S/V Ninaa Ootakii - system startup (2x classic 150's @ 24v)

[Stone]

It was at 25?

[Stone]

As an fyi, that battery bank is in the engine room, which is unheated.

Water temp outside the hull is about 7c.
Air temp outside is currently 2c.

WBJ says 10c currently.

[boB]

As an fyi, that battery bank is in the engine room, which is unheated.

Water temp outside the hull is about 7c.
Air temp outside is currently 2c.

WBJ says 10c currently.

Ahhhh !  OK. so that is the temperature on the WB Jr. board.

Forgot it had that little feature !

[Stone]

Had me worried there for a bit.

So, can I hook a 24v battery charger up to the same place the charge controllers are hooked up to? (I'd like to be able to boost my bank up when it's nasty outside)
Also, WBJ says that just the charge controller is drawing north of 2 amps all the time?

[boB]

Had me worried there for a bit.

So, can I hook a 24v battery charger up to the same place the charge controllers are hooked up to? (I'd like to be able to boost my bank up when it's nasty outside)
Also, WBJ says that just the charge controller is drawing north of 2 amps all the time?

Yes. you can do that.  Connect the external charger to the battery.

So, 2 amps ?   That would be 50 watts.   25 watts per Classic.  You do have two Classics, right ?

That would be way more than a Classic draws at night.   You must have something other than just charge controllers connected to the battery ?

An inverter, maybe ?  Or something else ?

[Stone]

With the inverter turned off, this is what WBJ shows me after dark. It goes to -2.1 when the inverter is in standby v.s. off.

It turns out that I only needed one controller, so the other is currently disconnected, waiting on more panels.

If I understand this correctly, I'm losing 24 amp hours at night, simply because the controller exists, and that seems weird to me, so I'm guessing I missed something along the way?

[ClassicCrazy]

With the inverter turned off, this is what WBJ shows me after dark. It goes to -2.1 when the inverter is in standby v.s. off.

It turns out that I only needed one controller, so the other is currently disconnected, waiting on more panels.

If I understand this correctly, I'm losing 24 amp hours at night, simply because the controller exists, and that seems weird to me, so I'm guessing I missed something along the way?

What kind of inverter ?
You say that is the only thing wired up to the battery is the controller and the inverter ?
Do you have a fuse or breaker on the inverter ?  Turn off breaker or pull fuse and see if the amp draw goes down . Then you will know if the inverter is drawing the power even if it is off.

Larry

[boB]

The regular Classic as I remember CAN draw like, 5 watts when off.  So two Classics would be around 10 watts.  Maybe 11W ?

So, for current that would be around 10W / 25V = 0.4 amps.   Heck, let's just double it and say that the Classic draws 10W each which would be almost twice as much as I have ever seen (I've seen maybe 6 watts at most) unless something has changed. SO say...

20W / 25V = 0.8 amps.

Heck again.  Just round it up to 1.0 amps.

1.0 amp hour times say, 12 hours for equinox would be 12 amp-hours.  Should be more like 6 amp hours at most.

It has to be the inverter idle ?  Unless maybe the WB Jr. is not reading correctly or the Classic's draw has changed significantly ?

All of these pieces of electronics draw power even when they are off.  Not disconnected, but off and ready to be turned on.  Their auxiliary power supplies and displays and microprocessors etc. all contribute.

I am really interested in what is going on though.

[australsolarier]

i am waiting for stone to clarify his 2A vampire draw too. i also suspected his inverter.

[Stone]

I'll check it tonight after the sub goes down.

... If the WBJ is up on the display, wouldn't that mean the classic is on?

[Vic]

The regular Classic as I remember CAN draw like, 5 watts when off.  So two Classics would be around 10 watts.  Maybe 11W ?

So, for current that would be around 10W / 25V = 0.4 amps.   Heck, let's just double it and say that the Classic draws 10W each which would be almost twice as much as I have ever seen (I've seen maybe 6 watts at most) unless something has changed. SO say...

20W / 25V = 0.8 amps.

Heck again.  Just round it up to 1.0 amps.

1.0 amp hour times say, 12 hours for equinox would be 12 amp-hours.  Should be more like 6 amp hours at most.

It has to be the inverter idle ?  Unless maybe the WB Jr. is not reading correctly or the Classic's draw has changed significantly ?

All of these pieces of electronics draw power even when they are off.  Not disconnected, but off and ready to be turned on.  Their auxiliary power supplies and displays and microprocessors etc. all contribute.

I am really interested in what is going on though.

What he said.   You probably do not use Anchor Lights,  do you?   Vic

[Stone]

So I feel like an idiot.

Disconnected the inverter completely, and WBJ still shows a 2.1 amp draw.

Attached is the WBJ install.

Battery feeds on the bottom, inverter feeds on the top.

[Stone]

So, I followed a hunch, and rotated the cables on the shunt...

Now we're at .2a with the inverter connected, and in standby mode.
(apparently it didn't like being so close to the cables, lol)

So vampire draw is, apparently installation error.

[ClassicCrazy]

Negative cable from battery to one side of shunt.  No other negative connections on that side of shunt.  Purple wire from Whizbang pointing to  that battery connection side .
The other side of shunt is where every other negative will be connected to .

Glad you got it figured out that you had it on backwards .

Larry

[boB]

YaY !!

Glad you got it figured out !

Now you're a super doooper trouble shoooter !