Battle Born Charging
This might answer some recent questions. The table is not accurate wrt to the BB comments--don't go by it by the table itself. Wade through the questions and answers to get the true picture. Tak...
Forum Discussion
Good report! Questions:
1. What is the high DC voltage setting (for Bulk) on the Magnum charger?
2. What is the high DC voltage setting (for Bulk) on the solar controller?
It looks like the two shared the charging amps at about 98 and 14 for the total of about 112 say during Bulk? (The answers to 1 and 2 should explain those proportions somewhat.)
112/500 (if they are still at 500) is a 22% charging rate. That is low for Li so naturally the %SOC that Bulk ends is high. Works the same way with lead acid batts, but not nearly that high for 22%! (see ugly graph posted a while back on that topic)
BB says their batts should be charged at a max of 50% charging rate The Li graph earlier showed that with a 100% charging rate, Bulk ends at 65%.
If you want to use end of Bulk as your marker when to stop charging and you want that to be at 80%, you would have to experiment with your own set-up to find the charging rate that will do that. Might be near 50% based on these results.
Now you need a way to regulate the amps at the desired charging voltage say 14.4v. Not so easy! In real life you have to pick the size of charger(s) in amps rating and be sure the generator can run that many amps.
On solar, amps are usually comparatively low and they vary during the day. That means you can't use amps starting to taper as your marker for end of Bulk and anyway that will be at almost 100% at low amps charging rate.
So on solar alone, no gen/charger, howinheck are you going to know you are at 80% SOC? And then what if it happens at 3PM? Do you have a way to turn off the solar for the rest of the day?
You can use end of Bulk as your marker if you have an ammeter to spot when amps start to taper. You can't use voltage because of voltage drop with high amps. You could use voltage (sort of) with low amps charging rate as with solar--close enough for this job--80% does not have to be exact!
1. What is the high DC voltage setting (for Bulk) on the Magnum charger?
2. What is the high DC voltage setting (for Bulk) on the solar controller?
It looks like the two shared the charging amps at about 98 and 14 for the total of about 112 say during Bulk? (The answers to 1 and 2 should explain those proportions somewhat.)
112/500 (if they are still at 500) is a 22% charging rate. That is low for Li so naturally the %SOC that Bulk ends is high. Works the same way with lead acid batts, but not nearly that high for 22%! (see ugly graph posted a while back on that topic)
BB says their batts should be charged at a max of 50% charging rate The Li graph earlier showed that with a 100% charging rate, Bulk ends at 65%.
If you want to use end of Bulk as your marker when to stop charging and you want that to be at 80%, you would have to experiment with your own set-up to find the charging rate that will do that. Might be near 50% based on these results.
Now you need a way to regulate the amps at the desired charging voltage say 14.4v. Not so easy! In real life you have to pick the size of charger(s) in amps rating and be sure the generator can run that many amps.
On solar, amps are usually comparatively low and they vary during the day. That means you can't use amps starting to taper as your marker for end of Bulk and anyway that will be at almost 100% at low amps charging rate.
So on solar alone, no gen/charger, howinheck are you going to know you are at 80% SOC? And then what if it happens at 3PM? Do you have a way to turn off the solar for the rest of the day?
You can use end of Bulk as your marker if you have an ammeter to spot when amps start to taper. You can't use voltage because of voltage drop with high amps. You could use voltage (sort of) with low amps charging rate as with solar--close enough for this job--80% does not have to be exact!
