Hey there, i have the bts installed half way up the side of a middle battery (4 t105re, 24v) between the two batteries in the middle, and under the temp sub menu, the remote is reading 37° c, fet 44.7... its right around peak charging time for me, at peaks of 16-17amps... House is around 75° f. Is this a normal temp reading? Seems a bit high. I was attempting to set the t-comp values when i noticed this.
Hey there. I'm no expert, but 37c is 98.6f and that does sound a bit high to me if your ambient temp, (your house I assume), is around 75f (23.9c). Is there some other kind of heat source nearby that could account for this? Do your batteries feel warm?
fets are the device inside the classic that do the switching so they will run hot if the classic is charging
It's actually in the coolest part of the house. The batteries don't feel even remotely close to that temp, either. Something i noticed since posting however... Under the remote reading is the "battery" reading, which was 16.6 c... is that the actual temp? I thought it would have been the remote reading...i must be wrong about that.
Do you have an infra red temp gun? If not a belated Christmas present ?
They are indispensable for battery checking during an EQ etc...
Unfortunately not. A good hydrometer is next on the list so i can verify what the wbjr is telling me regarding the SoC. Should I be going by wrist the temp says on the wb screen? On that screen it reports a temp of 26°C... that seems more normal. I have yet to see an EQ cycle, but then again is only been online for like a week. Speaking of hydrometers, I was looking at a hydrovolt... is that a decent one? I remember seeing a midnight solar sg tester... is that the same thing?
Hydrovolt = yes, that is a german made hydrometer, getting a good review for ease of use and accuracy . do a search for it here and at NAWS forum
Those temperatures are about right.
The remote temperature sensor is on a board with some semi-warm electronics components and can't be
placed out in the open so that is why you see 37 degrees C or so.
Completely normal.
boB
So to explain what you see:
Battery Temp = What the blue plug in sensor is feeling
Remote Temp = The temperature on the MNGP (Display)
FET Temp = The temperature of the switching FETs should be considerably higher than ambient
PCB Temp = The temperature of the main circuit board on the classic semi close to the FET Temp sensor
Thanks guys, your the best! My sole complaint about midnight solar is that you guys don't make inverters and all the other components I need that, well...you don't make. Customer service is beyond belief.
Quote from: boB on January 19, 2015, 06:53:29 PM
The remote temperature sensor is on a board with some semi-warm electronics components and can't be placed out in the open so that is why you see 37 degrees C or so.
boB
boB, a question about the 'remote' temp sensor readout. So are you saying the board inside the KID is overriding the BTS due to the board being in a hot spot or is this really the average internal temp of the KID?
I l looked in the KID manual and searched elsewhere and could not find a mention of 'remote'
Is this on the Kid or Classic? On the Classic the remote sensor is on the MNGP.
So on all of our charge controllers the Battery temp is used for Temperature compensation and the FET temperature is used to thermally derate the controller. All other temperature sensors are just there for info only
Hi Ryan, guess I was thinking KID when I wrote that but thinking about both CC's.
My question is that if there is no BTS, especially the in the KID, does the 'onboard' Temp Sensor affect/control the charge voltage?
No on both controllers if the BTS is unplugged it defaults to 25C or NO compensation
thanks for clearing that up.. :)
That statement would make for a good addition to the manuals for the KID and Classic CC's 8)
Ok, so I've come up with another question. Just came home and checked my battery status, the SoC reads 100% and was in absorb mode, and I can hear the batteries making a slight sloshing/gurgling noise... is this all normal? I flipped the inverter back on (i generally turn it off when not home during the day) and it went back into bulk mode. When, exactly, should i be seeing it go into float? I thought it did that at 100%. All the charging parameters were programmed by the values Trojan recommended for my particular batteries. Should I go in and adjust anything, at this point? I just started an EQ... Haven't done that with this bank yet, though it's only a week and a half old. The batt temp is only reading 19c, and they don't feel hot. Just wondering about the noise really. These are the t105re batteries, for reference.
Quote from: BlackwaterPark on January 21, 2015, 01:38:15 PM
I can hear the batteries making a slight sloshing/gurgling noise... is this all normal?
Sounds pretty normal to me. For flooded lead acid batteries anyway. You should check the fluid level in them if they gas like that much. replacing with distilled water lost to gassing is a required maintenance item on flooded batteries.How often is dependent on the system.
Tom
Ity has to go through ABSORB before entering EQ, what is the time, in hrs, you have set at?
I had the absorb set at 3 hours... Just kicked it back to 2. Guess it will be alot of observe and tweak for a couple months.
At the end of Absorb what was the SG if it is not as per Manufacturers specs it has to go longer or raise the Voltage. Probably have to readjust after you get the hang of it all...
Quote from: BlackwaterPark on January 21, 2015, 01:38:15 PM
Ok, so I've come up with another question.
<snip>
and I can hear the batteries making a slight sloshing/gurgling noise... is this all normal?
the noise you hear is normal, anytime the battery voltage is above the gassing voltage. Not only is it normal, but it is necessary. Your electrolyte becomes stratified during both charging and discharging. Unless you have a mechanical electrolyte stirring system, you must overcharge your batteries as a method of stirring the electrolyte. Overcharging above the gassing voltage is not good for batteries (causes corrosion of positive plate), but prolonged stratification is worse.
Quote from: BlackwaterPark on January 21, 2015, 01:38:15 PM
Just came home and checked my battery status, the SoC reads 100% and was in absorb mode
<snip>
When, exactly, should i be seeing it go into float? I thought it did that at 100%.
That should be a transient condition... if you are at 100% SOC you should be in float, not absorb. If this condition persists for more than a few minutes, it means that your battery monitor and your charge controller are not reaching the same conclusion (that the batteries are charged) at the same time. Assuming the condition persists, I need much more detail about your setup to make a diagnosis. For starters, do you have a shunt and whizbangjr?
Quote from: BlackwaterPark on January 21, 2015, 01:38:15 PM
I flipped the inverter back on (i generally turn it off when not home during the day) and it went back into bulk mode.
That is normal. The inverter constitutes a load and pulls the battery voltage down. The charge controller is trying to hold the voltage up. As soon as the voltage is pulled down below your absorb voltage, the controller is no longer in absorb, it has fallen back into bulk.
That happens here frequently, every afternoon when a cloud blocks the sun. As soon as the cloud passes the array produces enough power to push the voltage back up and re-enter absorb mode.
--vtMaps
Hi, yes. ..i have the whizbang and shunt. I had the absorb set to 3 hours, reduced to 2. It hits float at 100% pretty much all the time now.
Quote from: BlackwaterPark on January 31, 2015, 10:47:24 AM
Hi, yes. ..i have the whizbang and shunt. I had the absorb set to 3 hours, reduced to 2. It hits float at 100% pretty much all the time now.
Do you have the WBjr setup to measure End Amps? Sound like you may be using the Absorb timers rather than End Amps. End Amps is a much better way to determine when you batteries are fully charged. When the amps going into your batteries level off that is the setting you want to use for End Amps and when it reached that setting it will go to Float as long as it has enough time on the Absorb Timer. If it doesn't reach the End Amps setting the Absorb Timer will force it to Float.
I have not set that parameter up yet, RH. To be honest, I'm not sure what it means. To clarify, could you give a hypothetical example? A real one could work to, heh.
The purpose of the absorb cycle is to bring the battery to full charge.
Switching to float doesn't necessarily mean full charge - it just means the absorb cycle has timed out.
In my case, to reach a full charge, indicated by the absorb amps dropping to 4 (based on a recommendation from my battery supplier - about 0.5% of my batteries capacity of 800 AH, takes a lot longer than 2-3 hours.
When I had the absorb time set in the 2-3 hour range, I would see the battery SOC dropping each day, when checked by measuring the SG.
I am currently using the WBJr end amps setting, so that the absorb cycle lasts until the current drops to 4 amps (keep in mind your setting might be higher or lower depending on your batteries). Some days it finishes the cycle, some it doesn't, but overall this approach better ensures that the batteries are being more fully charged than was occurring with the time setting.
Bob
Quote from: BlackwaterPark on February 01, 2015, 09:01:06 AM
I have not set that parameter up yet, RH. To be honest, I'm not sure what it means. To clarify, could you give a hypothetical example? A real one could work to, heh.
Bob D gave you his real life example.
When charging you battery bank in absorb the voltage is held constant at your Absorb voltage setting and the amps will slowly decrease to the the battery. You have to have the Classic set to use the WBjr shunt to see the true amps going to the batteries. If it is set to use the internal Classic shunt you're will see amps being supplied to the batteries plus any loads.
You want to see only the amps going to the batteries. As it drops in Amps it will eventually level off and maintain a pretty level amperage into the batteries. This is when your batteries are close to being fully charged. Understand you must put back more Amp Hours than you take out to fully charge a battery bank. This leveling off amps is what you want to set for the end amps value on the controller. The absorb time must be set high enough for the amperage to level off. In my case it levels off around 3 amps but every battery bank is different and you must observe this on a day when you can keep the controller in Absorb long enough. So in my case the Absorb timer is set to 3 hours and will normal level off in about 2 hours. I have a very light load on my batteries. If you set the Absorb timer too low it will exit Absorb before your batteries have reached the leveling off of the amperage. Please read the WBJr manual for additional information on how to set up the Classic to work with the WBjr.