Setup of my Classic 150 in an RV

[tednruthy]

Some questions to help me understand my new solar system on my RV. I have 880W of panels in parallel each about 30V and 8A.  They are mounted flat so I expect maybe 65-70% efficiency and have seen a peak of just over 600W on the Classiv 150 panel.

1/  IS THIS A GRID TIED SYSTEM (BATTERY BACKUP) YES NO
How do I answer this WIZARD question for a RV?  It is not grid tied SOME OF THE TIME but does have battery backup?  I have it set as YES.
2/  The Bulk charge voltage?  I have 4 Trojan T105's cabled for 12V system.  I believe these should be charged at 14.8V.  I set this value for the Bulk Charge and the panel read that this charge was being done at 15.0 V and higher.   Is this normal?  I thought I would see the voltage that I set (14.8V).  So I set the Bulk down to 14.4V so as not to over charge.  I now see a bulk charge of about 14.4 to 14.6V.  I have the temperature probe installed and a 5 ft run of 3/0 cable plus 2 ft of #1 from the Classic 150 to the battery bank.
3/  Where is the 'excess' power going once the batteries are charged fully?  I have only a weeks experience with my solar.  I have found that the 4 batteries and 880W of panels is not adequate to run my absorption refrigerator in 120V from the inverter.  I must leave it on LP or leave the rig plugged into the grid while in storage.  SO,  while on the grid I have lots of excess power.  I am just hoping that this excess does not over charge my batteries.  I leave my 115V battery charger unplugged while in storage.  Yesterday when I went to check and clean the battery terminals the batteries were being charged at over 15V and the Trimetric  2025 said they were 103% charged. That is when I turned down the bulk charge voltage.  What caused the Classic 150 to charge so high with the batteries full?  I have the Bulk (or is it Absorption) on the Classic 150 set to 120 minutes.  Does that not stop early if the batteries are sensed to be full or does it go the full 120 minutes regardless of battery state.  I ask because I was there less than 120 minutes after the sun had come up.

Thanks in advance for helping me understand this Classic 150 and how it needs to be setup for my use.  TED

[Halfcrazy]

1= This is not that important at the moment but you would technically be off grid.

2= If the temp sensor is plugged in it may be seeing the batteries as a little cold and bumping that voltage up 2 tenths. You can set an upper and lower limit the Classic will adjust the voltage based on temperature in the Limits Menu. You can also view the target Voltage the Classic is shooting for in the T Comp menu under View.

3= When the batteries are full the excess power is just being "Not used" this is one of the beauty's of Solar Panels they do not have to stay loaded. The Classic will always regulate to a set voltage that you programmed for Absorb, Float and EQ this number will however be changed for Temp Comp as explained above. There are two times to be set for absorb Min and Max basically if the Classic wakes up to full batteries it should spend near the Minimum time in absorb but if it it takes a while to get to Absorb voltage it will spend the Max time in absorb.

Basically Absorb is a regulated Voltage charge state in other words the Classic will raise the battery voltage to the set point you programmed (With T Comp adjustment of course) and hold it there for a period of time.

Ryan

[tednruthy]

THANKS Ryan,  When I get back to my coach I will use what you said and what I read in the manual to check and change voltages if necessary.  TED