Solar and Lifeline
Hi y’all First thanks to all who have tried to help with this project I finally got my Renogy system up and running. 4 -100 watt panels on the roof. 30amp mppt controller, 2000w pure sine wave inve...
Forum Discussion
The only complaints I've heard about Lifeline AGM battery owners come from those who rely exclusively on solar for their recharging.
The slow ramp up of solar, as opposed to flipping a switch for instant max amperage from the charging source applied at the battery's most depleted state, seems to frustrate them. I know it does my Northstar AGM.
So you have 440AH of AGM capacity with only 400 watts of Solar. While that ratio might be almost acceptable for flooded batteries, it is not for AGMs, especially those which say right in the user manual that deeper discharges require the ability to apply higher amperage, or the ability and wherewithall to apply an extended constant current charge after the normal absorption stage ends.
Beware of 'monitors' they drift, they need proper calibration, and occassional rezeroing, once the batteries are known to be truly full.
Its good you noticed the voltage sag under relatively light loads, you can recover a substantial amount of performance from these newish batteries if you can meet that minimum charge rate and perhaps hold higher voltages for extended periods.
But to keep them from falling over again, you will need to occassionally be able to Zap them with higher amps from their most depleted state and then hold absorption voltage until amperage tapers to 2.2amps or less.
A 20% charge rate, for 440AH of Lifeline AGm battery, is 88 amps.
Thats a heck of a lot more than 400 watts of solar, which is what, 24 amps on noon June 21?
So how are you going to get that 88 amps?
Be glad you are not cycling 440AH of Odyssey AGM batteries, they want no less than 40 amps per 100Ah of capacity, when cycled to 50% State of charge.
Lifeline at least states that constant current overcharge at the end of a regular absorption cycle can be effective in preventing the premature walk down in capaacity of batteries that see only low and slow charge rates. I do not recall seeing anything in Odyssey literature regarding what to do if one cannot meet that 40% charge rate when deep cycling.
I own a Northstar, similar to Odyssey, if I dont feed it high amps somewhat regularly, it protests with low loaded voltage and requires extremely long aborption stages for amperage to taper to prescribed levels, indicating full charge..
Been cycling it for 5.5 years and ~1100 deep cycles now, and the high amperage recharge is a big part of being able to achieve that.
I'm gonna discharge it a lot tonight and instantly hit it with a ~70% charge rate until amps taper to 0.4 @14.7v.
It's what your lifelines are Craving.
The slow ramp up of solar, as opposed to flipping a switch for instant max amperage from the charging source applied at the battery's most depleted state, seems to frustrate them. I know it does my Northstar AGM.
So you have 440AH of AGM capacity with only 400 watts of Solar. While that ratio might be almost acceptable for flooded batteries, it is not for AGMs, especially those which say right in the user manual that deeper discharges require the ability to apply higher amperage, or the ability and wherewithall to apply an extended constant current charge after the normal absorption stage ends.
Beware of 'monitors' they drift, they need proper calibration, and occassional rezeroing, once the batteries are known to be truly full.
Its good you noticed the voltage sag under relatively light loads, you can recover a substantial amount of performance from these newish batteries if you can meet that minimum charge rate and perhaps hold higher voltages for extended periods.
But to keep them from falling over again, you will need to occassionally be able to Zap them with higher amps from their most depleted state and then hold absorption voltage until amperage tapers to 2.2amps or less.
A 20% charge rate, for 440AH of Lifeline AGm battery, is 88 amps.
Thats a heck of a lot more than 400 watts of solar, which is what, 24 amps on noon June 21?
So how are you going to get that 88 amps?
Be glad you are not cycling 440AH of Odyssey AGM batteries, they want no less than 40 amps per 100Ah of capacity, when cycled to 50% State of charge.
Lifeline at least states that constant current overcharge at the end of a regular absorption cycle can be effective in preventing the premature walk down in capaacity of batteries that see only low and slow charge rates. I do not recall seeing anything in Odyssey literature regarding what to do if one cannot meet that 40% charge rate when deep cycling.
I own a Northstar, similar to Odyssey, if I dont feed it high amps somewhat regularly, it protests with low loaded voltage and requires extremely long aborption stages for amperage to taper to prescribed levels, indicating full charge..
Been cycling it for 5.5 years and ~1100 deep cycles now, and the high amperage recharge is a big part of being able to achieve that.
I'm gonna discharge it a lot tonight and instantly hit it with a ~70% charge rate until amps taper to 0.4 @14.7v.
It's what your lifelines are Craving.
