solar options

NinerBikes wrote:

BFL13 wrote:
AFAIK the Iota IQ4 goes to 14.8 but that's so the batteries can get to 14.6. Once the batteries reach 14.6, it stays there for 15 minutes and then drops to 14.2. Phooey on that!

I don't know any converter that will do it right in every way. That's why I still use the 13.8v Parallax 7355 as the converter for when on shore power (works great) and use separate chargers for the real battery charging stuff to proper high voltages for my 6s and Trojan 1275s.

For fast charging four 6s I use a 100amp charger that goes to 14.8 and stays there, or I can crank that voltage higher if it is cold out so it should be more like 15.1v Note that 100/440 is only a 22% charging rate and you could safely go higher to a 30% charging rate on the four 6s if you want.

Yes it is a way to get by in the fall/spring when solar is not as good as in summer, to just charge for an hour in the morning with charger and then go solar for the rest of it. Trick is to have :
- a serious charger and gen to run it
- gen hours that let you run it in the morning.

That may let you off the hook for getting more solar, so you end up with too much solar in the summer. I keep going back and forth on this, where I get too much solar for summer and sell some, then buy more for the spring and then wish I hadn't and sell that, then a sale on panels happens I can't resist so I buy more and end up with too much solar again! There is nobody who can help you if you get that affliction. :(

So, then if I set my adjustable Voltage Charge controller voltage to 15.0V, does that mean my T1275's will get an actual 14.8 volts from my solar panel?

Is your solar charge controller temperature compensated? If not it should be.

As for charge set points I myself feel that higher is better. I have Crown 6 VDC 260 A/H batteries. Crowns literature said to charge to 14.5 and float at 13.5. I charged to that and had low SG.

I spoke with the technical staff at Crown and they came back saying that I could go as high as 15.1 on the bulk charge rate.

I now have my charger set at 14.9 Bulk and 13.8 float. The longer I float (now set at 4 hrs) the better it is.

Temperature compensation is a must in my book just as a good battery monitor is as well.