charging battery bank

[highdesertranger]

I just checked and I can't find any Lead acid battery that recommends 13.8 for bulk. not even for a gel which I thought maybe there was a chance but no. now for float 13.8 is real close. 13.8 is what most of the old RV converters put out and we all know that the only thing they were good for was ruining your batteries. highdesertranger

 

[jimindenver]

The standard converter is not a battery charger per say. They are intended to provide the rig with 12 volt power while om shore power and keeping the voltage from dropping. (float)

There are converter/chargers that have multi stage charging.

 

[DLTooley]

A load on the system would lower the voltage. I have a much smaller system. The information provided by the Victron Controller is the best feature. It isn’t simple.

I will turn off all loads for a time mid-late morning to get past peak acceptance and start that ‘long tail’ of a full charge.

 

[highdesertranger]

do they even make the old 13.8 converters anymore. I just assumed they went the way of the dinosaur. highdesertranger

 

[brahmon]

i dont have a converter. do inneed one??

 

[tripper]

I run a small AC off of solar, and have noticed that the controllers have a much more difficult time fully charging the batteries and trying to run the AC at the higher voltage of absorb mode. You should let the batteries all finish the bulk/absorb phase in the morning, once they drop into the float stage then kick the AC's on. If you have enough solar the solar controllers will stay in float during the main daylight hours (~10am - 4pm). If it kicks out of float mode you are using more solar than your panels are generating. Your going to destroy your batteries fast if you keep letting them discharge super low every day.

 

[highdesertranger]

no you don't need a converter I was just using that as an example. you need to plug into 120v for a converter to do any good. highdesertranger

 

[brahmon]

thx hdr

btw, i called everstart and asked if i should charge to 14.4-14.8v and she said no. need to charge to 10 amps max. wtf is that?

 

[B and C]

10 amps at what voltage was the next question. I don't even know what a dumb 10 amp charger puts out for voltage.

Call back and ask again. Hopefully someone with a little more knowledge will answer the phone.

 

[highdesertranger]

don't you have like 10 wired in parallel? 10 amps ain't going to cut it. highdesertranger

 

[brahmon]

hi brian
just called and got a guy who sounded unsure but said roughly 12.8-14.8v and said i definitely need a voltage regulator whatever that is. haha

 

[highdesertranger]

your charge controller is your voltage regulator. sounds like those people don't have a clue. Everstart doesn't make batteries they resell them.

does anybody know who makes their batteries?

highdesertranger

 

[brahmon]

yes very strange. he said johson controls makes the 29dc amd exide makes the 27dc.

thats wallyworld for ya! haha

 

[Elbear1]

10 amps at what voltage was the next question.  I don't even know what a dumb 10 amp charger puts out for voltage.

Call back and ask again.  Hopefully someone with a little more knowledge will answer the phone.

Theyre contant voltage at 14.4v

btw, i called everstart and asked if i should charge to 14.4-14.8v and she said no. need to charge to 10 amps max. wtf is that?

Because theyre a starting battery wildly unequipped to answer solar system questions. But shes right in her own way. Every 100ah battery needs 10 amps at 14.4v and you need extra amps to run your load while charging. And since you only have 4-6hrs of sunlight to charge with, a little more than 10A at a higher voltage (14.8v) would be better. The battery can actually accept 1/6th of it capacity before over-charging.

IOW 1500ah needs 175-200A. Bare minimum with zero load 3kw. Youre under-powered drastically.

What youre doing is basically trying to charge a single battery with a 6 amp charger in 5 hours. It aint happening.

Again you need to go to solarpaneltalk.com.

 

[jimindenver]

Take any advice given on a forum with a grain of salt, even mine. Use it as a starting point and confirm it with your own research. I use to be active on solarpaneltalk long ago when they were somewhat anti solar on RV's. Some there claimed that solar on RV's was useless because they could charge more off of their 7 pin in 30 minutes than you could with a solar system all day including mine at 1185 watts. They may have known something about solar but not wire gauges. The size of the wire in most 7 pins along with the distance means that you will be lucky to see 10 amps no matter what alternator you have. I am not saying that they know nothing there, just that you have to take advice, any advice with a grain of salt.