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WBJ declining state of charge reading

Started by russ_drinkwater, December 30, 2016, 03:44:31 PM

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russ_drinkwater

Over the last week the % soc shown on the classic 150 at my sons house has been steadily declining and is now sitting at a constant
0%! Checking the trojans batteries shows SG of 1275 plus (tested approx 10 times since this has occured). Any ideas as to what could be happening there?
The cells are getting plenty of charge obviously and inverter runs without fault.
Standalone. 20 Hyundai x 220 watts panels, 2 x classic 150's, Latronics 24 volt 3kw inverter, Whiz bang Jnr, 12 Rolls surrete  4KS 25P  batteries and WBJ.
Grid tie feed-in, 12.5 kw in 3 arrays generating 50 kws per day average. Solar river grid tie inverters

Resthome

Quote from: russ_drinkwater on December 30, 2016, 03:44:31 PM
Over the last week the % soc shown on the classic 150 at my sons house has been steadily declining and is now sitting at a constant
0%! Checking the trojans batteries shows SG of 1275 plus (tested approx 10 times since this has occured). Any ideas as to what could be happening there?
The cells are getting plenty of charge obviously and inverter runs without fault.

Is the WBjr working correctly? Do you see a Positive net AH?
John

10 x Kyocera KC140, Classic 150 w/WBJr, Link10 Battery Monitor, 850 AH @ 12v Solar One 2v cells, Xantrex PROwatt SW2000
Off Grid on Houseboat Lake Don Pedro, CA

TomW

I think Resthome is kind of, sorta hinting at is  he may have a bad connection between the WBjr and Classic.

Seems that might explain the 0%??

Usually my first step with a strange problem is audit the cabling & connections.

Its cheap and usually easy.

Tom
Do NOT mistake me for any kind of "expert".

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


24 Trina 310 watt modules, SMA SunnyBoy 7.7 KW Grid Tie inverter.

I thought that they were angels, but much to my surprise, We climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies

Vic

An additional thought,  is that perhaps the Classic has not been configured for the SOC to reset to 100% (or less,  if the battery is below the Reference Temperature),  when the Classic transitions to Float (on its own).

This,  plus an efficiency that is not reasonably correct,  could cause the shown SOC to decrease each charge day.

The following was stolen from the Setup section of the WBjr Manual,

"   ...   The Net Amp-hours tally can be configured to reset every time the Classic goes to float. To set this option, go to the “TWEAKS” menu and press “MORE” four times. Select “WBRST” and press the UP or DOWN arrow keys to select “YES.” Press Enter to save. “NO” (or no reset) is the default   ...".

Vic
Off Grid - Sys 1: 2ea SW+ 5548, Surrette 4KS25 1280 AH, 5.25 KW PV, Classic 150,WB, Beta Barcelona, Beta KID
Sys 2: SW+ 5548s, 4KS25s, 5.88 KW PV, 2 ea. Classic 150, WB, HB CC-needs remote Monitoring/Control, site=remote.
 MN Bkrs/Bxs/Combiners. Thanks MN for Great Products/Svc/Support&This Forum!!

russ_drinkwater

Hi, The soc had been declining over approx 10 days. Showing a low soc, say, 49-75% and then late in the arvo it would jump to 100%.
I do not live there so it is 2nd hand info. I checked it yesterday and it now just sits on 0% and I checked the sg on all cells and they were all
1275-1280. I thought perhaps some dust incursion may be the problem and I with get some compressed air cleaning cans when the shops open again post x-mas/new year break.
If I get a chance today I will drive over and check the aux wire to make sure it is tight/firm.
I was wondering if I completely disconnected the wbj and then re-install it if this will give any further indications as to what is going on?
Firstly though I will eliminate the loose wiring from the check list.
Standalone. 20 Hyundai x 220 watts panels, 2 x classic 150's, Latronics 24 volt 3kw inverter, Whiz bang Jnr, 12 Rolls surrete  4KS 25P  batteries and WBJ.
Grid tie feed-in, 12.5 kw in 3 arrays generating 50 kws per day average. Solar river grid tie inverters

Resthome

#5
Before you do anything check the led flash rate on the WBjr itself. That may give you another clue.


Blinks ON every 5 seconds.
The Whizbang Jr. is receiving data-requests and responding.
The Whizbang Jr. is receiving data. Check Whizbang status screen.

Solid ON
The Whizbang Jr. has power, but there appears to be no communication.
AUX2 mode misconfigured.
Revisit page 2.

Solid OFF

The Whizbang Jr. has no power.
Improper wiring and/or AUX2 mode misconfigured.

Blinks rapidly
Hardware Fault
Device may be damaged. Try cycling Whizbang Jr.’s power.

Edited: If you disconnect the WBjr it will need to cycle to float before you will get accurate SOC readings. From the manual:

"Also note that on the Home screen the Charge stage message in the bottom right corner will toggle between the current stage and the actual state of charge percentage after it goes to float for the first time.
John

10 x Kyocera KC140, Classic 150 w/WBJr, Link10 Battery Monitor, 850 AH @ 12v Solar One 2v cells, Xantrex PROwatt SW2000
Off Grid on Houseboat Lake Don Pedro, CA

russ_drinkwater

Hello,
The upgrade on panels to the system cured the wbj problem as I felt the lower voltage panels were not providing enough charge to the batteries. The new array gets the system to float at approx 11am most days now. The wbj had started working correctly for a while, but has since died and does not blink anymore.
I have not had a chance to remove it and cast my eyes over to see any obvious signs of damage.
Standalone. 20 Hyundai x 220 watts panels, 2 x classic 150's, Latronics 24 volt 3kw inverter, Whiz bang Jnr, 12 Rolls surrete  4KS 25P  batteries and WBJ.
Grid tie feed-in, 12.5 kw in 3 arrays generating 50 kws per day average. Solar river grid tie inverters

CDN-VT

Quote from: russ_drinkwater on January 23, 2017, 03:46:41 PM
The wbj had started working correctly for a while, but has since died and does not blink anymore.
I have not had a chance to remove it and cast my eyes over to see any obvious signs of damage.

I also just found my kid stating that the WBjr wire was disconnected , no blinky , so in went a spare WBjr & now were back to working .Strange . Maybe they had a bad batch ?
On close inspection , it looks as clean as the new spare replacement .
I'll get in to MN next trip down .

VT
Canadian Solar 350W 37.6 VOC  30.6 VMP 8.22 ISC 7.87 IMP ,-15 c +30c max  4 strings in 2 in Series for 24v Classic 150 -1020 Ah  Freezers & fridges ~~~ Second Array same panels of 3sx3 parallel for 24 V Classic 150 -440 Ah Outback Barns & out blds.
48Vdc almost done,11Strings up of 3s11P same panels

russ_drinkwater

I will get those photos to you Nigel as well.
Sorry for delays as I have been laid up last 10 days after getting hit in the face with a steel gate when a agro cow charged it!
My raccoon eyes are disappearing and the swelling is going down, sigh! :(
Standalone. 20 Hyundai x 220 watts panels, 2 x classic 150's, Latronics 24 volt 3kw inverter, Whiz bang Jnr, 12 Rolls surrete  4KS 25P  batteries and WBJ.
Grid tie feed-in, 12.5 kw in 3 arrays generating 50 kws per day average. Solar river grid tie inverters