New lite, follow me, no watts in absorb or float

[bbbuddy]

Just added some new solar panels, and a classic lite. Classic 150 solar array = 1600 Watts, Lite solar array = 1500 Watts. One battery bank. Follow me mode.

1 As soon as my new lite gets out of bulk it quits working (zero watts output) and lets the classic 150 do all the work, is this normal?

2 should both controllers be set to follow, not one to master and one to follow?  I tried both ways and it didn't make a difference, left it set to both follow.

Thanks!

[dgd]

This is normal when two or more Classics are charging the same battery bank..
Follow me only places both Classics in the same charge state.
It does not mean there is charge balancing between the Classics where both contribute power to the charging process.
This was discussed some time ago and  its unlikely to become a feature of the firmware

You can try adjusting, using tweaks, the battery voltage that each Classic sees so that they are identical. This may allow both to contribute to absorb and float but its not guaranteed.

I have found that with the same voltage reading on two Classics there still is one preferred for absorb and float leaving the other at 0watts.

dgd

[Halfcrazy]

Just added some new solar panels, and a classic lite. Classic 150 solar array = 1600 Watts, Lite solar array = 1500 Watts. One battery bank. Follow me mode.

1 As soon as my new lite gets out of bulk it quits working (zero watts output) and lets the classic 150 do all the work, is this normal?

2 should both controllers be set to follow, not one to master and one to follow?  I tried both ways and it didn't make a difference, left it set to both follow.

Thanks!

1- yes this is normal. basically the battery is close to full so when it goes into regulation (Absorb or Float) then this will happen.

2- Yes both controllers want to be set for Follow Me.

Ryan

[bbbuddy]

Thanks for the replies.  I have one remote mngp controlling both CC.

Is there a way to get the lite (address 11 on my mngp) to stop changing to "unknown address 11" on the mngp when looking at it?
My 150 on the mngp (address 10) never changes to tell me the address.  I don't want the lite to keep doing that either.
It's irritating to stand there waiting and waiting for it to flash back to the information screen.

Today I noticed that the lite and the 150 did not change to absorb or float at the same time even though all the charging parameters are the same....?

Oh, is the programing such that it will always be the lite that stops outputting watts in regulation, or will it sometimes be the classic that quits?

Last question for today...what is the delay time supposed to be for the lite to "wake up" in float when a load is turned on?  Is it milliseconds, seconds... I ask because yesterday I turned on a large load and my trimetric showed that the batteries were supplying much of the load for some time, maybe 30 seconds or more, while there should have been more than ample solar to run the load.

I just need to get used to this new gadget!

[Halfcrazy]

Thanks for the replies.  I have one remote mngp controlling both CC.

Is there a way to get the lite (address 11 on my mngp) to stop changing to "unknown address 11" on the mngp when looking at it?
My 150 on the mngp (address 10) never changes to tell me the address.  I don't want the lite to keep doing that either.
It's irritating to stand there waiting and waiting for it to flash back to the information screen.

Today I noticed that the lite and the 150 did not change to absorb or float at the same time even though all the charging parameters are the same....?

Oh, is the programing such that it will always be the lite that stops outputting watts in regulation, or will it sometimes be the classic that quits?

Last question for today...what is the delay time supposed to be for the lite to "wake up" in float when a load is turned on?  Is it milliseconds, seconds... I ask because yesterday I turned on a large load and my trimetric showed that the batteries were supplying much of the load for some time, maybe 30 seconds or more, while there should have been more than ample solar to run the load.

I just need to get used to this new gadget!

1- You may want to unplug the LED panel (MNLP) on the Lite that may help with the Unused address popping up now and then

2- You say they did not go to Float at the same time? Absorb I understand as it is simply the regulation part of bulk so one will go to Absorb before the other normally.

3- The one to back off its charging in Absorb or Float is the one that sees the battery as the highest voltage. So for example if the Classic sees the battery as 0.1v higher than the Lite than the Classic will back off first.

4- Usually the classic will pick back up pretty quick. When you saw this did the Lite drop back into Bulk MPPT? Usually as soon as the battery voltage drops below the set point the classic will sweep and start charging

[zoneblue]

Last question for today...what is the delay time supposed to be for the lite to "wake up" in float when a load is turned on?  Is it milliseconds, seconds... I ask because yesterday I turned on a large load and my trimetric showed that the batteries were supplying much of the load for some time, maybe 30 seconds or more, while there should have been more than ample solar to run the load.

There is no delay. I monitor at 1s intervals and the classic picks up the load straight away, if it can. If it drops out of float that means you donthave enough sun to supply the load, and your pack will pick it up.