bts temp question

[BlackwaterPark]

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.

[TomW]

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

[Westbranch]

Ity has to go through ABSORB before entering EQ, what is the time, in hrs, you have set at?

[BlackwaterPark]

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.

[Westbranch]

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...

[vtmaps]

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. 

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?

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

[BlackwaterPark]

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.

[Resthome]

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.

[BlackwaterPark]

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]

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

[Resthome]

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.