Where is the End Amp Setting?

[Matrix]

what about the cable end crimps?  Factory made?
No but they seem very solid. Crimps where done with This and a hammer

Have you taken a SG reading in the morning and compared that to the 75% +-  SoC reading you get?
Not Yet ... I am still building data and a spread sheet for this

It appears that the Charger is doing the same as the Classic and both 'see' a near full battery.
The charger seems to be getting it fully charged.  Only has nite when it was 50* could I not seem to get the batteries up over 92% charged.  I am planning on using the charger today to charge from 70% and  see if it actually pulls the batteries up full,  but last Saturday it was no problem.  The SG from the charger went up to 1.280 at the end of charge.

A bad cable?  Do you have a clamp on Amp meter?
Yes ... I could put that on the cable and test to see if the amps are actually going into the batteries as stated on the charge controller screen.

[Vic]

Hi Matrix,

YES,   -5mV/C/Cell is the correct temp compensation for your Trojans.   The noted compensation from the Trojan data sheet,   is for degrees F.

A Hammer Crimper CAN make good crimps.   On a single string of batteries,  when using a Classic,   the Clamp DC Ammeter may not be of great use.

You CAN measure the voltage drops in the cables with a Digital MultiMeter  (DMM).   You can then compare the voltage drop on that cable's connections, by measuring the voltage drop between the two battery terminals that that cable connects to.   It is best to do these measurements during Bulk,   or when there are fairly heavy loads on the inverter  --  you want fairly heavy current flowing in those battery interconnects.

Please measure each battery's terminal voltage,   and record these.   You want fairly heavy current flowing to or from the battery for this measurement,  too.   The absolute voltage is not so important for this,   just looking for the voltage difference between each battery (measuring how well matched they are).

You still should do an EQ charge when the battery is as well-charged as you can get it.

Earlier,   I did Link an article from Surrette (Rolls) --  Measuring Specific Gravity  -- please read and study this document.   You want to draw three samples and take a reading from the fourth draw.   Usually one takes two samples and reads the third   but since there is some question try 3 draws/read the 4th for now.

AND,  STILL,  your batteries are young.   Cycling them will help them stabilize.

Since you are charging batteries, Temp Compensation is for the temperature of the battery.

Place the Battery Temperature Sensor/s (BTS)  half way down the case of a single battery near the center of the bank.

Since there is some question about the accuracy of the SG readings you are finding,  perhaps buying a glass Hydro or two,   at a NAPA,  or other car parts store.

If your batteries are truly not being fully-charged with the settings in the Classic and Inverter,  usually one would increase the Vabs (since you are running as much as four hours in Absorb).

Forget just where your Vabs is  29.4,   changed to 29.6 (?).

IMO,  at this point,  there was not a large issue in you changing Vabs and Absorb time,  by the small amount that you did  ...   Your EA,   Vabs   and Absorb times  will probably still be somewhat different than what will be needed when the bank is fully broken-in.

Thanks for the Signature line.   Assume that the SW 4024 inverter is the current generation Schneider model  ...   think that it may be known as the Conext SW 4024?

Later, back to work,   Vic

[Matrix]

Yes it is the Conext SW from Schnider.  It has A production date of June 2017 with the latest firmware. More later. Hope to test Thursday.

[Westbranch]

The charger seems to be getting it fully charged.  Only has nite when it was 50* could I not seem to get the batteries up over 92% charged.

DO you have an adjustment value in with the Battery specifics for (the field name evades me right now, it it shown in the Local App)?       But this is not the TEMP adjustment figure for use with the RTS or BTS...

[Matrix]

OK ... so I thought I had the End Amps and Absorb set so that my batteries would be charged fully on a Sunny day.  But now ... it seems I keep switching from 2-3 hours of absorb, the it goes back into Bulk MPPT and never goes to float.  Why am I switching back to Bulk?

Battery bank is 4 L16H-AC 435Ah that were 31% discharged this morning. 

Settings
31.1 Absorb volts  (manufacture is 29.6v but at 29.6v the batteries never fully charge)
5.5 End Amps

Edit: 
And now 5 minutes later it is in Float?   Why did it go from Absorb - to - Bulk MPPT for just about 3 minutes - to - Float?

[mike90045]

I am wary of a BTS bolted to the same terminal that 40A of battery current flows through, there WILL be self-heating of the terminal and the bolted wire joint. 
Tape the BTS to the middle of the case of a embedded battery, and tape a chunk of Styrofoam over it, is a more accurate sensing method

[Westbranch]

Matrix, in your description it sounds like you are changing the settings and then watching for any changes....is that what you are describing?

So, if you are not changing any values at that time the drop from absorb to Bulk MPPT can be caused by/ from a cloud that drops the solar insolation momentarily and  the CC has to use MPPT to hold the Voltage as close to the Absorb value but can not do it, it drops back to the previous stage, ie BULK

When is followed by an ''edge of cloud effect'' ... when the suns rays first come from behind the cloud and you get sunshine and cloud refracted sunshine  hit the PV's at the same time... and it spikes the incoming voltage....  I've seen it once and do you ever get a boost in production for a second or 2...
hth....

ps Mike has a good point about the post heating issue and you may be chasing a couple of things at the sane time

[Matrix]

Thanks. My midnight temperature sensor is on the battery case.... my Conext SW battery sensor is on the negative post.  that's where it says to connect it in the manual but it is not part of the charge controller

[Matrix]

And Yes ... I am setting the charge settings by the SOC from the previous day ... but I am not adjusting the settings during any one day's cycle ... and we have had great weather for it the past week.  Almost perfectly cloudless days.  So from one day to the next ... my available solar power conditions has been almost exactly the same.

[Westbranch]

 I take it from the above that you are moving the charge parameters daily, up and down.

I remember in another forum that they recommended that you wait for a stable / same 'output / result' for 3 consecutive days before making another adjustment, I assume that allows for variances in incoming  power and usage / consumption day to day. 

The bigger the bank the longer to stabilize... once broken in....

[Matrix]

OK great idea. Point taken

[Vic]

OK ... so I thought I had the End Amps and Absorb set so that my batteries would be charged fully on a Sunny day.  But now ... it seems I keep switching from 2-3 hours of absorb, the it goes back into Bulk MPPT and never goes to float.  Why am I switching back to Bulk?

Battery bank is 4 L16H-AC 435Ah that were 31% discharged this morning. 

Settings
31.1 Absorb volts  (manufacture is 29.6v but at 29.6v the batteries never fully charge)
5.5 End Amps

Edit: 
And now 5 minutes later it is in Float?   Why did it go from Absorb - to - Bulk MPPT for just about 3 minutes - to - Float?

When you say.   ...   " But now ... it seems I keep switching from 2-3 hours of absorb, the it goes back into Bulk MPPT and never goes to float.  Why am I switching back to Bulk?  ..."

you must be saying that on one day,   the Absorb is 2 hours,   and on another day it is 3 hours ??

If the DOD of the battery varies  from day-to-day,   then the Absorb time will vary,   when using EA  as the terminator of Absorb.   BUT,   it is quite unlikely that one day the Absorb time would 2.00  hours,   and the next it would 3.00 hours ...   should almost NEVER be an even number of hours,   unless Absorb is being terminated by the Absorb time setting you have set,   AND  you have changed this setting from one day to the next.

31.1 Vabs is quite high.   And,   as the Vabs is raised,   more the batteries Accept a higher current for a given SOC.   SO,   it is possible that your 5.5 A EA might NEVER be reached before your Abosrb time is reached.

1.  ONCE AGAIN,   I DO WONDER ABOUT THE ACCURACY OF THE SG READINGS YOU ARE SEEING.  Why not buy one or two additional Hydrometers at an Auto Parts Store,   as see what they have to say about the battery SG readings?

2. Have you read that article,  "Measuring Specific Gravities"  From Rolls Surrette?
Are you following that procedure when taking your SG readings ?? ?

Several things can cause the CC to revert to Bulk,  from Absorb.   These all revolve around having insufficient PV power available at that time to charge the batteries AND supply any loads on the system (inverter).   Clouds can cause this,   increases in loads,   some shading,   and   the sun moving lower in the sky,  etc.

Your batteries are young.   It is not essential at this point to fully charge your batteries each day.   BUT   it will be good to try to determine  IF the batteries are actually being fully-charged  and the SG measurements do not quite reflect this,   OR what else might be going on.

As has been mentioned several times before,   you can watch the battery charge current on  the WbJr Status screen.  This will help tell you  when  the batteries will Accept no more charge for that Vabs.   This does not necessarily say that the batteries are fully-charged when this current essentially stops decreasing,   just that the batteries will not be charged very much more  with additional time spent in Absorb.

It does appear that you want to get a lot done in a short time period.   BUT,   just trying to figure out if you can fully-charge your batteries with your system and loads,   and if not,  then to make some appropriate changes to do so.

One additional note;  there have been many things suggested by many members here.   Seems to me,   that frequently,   there are not too many answers to questions,  or  feedback from suggestions.   This makes things a bit difficult to keep track of,    and tends to have some of us make those same suggestions again,    and perhaps again.   OR,   to ask the previous questions once again  ...

Possibly trying to find out if your batteries are actually being fully-charged on most every day   would be a great place to start.   Then we could move on to other things.

BTW,   agree with Mike,   place any/all BTSes on the same battery,   covered with  1 -2" thick Styrofoam sheet.

Just  my opinions,   Good Luck,  Vic

[Matrix]

Hi vic thanks.  Yes I have read the How to test SC you linked.  Learning so much.

And No this switch from Absorb to Bulk happened in the same charge cycle.  I was checking via the WBJ and local app to see if the batteries had gone into float this afternoon about 3pm after about 6 hours of charging.  I was thinking "it's probably getting close" and was going to check the SG.  I opened the app and the charge was  in Bulk MPPT.    Not knowing how long they had been back in bulk and knowing that they had been in Bulk this morning and made the switch to Absorb about 12:30pm ... I opened up the My MidNite online logging and realized that the batteries had just gone back into bulk about 5 minutes before I had opened the app to check.  I waited about 10 more minutes and the charger went into float, passing thru absorb from Bulk MPPT but all this switching - from the nice 2-3 hour absorb, then to bulk, to absorb, and then to float - took about 10 minutes.  Just seemed like odd behavior under blue cloudless skies. 

I went and checked the SG ... and the batteries were at 1.290 with a +4 temp comp reading.      Too charged.  Trojan says 100% should be 1.277.  So I will watch tomorrow and see if the SG is still too hi after charging and may adjust my Absorb volts and/or End Amps accordingly.  But will probably do as others have suggested here and watch it for a few days 1st.