New controller? Looks like it was added today.

---"Correct. And it gets easier when you know your daily draw. By looking at the solar "summary" in the evening, I can tell how much of this went into battery because I know my daily draw."
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I still don't follow how you can tell how much of that daily draw (as seen by the solar controller) was done by solar using spare solar in the afternoon when the batteries didn't need it all.

Only if all the solar went only to battery and all the draw came only from the battery would you be able to maintain track of the battery SOC using solar AH.

Otherwise you are down to just using the morning voltage as a sort of resting voltage to get approx. SOC, same as anybody with no monitor does.

pianotuna wrote:

2. have extra solar capacity, but that presupposes a way to deal with "waste power" which is why I'd prefer to have the ability to do diversion loads.

SMK has a magnificent solar farm, hence he can safely leave his generator at home.

I haven't heard of the need in diversion loads with solar systems. You probably mean the excessive amps at peak of solar production that are clipped off by controller at the output limit. Yes, there is a theory that this isn't good for MPPT controller :)

As I recall, SMK has 60A controller and 750A solar. Not enough to exceed the amps limit at sea level.

BFL13 wrote:
I mostly use the Tri AH counter and my daily notion of what AH full capacity is adjusted for temperature. ....

I can keep a fairly good track of how things are going, but I would not claim to know exact anything. Don't need to know exact anything either. If the morning voltage keeps getting lower day by day because it has been cloudy lately, then at some point I will haul out my PowerMax 100 amper and get caught up.

Correct. And it gets easier when you know your daily draw. By looking at the solar "summary" in the evening, I can tell how much of this went into battery because I know my daily draw. There are no gremlins in my rig. There is none or very little need to check these numbers either, in my case, because the system was designed so as to provide full charge on most days. In footsteps of SMK ;)... When solar summary tells me that it reached Abs but not Float, I know that SOC is more than 90%. At this point, and with the fact that it will be up to 100% if not tomorrow then the next day - without Powermax - I'm not concerned about SOC. Don't need a battery monitor to tell me something that is either known, or not important.

BFL13 wrote:
I sure don't need to hook up my laptop to the solar controller and do a bunch of geeky stuff! :)

Because Trimetric is doing this geeky stuff, thou, sinner!
I didn't feel like using a laptop interface so far. The controller is placed out of sight so that I have to go out of the rig and open the hatch to have a look at it. The idea was that such a placement would stop me from doing every hour something that isn't needed to be done at all.

Typo, sorry - remote display is optional in Tristar, not in "Trymetric" obviously.

The lowest my amps can go with no solar is minus 0.3a and then when the fridge burner cuts in it goes to minus 0.8a

With solar on, in order to get the Trimetric to show zero amps and turn positive, showing the "charging light," the solar has to be doing almost an amp if the fridge burner is on.

If I see plus 3 amps on the Tri, and I can hear the fridge burner, then I know solar is doing about 3.8 amps if nothing else is on like a light or a fan.

It is all pretty much of a WAG how full the batteries get on any given day. I mostly use the Tri AH counter and my daily notion of what AH full capacity is adjusted for temperature. In the morning before the solar adds any real voltage or AH, I look at the "morning voltage" (it helps to be up at 5am when sunrise is early) and compare that with the AH count.

I can keep a fairly good track of how things are going, but I would not claim to know exact anything. Don't need to know exact anything either. If the morning voltage keeps getting lower day by day because it has been cloudy lately, then at some point I will haul out my PowerMax 100 amper and get caught up. No big deal.

I sure don't need to hook up my laptop to the solar controller and do a bunch of geeky stuff! :)

Unyalli wrote:
Not amps produced, amps into the batteries.

I'm not sure this feature would work for me as even when a couple of amps are going into my battery bank, it's not at 100% SOC although I read that some small percentage of total amp hour capacity going in somehow counts as 100% SOC. I will say that if there is 0 amps going in, I am definitely at 100%. If my bank is at anything less than 100%, there's always some amount of amps going into the it.

Hi BFL,

Only two ways to get to ending amps.

1. have two battery banks--use one--charge the other
2. have extra solar capacity, but that presupposes a way to deal with "waste power" which is why I'd prefer to have the ability to do diversion loads.

SMK has a magnificent solar farm, hence he can safely leave his generator at home.

Sorry, I had the idea of "ending amps" wrong there I think. Using it as a sort of time limiter for how long to stay at a high set point Vabs is good.

Smk is always on about that, especially if the solar is being used as a battery maintainer when already full. Doesn't want to start over every morning and do four hrs at 14.8 or whatever, every day before it drops to Float.

No effect on me while camping. I just want to get as high in SOC as I can during the afternoon before supper and I knock battery voltage right back down using the inverter etc. Peak battery SOC is more like at 5pm. Solar intake from 5pm to sunset at say 9pm is just slowing down the drop in SOC.

BFL13 wrote:

Unyalli wrote:
The biggest benefit I see with the Kid+Wizbang or a Classic+Wizbang is ending amps. SOC is a bonus.

When do you ever get to "ending amps" while camping? There is always some draw or other on the battery.

Trimetric uses a form of ending amps to say when the battery is back to full. Problem is they go with something like 1 or 2 percent of AH capacity which means you at more like 98% SOC, not full. I just don't use any of that business with my Trimetric. I just use the voltmeter, ammeter, and AH count, and figure out the rest myself.

I really like the Tri can get much use out of it, but the whole notion of using it to calculate when you are back to full is so bogus, starting with the required entry of bank AH capacity. (Which varies by temperature, but not after you enter that number--no temperature compensation on that number )

The Wizbang can replace the Tri, but must suffer the same problems in use. You have to cherry-pick the good info from it and ignore the other stuff.

I here you but what would be better for most. Setting absorb to a guess at how long it takes or battery voltage and actual amps into the batteries? Not amps produced, amps into the batteries.

Unyalli wrote:
The biggest benefit I see with the Kid+Wizbang or a Classic+Wizbang is ending amps. SOC is a bonus.

When do you ever get to "ending amps" while camping? There is always some draw or other on the battery.

Trimetric uses a form of ending amps to say when the battery is back to full. Problem is they go with something like 1 or 2 percent of AH capacity which means you at more like 98% SOC, not full. I just don't use any of that business with my Trimetric. I just use the voltmeter, ammeter, and AH count, and figure out the rest myself.

I really like the Tri can get much use out of it, but the whole notion of using it to calculate when you are back to full is so bogus, starting with the required entry of bank AH capacity. (Which varies by temperature, but not after you enter that number--no temperature compensation on that number )

The Wizbang can replace the Tri, but must suffer the same problems in use. You have to cherry-pick the good info from it and ignore the other stuff.