solar charger questions
Hello,
I have a couple questions. I have 2 6v 225 interstate batteries with a 100 watt zamp solar panel mounted on the roof of my 2015 Nash 25c. I also have a eco 100 watt portable unit with its own charger that I haven't even hooked up yet. The fixed panel charger is a zamp zs 7a. I just hooked up a victron 700 monitor with the Bluetooth dongle. (super cool) I got the shunt wired and everything installed yesterday afternoon. All seemed great. Today I got to the trailer to check on everything and the batteries were reading 15.8 volts and the panel was putting out 4 amps of charge! The charged green light on controller was not on. I thought this was way high so I pulled the panel fuse and called for some advice. The victron dealer said that perhaps I came to the system during a sulfate program in my charger and that this usually happens once a month. He said pulling the fuse would reset the program and that I should quickly see the green charged light and amps drop when I restarted the system. I did, but not until the batteries were at 14.5-.7 and then there was still 1-1.5 amps of charge. It of course was starting to get cloudy and late in the day so I had a hard time deciding if the charger was functioning properly, or the panel just couldn't put out more amps. So my questions are: How does the charger get its current information to know when to shut down charging amps from panel?
Is 14.5 too high for the charger to still allow 1.5 charging amps from panel?
Do the chargers fail often, and what is best way to make sure this one has not failed? And finally, is a programmable charger a good idea?
Also, Am I missing something?
Thank you in advance for any information. I'm really trying to understand this system. In also trying to keep it as simple and durable as possible. Camp on!
I have a couple questions. I have 2 6v 225 interstate batteries with a 100 watt zamp solar panel mounted on the roof of my 2015 Nash 25c. I also have a eco 100 watt portable unit with its own charger that I haven't even hooked up yet. The fixed panel charger is a zamp zs 7a. I just hooked up a victron 700 monitor with the Bluetooth dongle. (super cool) I got the shunt wired and everything installed yesterday afternoon. All seemed great. Today I got to the trailer to check on everything and the batteries were reading 15.8 volts and the panel was putting out 4 amps of charge! The charged green light on controller was not on. I thought this was way high so I pulled the panel fuse and called for some advice. The victron dealer said that perhaps I came to the system during a sulfate program in my charger and that this usually happens once a month. He said pulling the fuse would reset the program and that I should quickly see the green charged light and amps drop when I restarted the system. I did, but not until the batteries were at 14.5-.7 and then there was still 1-1.5 amps of charge. It of course was starting to get cloudy and late in the day so I had a hard time deciding if the charger was functioning properly, or the panel just couldn't put out more amps. So my questions are: How does the charger get its current information to know when to shut down charging amps from panel?
Is 14.5 too high for the charger to still allow 1.5 charging amps from panel?
Do the chargers fail often, and what is best way to make sure this one has not failed? And finally, is a programmable charger a good idea?
Also, Am I missing something?
Thank you in advance for any information. I'm really trying to understand this system. In also trying to keep it as simple and durable as possible. Camp on!
