Help! Bogart Solar Controller Overcharging

brulaz wrote:
And here's another little tip:
I just learned today that my wonderful wife of many decades has been poking randomly at the Rogue Solar Controller's buttons just to get the screen to turn on so she can read the battery temperature.

One of the buttons is "equalize" another is "setup", etc.
No wonder the poor thing has been acting odd lately ...

:S

The question is: Did you make things worse by forgetting the wisdom of the ages and make a comment that will cost you dearly for the foreseeable future?

And here's another little tip:
I just learned today that my wonderful wife of many decades has been poking randomly at the Rogue Solar Controller's buttons just to get the screen to turn on so she can read the battery temperature.

One of the buttons is "equalize" another is "setup", etc.
No wonder the poor thing has been acting odd lately ...

:S

brulaz wrote:
These controllers all have little computers as their brains.
And sometimes they can get confused no matter how carefully programmed:
bad, unexpected data inputs, etc.

A complete reset to the manufacturer's defaults fixed my Rogue's increasingly erratic behaviour. (Then set to your parameters.)

That is a very good point to remember. In the early days with my first computer I would go around and around with it and my kid would walk over and say just shut it off and restart. Duhhhh. Just like my android phone, shut it down now and then to reboot.

These controllers all have little computers as their brains.
And sometimes they can get confused no matter how carefully programmed:
bad, unexpected data inputs, etc.

A complete reset to the manufacturer's defaults fixed my Rogue's increasingly erratic behaviour. (Then set to your parameters.)

Having your temp stuck at 66c doesn't really sound like a connector issue to me as I would expect that to be more intermittent in nature with variations of readings. Probably a higher probability of a component failure. That said, any and all mechanical connections will almost certainly cause problems eventually. Remember, terminals and most pin type connectors have two mechanical connections. You have the connector to wire connection, which is often a crimp, and the connector to connected surface connection. With your temp sensor it's easy to just disconnect it and see what happens without it as well

As for loosing the Bogart chargers, it will be a shame if/when that happens. It appears Ralph is more or less the company, so it's probably inevitable. Unfortunately, when it comes to battery chargers there really isn't anything else on the market that compares that I've seen. There are many options out there that measure voltage right at the battery, but not that measure current at the battery and allow the options that become available as a result. Programing isn't an issue for me as you just do it when you install the batteries and then forget about it.

Still interested in what you find, and good luck in getting things resolved prior to your boondocking.

The temp reads in Celsius. The sensor does not have to be connected to the battery terminal, just near the batteries. Try it with it disconnected from the terminal. The sensor just plugs into the controller

landyacht318 wrote:
The obvious culprit to a battery temperature sensor reading incorrectly, is the battery temperature sensor itself or its wiring, or where it connects to the solar controller.

Inspect.

The Dang 'tighten stranded wire under screw' type of wire terminals will Always cause issues at some point either from oxidation or with the screws backing off and not being tight enough.

Such terminals might makes things frinedly for the end user with little skill to hook things up themselves, but they are doomed to cause issues. It is only a matter of time.

It does not matter how much care/torque was used in the crushing of that stranded wire under a screw terminal, it will at some point be too loose and the copper will oxidize and introduce resistance, causing more heating, causing more looseness and accelerated oxidation, until failure of the connection.

Tick tick tick.

THis is very good advice. I never have a "crushed wire" connection. Every DC wire that I use has a connector on any battery end.
And, I am so lucky to have chosen a Morningstar controller with MS view. I can program everything with a keyboard. Not trying to rub salt, here, but Trimetric could have a programmable interface without much trouble.
I have heard gossip that they are not going to produce controllers or monitors anymore but that is just hearsay. AFAIK, Bogart is selling gear and supporting it. They make a good product.

Good luck with the Bogart gear. It may have been just some sort of surge that occurred, measuring instrument was faulty, or the controller went batshit for a brief time. I'd keep a meter on things for a few days so that your AGM's are nice and full for the next trip.

The obvious culprit to a battery temperature sensor reading incorrectly, is the battery temperature sensor itself or its wiring, or where it connects to the solar controller.

Inspect.

The Dang 'tighten stranded wire under screw' type of wire terminals will Always cause issues at some point either from oxidation or with the screws backing off and not being tight enough.

Such terminals might makes things frinedly for the end user with little skill to hook things up themselves, but they are doomed to cause issues. It is only a matter of time.

It does not matter how much care/torque was used in the crushing of that stranded wire under a screw terminal, it will at some point be too loose and the copper will oxidize and introduce resistance, causing more heating, causing more looseness and accelerated oxidation, until failure of the connection.

Tick tick tick.

Rbertalotto wrote:
I reprogrammed everything to Program #18 and everything seems to be working fine now.

Voltage went up to 14.5 and then leveled off at 13.4 and this is where it is staying.

One question...the temp reads 66.c What does this mean. It can't be 66 degrees centigrade, that is something like 155 degrees F. Batteries are not even warm. In fact, they are cool. About 50 degrees F.

It reads in C get a hold of Ralph.

I reprogrammed everything to Program #18 and everything seems to be working fine now.

Voltage went up to 14.5 and then leveled off at 13.4 and this is where it is staying.

One question...the temp reads 66.c What does this mean. It can't be 66 degrees centigrade, that is something like 155 degrees F. Batteries are not even warm. In fact, they are cool. About 50 degrees F.