Has this happened to anyone: batteries die fast

[J.mcculloch]

the Renogy monitor is not really a battery monitor.  but more of a controller monitor.  also do you have the refer connected to the Load on the controller?  by your numbers it appears so.  the refer should be connected straight to the battery,  with a fuse inline of course.  highdesertranger

Yes the refrig is connected direct to the batteries via a fuse box.

 

[Almost There]

To be on the safe side and hopefully preserve the batteries I'd be hooking up a good battery charger. Note I said 'good' battery charger not one of those not so smart chargers like AutoZone sells.

 

[J.mcculloch]

The photo you posted shows the panel producing .7 amps and the battery draining at 3.6 amps.  At that time were the panels in the sun?  

That was approximately 9 am this morning.  What is it now?  

The fridge should use substantial current, 5 amps on and off as it cycles is reasonable.  The battery should charge at 10 to 15 amps until it gets to 14.8 volts.  For the panel current to be only .7 amps with the fridge running and the battery not full is not right.  There may be a bad connection in the panel to controller area.

Are the 3 panels connected in parallel or series?

Thanks Trebor,

The batteries, and the panels are wired in parallel. For some reason the panels appear to have a low amp output, hence the batteries having low amps? 




Several posters here have expressed their preference for different equipment.
However, 300 watt panels and 300 amp hours of battery with the controller you have should be adequate to run your fridge.  There seems to be something wrong that needs to be fixed.

 

[J.mcculloch]

Thanks Trebor,

The panels, and the batteries are wired in parallel. Amps have been low low low since installation. Has someone at a RV dealer look at it, he stated it is wired properly and "should work Fine". Although he also stated he, nor anyone at The dealer know much about solar... go figure that one out.

I will find someone local that can help eventually , as I am confused and frustrated as heck.

Jamie

 

[J.mcculloch]

To be on the safe side and hopefully preserve the batteries I'd be hooking up a good battery charger. Note I said 'good' battery charger not one of those not so smart chargers like AutoZone sells.

Going to have it charged sunday/Monday at a local garage. Bought a multi meter to check.
Thanks for your help
Jamie

 

[Almost There]

Unless someone really knowledgeable can look at it soon, I'd recommend getting yourself a good charger unless the batteries were cheap to start with and you figure it's cheaper to replace them than buying a good charger.

Charging them once at a shop isn't going to keep them charged properly in the long run.

 

[John61CT]

Anything designed for automotive use, even used by professionals, is likely to be inferior to what IMO you should buy yourself.

Including those batteries, but that's already been said.

See if you can find (or buy) a setup that shows the charging **amps** going into the bank, not just the voltage.

A 120+ amps charger is what you want to get a good long life out of those AGMs.

It should keep charging at the 14.4V (or whatever your batt mfg recommends for Absorption) until you see Amps dropping below 3A, certainly not before 6A, check what the mfg recommends.

Your average garage will probably look at you like you're nuts, because they're just dealing with Starter batts, completely different requirements and mindset.

 

[frater secessus]

Her display does show the amps and volts from the panels, into the banks, and into the load output;  this is described and photographed by OP in post 22.

Let's recap:

• OP reports the amps are "low, low"
• the bank voltage was higher than expected at 9am
• OP says s/he turns off the banks at night
• when the loads were OFF panels were putting out 0.2A@20v, battery was taking [email protected]
• when the 5A load was ON panels were putting [email protected], battery was taking [email protected], and load was taking [email protected]

That sounds utterly normal to me for an MPPT controller in float mode after load is increased.  I still think the battery graphic is misleading OP into thinking something is wrong.  It is a terrible graphic and should be ignored.

I suggest 

1. covering the battery graphic with a sticky note if it cannot be ignored
2. setting a reasonable LVD like 12.1v in the USER mode configuration (YT demo of config menus)
3. leaving the loads running overnight
4. seeing what happens

This course of action is simple, easy, costs nothing and could very well put the [real or perceived] issue to rest.

 

[frater secessus]

The photo you posted shows the panel producing .7 amps and the battery draining at 3.6 amps.  

Tracer controllers can be slow to initiate tracking in some situations;  that photo looks like a classic example.  Their MPPT algos are sufficient during normal MPPT operation (changes in insolation, clouds, load variations, etc).  

BUT the Tracer algos can be quite slow to find their feet when starting up the algo:  

• first MPPT scan when PV power starts coming up (reconnection or morning)
• when restarting MPPT after intentionally moving off Vmp, as in late absorption or float when the controller moves the panel voltage away from Imp (toward Voc) in order to reduce current from the PV that would have to be dissipated in the controller.  This would appear to be the case in post #22

In my experience such startups take 15-90 seconds.  I would think a firmware update would help but I haven't looked for one yet.