Classic 150 constantly cycling it's relay,

[boB]

Wayne,  RFR = 5 just means low power (usually less than 20 watts) for 90 seconds.

RFR = 13 is probably why it was doing the clicking.  This RFR of 13 means that when it came
out of Resting, it went 10 volts higher than the Voc it measured when in Resting.

So, looks like you have a 12 V battery but how many volts do you see on the PV input if you
see it Resting for a few seconds during the day OR turn MODE to off for a moment and then
look at the PV input voltage.  That is the real  open circuit voltage (Voc).

Also looks like you are in either PV U-Set or Dynamic mode ? (Solar 1) ?

Have you tried either SOLAR or Legacy P&O MPPT modes ?

I think we can get you adjusted to lower the relay clicking though.  A wee bit more
information maybe needed.  Don't worry too much about the clicking hurting the
relay.  It's doing it at lower power at least.

boB

[waynefromnscanada]

Hi again boB, I really appreciate your time and patience!
Yes, when it was showing 5, the sky was just starting to brighten, but still far away from being bright enough for the PV to produce any usable power. The PV voltage at that point was only 27, but that was enough to trigger the Classic out of Resting, whereupon the Classic would drain the PV voltage down to 12 and shut go to Rest again.
In full daylight, the PV Vmp hangs around 38 or 40 volts, depending on PV temperature. I still have to check Voc, unfortunately I didn't get to it today.
I'm not yet familiar with the U-set / Dynamic mode etc. I'll see if I can find it in the manual.
Thanks again.
Wayne

[waynefromnscanada]

Hi yet again Bob!
Finally got back to the Classic. Been a busy time.
Discovered the unit was operating in sort of a PWM mode. Hadn't noticed that before.
Battery bank is 12 volt.
PV Voc is 42.
PV Vmp 36.
What I discovered is that the Classic was drawing down the PV voltage to just below battery voltage, and output current was roughly what I would expect from a PWM CC.
Found the U-set/dynamic menu and it appeared to be in Solar mode. Hadn't been to this part of the menu before. Selected U-set and there was no difference, then back to Solar. Suddenly the PV voltage went up to 38 and likewise the amps to battery went up to roughly 15 from the 3.8 that had been showing. Perhaps it had been in U-set. Cloudy/overcast, so not expecting more at this time. 
Perhaps this will solve a couple of problems, one of them being lower than expected output amps, but that hadn't really been bothering me too mush as we were having one stormy day after another. Looking forward to some sun later this afternoon and seeing how it now operates at dusk.
This thing is amazing, so many user adjustments of real value. Was easily able to precisely match it's Absorb / Float voltages to the TS-MPPT-60 so they work VERY well together. No fights, no arguments between them and that's great.

[Westbranch]

Wayne, what bets if  you had a KID  there would be an argument?

[boB]

CooL, Wayne !

From the RFR numbers I thought that maybe the Classic was in U-Set or Dynamic mode rather
than SOLAR mode.

Legacy can also work pretty well.  For low battery voltage (12V) and low-ish PV voltages, Legacy is a lot of times the best choice for tracking mode.

The nice thing is that you can play with it and see.

When trying U-Set, first try setting the percentage of Voc to around 75% to 80% for unshaded arrays.
Unshaded meaning, no "partial" shading.  Clouds are not partial shading of course.

Glad it is working better !

boB

[waynefromnscanada]

Thanks a lot Bob! Yes, it appears to be operating very well now. And the 2 second cycling at dusk is gone! It does (at dusk) try bulk every minute or two, but as there is no longer enough light, it goes back to resting. That fine, no problem there, and it didn't last long, I watched as the PV Voc gradually made it's way down to battery voltage, at which time the CC stayed resting. The final cycle of the relay lasted 1.5 minutes and by that time it's day was over. 
One of these days I'll try the Legacy mode and see how it goes.
Again, I want to thank you Bob very much for your assistance.
Signed:
Wayne, a happy Classic owner. 

[phxmark]

Wayne.

I have my Classic set to Legacy mode.  Seems to work better than Solar and Dynamic modes.  I also found that Dynamic mode worked better than solar on my configuration.  I have Legacy mode configured for 03 Minutes and 14% of Watts.  Adjusting the percentage up and down to fine tune it.  I started at 10%, monitored the performance and then tuned the watts percentage for better performance.  14% works for my configuration, your mileage may vary.

[waynefromnscanada]

Great info phxmark! Thanks for sharing!
Am going to try to set mine up like yours and see how it goes. Hoping I can figure out how to set the time and %.
Gotta get my nose back in the manual.
Thanks again.
Wayne