boondocking, need help asap....
Just put a new controller in for my 55w solar panel. It charges batts (2 12v) to full charge, but once the sun starts to go down the batts start to discharge and the controller shows red by morning. W...
Forum Discussion
A battery that has gone bad, lost it's capacity, will/can show good voltage after charging, with a light load but will drop in voltage faster than a good one. The worse condition the battery is in the faster the voltage will drop.
A low good battery, when a charge starts and runs for a short while and then you turn off the charger, will show good voltage but when a load (lights on etc) will drop rapidly and the battery will have no capacity yet. Similar to a bad battery.
So, reading the voltage is important to understand what is happening to your charging system.
The failsafe method of battery capacity checking is a pain in the XXX.
You can read about it later. Specific Gravity...... And some of us use a large load for a set time to determine the capacity (Like turning on 50+ lights).
12 volt side of life is good reading:
http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm
Jim
A low good battery, when a charge starts and runs for a short while and then you turn off the charger, will show good voltage but when a load (lights on etc) will drop rapidly and the battery will have no capacity yet. Similar to a bad battery.
So, reading the voltage is important to understand what is happening to your charging system.
The failsafe method of battery capacity checking is a pain in the XXX.
You can read about it later. Specific Gravity...... And some of us use a large load for a set time to determine the capacity (Like turning on 50+ lights).
12 volt side of life is good reading:
http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm
Jim
