Solar Battery Charge Issue
Hello I have a 100W Renogy solar suitcase charging two AutoZone Duralast lead acid Marine deep cycle group 24 batteries. Batteries are 3 years old. Lately I have noticed the charging cycle time drasti...
Forum Discussion
https://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/TrojanBattery_UsersGuide.pdf
You can't go wrong by pretending your batts are Trojans (if they aren't) and following this guide as best you can.
Note the 16.2v for equalizing and how and when to do that procedure. Your controller says it can do 15.5v with "calcium" so do that at least. Better than 14.x .
You can hit 16v by disconnecting the array from its controller (after the batts are full) and going solar direct on the battery. Keep a good watch so you can stop when the voltage gets there and the SG is up where it belongs.
Trouble is it takes all day just to get the batts full, so you can't equalize that day, but you want the batts full in the morning to kick off the equalizing. answer is split bank. run the rig on one battery overnight and let the other sit full till morning, do it, and then swap around and do the other batt. so you have to find a window in the forecast for four days of sunshine. Once you do that, you are good to go back to normal for a month or so.
Solar is hard on batts by not ever getting them truly full every day, so they gradually sulphate. You need an hydrometer to see what is really happening, but not often while camping. something to do at home--wear old clothes that don't mind having lots of holes eaten in them from acid :(
also at home you have shore power, so you can run the converter. Most converters can't do more than 14.4-14.6 so here is one that can do 13-16.5v manual adjusting. So there is how to do the Trojan 16.2, eg. or any other charging spec. dial it down to any float voltage too.
https://www.boatandrvaccessories.com/products/powermax-pm3-60lk-12-volts-60-amp-power-converter-battery-charger-w-led-light
You can't go wrong by pretending your batts are Trojans (if they aren't) and following this guide as best you can.
Note the 16.2v for equalizing and how and when to do that procedure. Your controller says it can do 15.5v with "calcium" so do that at least. Better than 14.x .
You can hit 16v by disconnecting the array from its controller (after the batts are full) and going solar direct on the battery. Keep a good watch so you can stop when the voltage gets there and the SG is up where it belongs.
Trouble is it takes all day just to get the batts full, so you can't equalize that day, but you want the batts full in the morning to kick off the equalizing. answer is split bank. run the rig on one battery overnight and let the other sit full till morning, do it, and then swap around and do the other batt. so you have to find a window in the forecast for four days of sunshine. Once you do that, you are good to go back to normal for a month or so.
Solar is hard on batts by not ever getting them truly full every day, so they gradually sulphate. You need an hydrometer to see what is really happening, but not often while camping. something to do at home--wear old clothes that don't mind having lots of holes eaten in them from acid :(
also at home you have shore power, so you can run the converter. Most converters can't do more than 14.4-14.6 so here is one that can do 13-16.5v manual adjusting. So there is how to do the Trojan 16.2, eg. or any other charging spec. dial it down to any float voltage too.
https://www.boatandrvaccessories.com/products/powermax-pm3-60lk-12-volts-60-amp-power-converter-battery-charger-w-led-light
