Lifeline Battery Recovery experiences?
I had a thread about our Magnum MS2812 going into Fault code mode overnight while boon docking. Posted under Magnum because I first thought I may have had a problem with my program parameters, and pos...
Forum Discussion
It's never fun having to bow and katow to battery whims. The best they can do is arrive at a conscious decision as to compromises - causes and effects. Accept consequences and live with them.
I squeezed hard for information because I do not do well with mysteries.
With regard to Concorde, as with all battery manufacturers the person you speak to on the telephone is not a genuine engineer. No electrical nor chemical degrees. They are educated salesmen in the top tier companies you are more likely to talk to someone who is quite savvy with the product.
But the Lifeline manual is the bible and there isn't an engineer in their employ who is going to argue with it.
At the moment I am engaged in preparing a Meanwell power supply - an RSP-1500-15 to be exact. This is a multiple purpose unit so it is going to be laden with controls and measurement devices.
Wide open, the 1500-15 delivers 132 amperes. The voltage is settable, fixed if you wish to 14.40 volts. And despite what anyone says charging the Lifeline does not have to cease immediately upon reaching .5 amp per 100 amp hours. Three or four hours extra does not hurt or decay a thing.
Putting the device on an AC timer is easy. So is realizing that excess hotel loads should be minimized when attempting a 100% charge.
It's time to put the Magnum on the Hot Seat to see if it has the capability to charge your battery bank at bulk voltage recommendation of the Lifeline (14.40 volts) continuously all the way to the point where amperage will decay to 4.0 amps at 14.40 volts. There is no maybe's or it should's allowed. Either the charger inverter will do it or it won't.
Solar voltaics can be used if the design specifications allow the array to deliver enough power to the batteries to negate hotel power parasitic draw, and therefore allow the panels to finish what the inverter cannot do in a reasonable amount of gen run time.
I had to run my generator for 2.7 hours in the early morning and by three o'clock and change the recharging protocol would finish via the panels and controller.
This does not have to be performed every charging cycle. Achieving full charge every 7th cycle does not severely impact lifespan.
Batteries are batteries and chemistry is chemistry and if batteries are allowed to degrade over a long time then recovery chances will be minimized. Recovery after five years of undercharging is not laden with a bowl full of optimistic thoughts.
"How much is enough versus how much is too much" is a personal decision you have to make and live with with regard to making any battery a happy camper. Pure compromise.
My Trace 4024 is a wad of snot for properly charging any type of battery. A three thousand dollar machine in it's prime. Trace abandoned the finest charger setup when they abandoned the 2812 charger. Went from excellence to useless garbage.
Either your total setup can recharge your batteries to the formula that leaves the batteries charged or it can't. You need a formidable solar array to effectively reduce generator run time.
Or live with the consequences with grim satisfaction...
Let's see. 800 ampere hours of Lithium batteries and the inability to function in sub freezing weather THEN the limitations of whatever management system it takes for preventing a Bugatti Royale from doing a Laurel & Hardy - anyone care to do a workup? Ooooooo don't forget the vehicle charging system interface...
I squeezed hard for information because I do not do well with mysteries.
With regard to Concorde, as with all battery manufacturers the person you speak to on the telephone is not a genuine engineer. No electrical nor chemical degrees. They are educated salesmen in the top tier companies you are more likely to talk to someone who is quite savvy with the product.
But the Lifeline manual is the bible and there isn't an engineer in their employ who is going to argue with it.
At the moment I am engaged in preparing a Meanwell power supply - an RSP-1500-15 to be exact. This is a multiple purpose unit so it is going to be laden with controls and measurement devices.
Wide open, the 1500-15 delivers 132 amperes. The voltage is settable, fixed if you wish to 14.40 volts. And despite what anyone says charging the Lifeline does not have to cease immediately upon reaching .5 amp per 100 amp hours. Three or four hours extra does not hurt or decay a thing.
Putting the device on an AC timer is easy. So is realizing that excess hotel loads should be minimized when attempting a 100% charge.
It's time to put the Magnum on the Hot Seat to see if it has the capability to charge your battery bank at bulk voltage recommendation of the Lifeline (14.40 volts) continuously all the way to the point where amperage will decay to 4.0 amps at 14.40 volts. There is no maybe's or it should's allowed. Either the charger inverter will do it or it won't.
Solar voltaics can be used if the design specifications allow the array to deliver enough power to the batteries to negate hotel power parasitic draw, and therefore allow the panels to finish what the inverter cannot do in a reasonable amount of gen run time.
I had to run my generator for 2.7 hours in the early morning and by three o'clock and change the recharging protocol would finish via the panels and controller.
This does not have to be performed every charging cycle. Achieving full charge every 7th cycle does not severely impact lifespan.
Batteries are batteries and chemistry is chemistry and if batteries are allowed to degrade over a long time then recovery chances will be minimized. Recovery after five years of undercharging is not laden with a bowl full of optimistic thoughts.
"How much is enough versus how much is too much" is a personal decision you have to make and live with with regard to making any battery a happy camper. Pure compromise.
My Trace 4024 is a wad of snot for properly charging any type of battery. A three thousand dollar machine in it's prime. Trace abandoned the finest charger setup when they abandoned the 2812 charger. Went from excellence to useless garbage.
Either your total setup can recharge your batteries to the formula that leaves the batteries charged or it can't. You need a formidable solar array to effectively reduce generator run time.
Or live with the consequences with grim satisfaction...
Let's see. 800 ampere hours of Lithium batteries and the inability to function in sub freezing weather THEN the limitations of whatever management system it takes for preventing a Bugatti Royale from doing a Laurel & Hardy - anyone care to do a workup? Ooooooo don't forget the vehicle charging system interface...
