time of year.....
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Post by tattoo on Jan 25, 2017 18:00:07 GMT -8
I've got 4 100w panels, 40A MPPT CC and 4 230ah 6v batteries to 12 v..... I know there are many variables but My question is after several cloudy days and your batteries run down to 11.9v and the sun comes out for several days how many days should it take to charge to full float if all power is cut off so nothing is drawing on the system???
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Post by tattoo on Jan 20, 2017 12:27:35 GMT -8
I would think the frame would be your best place.....
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Post by tattoo on Jan 19, 2017 18:10:53 GMT -8
you don't keep it on dim! once a button is pushed it goes to bright and the back light is on 'The LCD has two different brightness levels. After any button is pressed the display will be in high brightness and backlight. To save power, the backlight automatically turns off after 30 seconds.' LOL How do you get two different levels when it only changes once? ?? You have the default light that stays the same all the time and one that is brighter when you touch any key. No matter how many times you say it in the end it's only changing one time not two...... But I don't blame you for trying.. LOL Like I've said before it really doesn't matter if it changes once or 50 different colors... My system is up and running and it's awesome.... Everything I had hoped.....
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Post by tattoo on Jan 19, 2017 15:08:50 GMT -8
No, the LCD has bright and dim. Where or where did you find some different? So there is no off just dim and bright am I right??? No off...... Cool so how do you keep it on dim only? Bright is not needed when going through the different settings...
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Post by tattoo on Jan 19, 2017 10:16:34 GMT -8
The LCD has bright and dim, the back light is on when the LCD is bright and off when dim. LOL That's still just one... Off and on... Now if you had a off a dim and a bright now that would be two backlight settings.... If they were adjustable...
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Post by tattoo on Jan 19, 2017 7:12:37 GMT -8
It was the angle that I had it mounted that made it unreadable... But I still don't think there is two brightness settings... Just one brightness on and off...
Everything is working great now much better than I had hoped.
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