Victron 150 l 70 tr question

[roadtrekker]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I just installed a victron 150v 70a tr controller on a 200A AGM 12v system with 200w of solar in series. While the panels show 40 pls volts output the output from the controller will not exceed 13.1v with 3A and the controller will not switch out of bulk. I do not have a dongle to investigate what setting options it might give. The controller is set to the AGM battery type and is supposed to run up to 14.4v. Wired previously to a PWM with panels in parallel which would get to float so wiring should all be good. Does anyone have an idea what is going wrong?[/font]

 

[John61CT]

How full is the bank?

How old / healthy?

Try putting the SC on a known-good battery, ideally 40% or so depleted.

You can also put it on a PC to check the programming and see the logs.

 

[roadtrekker]

How full is the bank?

You can put it on a PC to check the programming and see the logs.

Bank was 12.5v. I do not have the special cord to tie to a computer USB port.

 

[roadtrekker]

How full is the bank?

You can put it on a PC to check the programming and see the logs.

Bank was 12.5v. I do not have the special cord to tie to a computer USB port.

 

[John61CT]

I would get that cable. Do you have a DMM and/or ammeter?

I assume you got all your loads isolated, if not, do that until further notice.

Also put the bank on a known good shore charger at 30+A overnight, ideally bigger, if smaller then longer, then see what its voltage is after resting isolated a few hours.

 

[KathyC]

Sorry I can't help you, but did want to note for others that the newer Victron controllers now have integrated Bluetooth. If someone is shopping for one, getting a newer one may be a bit more up front, but would save in the long run. Good luck roadtrekker...surely someone here will know what's happening.

 

[roadtrekker]

Unfortunately since currently boondocking we do not have shore power available and the only gauges to work with is a voltometer and a small amp meter shunted to the battery bank. Deliveries of special cords are also limited. I may remove it tomorrow and go back to the PWM until i can figure this out.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Tomorrow (or when you read this and the sun is bright) put a good load on it for a few minutes to see if the voltage and amperage changes, and if so, let us know.

 

[VanKitten]

Hey...fellow just came today has the Victron dongle. He is asking lots of questions ions about lithium. I talk with him tomorrow.

He is checking out his system...bet we can work a deal to loan it to you long enough to get in, look/see/fix the programming on your unit. Do you have a multimeter? Else I will bring one

- Kat

 

[John61CT]

Yes if you're in that neighborhood they'll get you fixed up quicker in person.

Meantime priority is get that batt fully charged. . .

 

[roadtrekker]

Sounds like a good plan of attack. Thx guys.

 

[jonyjoe303]

How is the sun in your location? In my location on my 240 watt panel I'm maxing out at 9 amps and most of the day I was at 6 amps. It was not good weather.
3 amps might be about right for 200 watts in cloudy conditions with panels flat on the roof.  If your at bulk most of the time it means your controller is pumping all it can into your battery, its already at its max. At 12.5 volts your battery was already low, 3 amps wont do much for it. Unless it actually reaches 14.4 volts it wont switch into float, and with 200 watts solar it might take several days to get a 200ah battery up to that voltage especially in the winter with the sun lower in the sky.

 

[jimindenver]

I have seen this on 3 Victron MPPT controllers so far. High voltage off the array and low amps out to the battery which is trying to get the voltage up. None had the dongle to get into the settings with so I do not know what can be affected yet. In one case on a sunny day the controller was putting out a third of the power available from a 690 watt array with the bank at 13.1v. Putting a big load had no effect on output.

What can be adjusted once there is a dongle in place that will effect this behavior? I have seen MPPT programs charge gentler than they could be but never that far down. A big load always kicked them up to max output and they stayed there until absorb was achieved.

 

[frater secessus]

[font=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]I just installed a victron 150v 70a tr controller on a 200A AGM 12v system with 200w of solar in series. While the panels show 40 pls volts output the output from the controller will not exceed 13.1v with 3A and the controller will not switch out of bulk.[/font]

That's totally weird. 

Assuming the panels are parallel and not exotic, these factors:

• high 40v+ panel output
• low 3A controller output
• 13.1v controller output

would normally suggest the bank is full and the controller is loafing.  The voltage would be high because MPPT controllers reduce current by moving the panels off Vmp and toward Voc to reduce amperage.

In this case these factors:

• low 12.5v bank voltage
• controller indication of Bulk stage <-- I guess, I don't have one

suggests the controller is confused. 

Assuming nothing else changed I'd kill two birds with one stone:  disconnect the panels and battery  from the controller and let it sit.  Reattach battery, then panels and see what happens.  this will both reboot the controller and reseat the wiring connections to the controller.  

If that doesn't work I'd suspect a bad controller.

Total digression:  how'd you end up with a 70A controller on 200w of panel?  Going to expand in the future?  Already had the controller from another project?  Needed a particular feature?

 

[jimindenver]

In each case I have seen the controllers are reducing amps in the low 13's when you are trying to reach higher. In the one case I would have sworn the controller was acting like it was on a 48 volt bank in the way it was handling the panel voltage even though it was hooked up to the 12 volt bank. The next day it is running at peak capacity and putting out what you would expect to see off the array.

The controller the OP has is the replacement sent to Kat because we thought the original had lost its mind. Unfortunately the replacement acts the same.

It was mentioned today that the Victron shuts down every night and restarts the next day deciding what voltage the bank is at that time. Could it be getting confused by starting with the array connected by seeing the arrays voltage and deciding the charging profile off of it instead of the bank? I never got around to switching the array to parallel to see if it made a difference before she decided to go to Morningstar.

 

[John61CT]

In that case I'd get a known good batt, dongle and meters on hand and go through custom settings in detail with the manual.

If problem still not apparent, get online with Justin.

 

[jimindenver]

I plan on it just as soon as I get caught up. I will likely get the manual on line tomorrow and start reading. What concerns me is that it isn't just setting charging voltages but the controllers MPPT program itself. Every MPPT controller has a program that decides how best to bring up the voltage of the bank in bulk and it is not the same program on all MPPT controllers. Someone writes the program and it is they that is deciding how that controller charges in bulk. This is not a setting that can be user changed, it requires a firmware update to change that program. Even in default settings it should be trying to get the voltage up above 13.1v.

 

[John61CT]

Yes.

Personally I wouldn't second-guess the MPPT internals, just focus on charging output.

No harm in starting with the other stock profiles before adjusting custom, the FLA a bit higher, GEL a bit lower.

 

[jimindenver]

Well telling it you want 14.6v instead of 14.4v doesn't do much if it will not push the banks above 13.1v even with a huge array and bright sunny days. I think its MPPT internals have lost their minds.

 

[John61CT]

I have to think it's a very low batt holding voltage down. Need a known good one to eliminate maybe that's bad. All loads isolated of course.

To me the weird part is amps into the batt staying so low when V lower than Absorb. Without higher current V could stay low for days.