My Screwy 31
First off let me say I am not stressing over this. It's just a battery, it is only money, it is meeting my overnight needs, but it is displaying strange behavior, and I am curious as to why. So th...
Forum Discussion
Midnight EQ session with the MeanWell rsp-500-15
I removed( which requires tipping)and topped off battery today with distilled h2o.
Each cell took a bit less than 2 bulbs worth, a bulb's worth meaning the same amount required to float the float when reading SG, so not much water required.
Same observations as before, higher amps required to reach higher voltages compared to a few months ago, and I'd back off the voltage into the high 14's and give it another hour and amps would barely taper.
Then I just tried to hold a steady 5 amps with the trim pot and it pretty much rose to and stayed at 15.33 volts.
I checked SG, 1.270, 1.275, 1.275
I cranked it to 16V, 12 amps required, tapered to 9.5 amps and held there.
5 minutes later 1.270, 1.275, 1.275
I lowered it to 15.5v. 5.57 amps required
15 minutes later
1.270, 1.275, 1.275
15 minutes later, the same
crank back upto 16V, again 12 amps required, tapering to 9.5
5 minutes later
1.270, 1.275, 1.275
End EQ. Captain, she can't rise no higher I tells you.
Battery case was reading 91F. Outer cell was add .012, inner cell was add .015 according to hydrometer
Electrolyte still clear.
Very quiet outside, battery sounds like freshly opened seltzer water at 16v.
Battery still performing pretty well. Seems to drop a bit faster to 12.2v and then really fight to hold that voltage, briefly touches 11.8v overnight at 65 AH from full under a 3 to 4 amp load.
Solar has not been enough to replace, and there has been Meanwell and Alternator assistance It will take 74 amps of alternator juice for 25 seconds before voltage rises to 14.9v mid morning.
Battery will be one year old Late November and will have ~ 315 cycles on it then.
I think the 14.9ABSV/15.3 Finish Solar regimen which worked well is no longer realistic, as even with enough sun, it has a difficult time bringing it to 15.3v, and the amp threshold which initiates float/finish, well the amps never fall that low and it just stays at 14.9 for 2.5 hours then attempts to rise to 15.3, and usually the sun is too low by then.
With meanwell's higher amperage, it seems less voltage is needed to max out the SG, but I am not able to get SG as high as I once could on warm days, so either the Hydrometer is inaccurate or the battery has lost capacity.
Anyway she's not floating along on some pedestal. It's being cycling hard and now gets some 36+ amp Meanwell assistance when it is obvious the solar will not do the job, or after it has failed to do the job before sundown, but I cycle it most every night even if I have pedestal power available and do not need to cycle the battery.
I removed( which requires tipping)and topped off battery today with distilled h2o.
Each cell took a bit less than 2 bulbs worth, a bulb's worth meaning the same amount required to float the float when reading SG, so not much water required.
Same observations as before, higher amps required to reach higher voltages compared to a few months ago, and I'd back off the voltage into the high 14's and give it another hour and amps would barely taper.
Then I just tried to hold a steady 5 amps with the trim pot and it pretty much rose to and stayed at 15.33 volts.
I checked SG, 1.270, 1.275, 1.275
I cranked it to 16V, 12 amps required, tapered to 9.5 amps and held there.
5 minutes later 1.270, 1.275, 1.275
I lowered it to 15.5v. 5.57 amps required
15 minutes later
1.270, 1.275, 1.275
15 minutes later, the same
crank back upto 16V, again 12 amps required, tapering to 9.5
5 minutes later
1.270, 1.275, 1.275
End EQ. Captain, she can't rise no higher I tells you.
Battery case was reading 91F. Outer cell was add .012, inner cell was add .015 according to hydrometer
Electrolyte still clear.
Very quiet outside, battery sounds like freshly opened seltzer water at 16v.
Battery still performing pretty well. Seems to drop a bit faster to 12.2v and then really fight to hold that voltage, briefly touches 11.8v overnight at 65 AH from full under a 3 to 4 amp load.
Solar has not been enough to replace, and there has been Meanwell and Alternator assistance It will take 74 amps of alternator juice for 25 seconds before voltage rises to 14.9v mid morning.
Battery will be one year old Late November and will have ~ 315 cycles on it then.
I think the 14.9ABSV/15.3 Finish Solar regimen which worked well is no longer realistic, as even with enough sun, it has a difficult time bringing it to 15.3v, and the amp threshold which initiates float/finish, well the amps never fall that low and it just stays at 14.9 for 2.5 hours then attempts to rise to 15.3, and usually the sun is too low by then.
With meanwell's higher amperage, it seems less voltage is needed to max out the SG, but I am not able to get SG as high as I once could on warm days, so either the Hydrometer is inaccurate or the battery has lost capacity.
Anyway she's not floating along on some pedestal. It's being cycling hard and now gets some 36+ amp Meanwell assistance when it is obvious the solar will not do the job, or after it has failed to do the job before sundown, but I cycle it most every night even if I have pedestal power available and do not need to cycle the battery.
