help newbie with charging house/solar battery

[blueh20]

hi, trying to learn about keeping my house/solar battery in good condition. My parts.
-3 renolgy 100w eclipse panels,
-renolgy 40amp commander controller,
lifeline 255ah batt ,
renolgy MT50 digital controller.

My first winter with my solar system(ford e250)sitting a little stagnant in my garage.
I do drive it just enough in the winter to keep the battery up but lately its gotten down to 12.5v so I stuck my 4 amp battery charger on it.
In about an hour the MT50 registered 14.1v but the Battery icon on the MT50 showed the battery about 2/3 full and seemed to just stop increasing.
After 2 hours the MT50 still registered 14.1, the battery icon was still at 2/3+ full.(battery charger had floated down to 2.25amps)

Not trusting that I know what I am doing,so before bed I just unplugged the charger and figured I would start over in the morning.
This morning the battery was down to 12.5v again, stuck the charger on and its on its way back up to were it was last night.

seems as though I just need to leave the charger on for a longer time,

My question..is this scenario normal?
What should I do, thanks.

[BFL13]

blueh20 wrote:
i have checked out the entire chapter, but have know idea what it all means, sure I can read it, and it may make some sense, but my lack of knowledge of 12v makes me second guess every thing I think I know.

This is what you want. Got me on the right track, and it is still valid from 2002, since they had the "new" (then) electronics that are still current.

http://www.bestconverter.com/Books_c_67.html

[blueh20]

i have checked out the entire chapter, but have know idea what it all means, sure I can read it, and it may make some sense, but my lack of knowledge of 12v makes me second guess every thing I think I know.

[blueh20]

people, i am a commercial building superintendent for 20 years and built at least 50 houses as a general contractor, not bragging,,but know nothing about 12v elec...I mean nothing, so I am looking for guidance here, tell me what to do.
thanks

[BFL13]

theoldwizard1 wrote:
It is difficult to measure battery State Of Charge just by voltage. If you want to do it accurately get a good battery charger, disconnect the battery from all load, charge according to directions. Remove the charger and let rest for about 60 minutes. Confirm SOC with hydrometer and then check voltage.

The best SOC monitors continuously monitor all current flowing in or out of a battery via a shunt. They work under the assumption you are starting with a battery at 100% SOC when they are first connected. You should probably re-calibrate every 6 to 12 months.

A Trimetric has an "auto reset" that does not work with solar. You have to turn off the auto reset or else it will reset every day at sundown when the amps go negative.

Yes, you must recharge to full (true full, not a bogus full such as Trimetric itself describes) and reset the AH counter then. This should be quite often if doing 50-90s for a period or else when on solar doing mostly 75-95s.

If you believe the % SOC on your monitor, you probably also believe in the Tooth Fairy.

[theoldwizard1]

It is difficult to measure battery State Of Charge just by voltage. If you want to do it accurately get a good battery charger, disconnect the battery from all load, charge according to directions. Remove the charger and let rest for about 60 minutes. Confirm SOC with hydrometer and then check voltage.

The best SOC monitors continuously monitor all current flowing in or out of a battery via a shunt. They work under the assumption you are starting with a battery at 100% SOC when they are first connected. You should probably re-calibrate every 6 to 12 months.

[BFL13]

The MT 50 is the remote that goes with Tracer solar controllers. (there was an earlier version ) Check out the Tracer info manuals etc for how to operate it all.

http://www.wegosolar.com/products.php?product=EPS%252dREMOTE-EPSolar-Controller-Remote-Meter

[blueh20]

my MT50, that seems to not be liked by most people seems stuck at 14.2 while charging

[blueh20]

heck I think gel but will go out and check

[red31]

What 'battery type' do you have selected for the controller?

GEL is limited to 14.2v temp compensated


lifeline's tech manual is robust, check out the entire charging chapter

http://2cw8eb1vmmgg3g5i7jzt6upo.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/6-0101-Rev-E-Life...

[Tom_M1]

The MT50 is a remote display for you solar charge controller. It monitors panel and battery voltages and current from your panels. It does not monitor the current from your battery charger therefore the 2/3 state of charge does not change because is does not sense the 4 amps from the charger.

[blueh20]

I have a 2014 ford E250 4x4 van conversion. I am just finishing the interior conversion to a camper van with a pumped water source, No built in stove and no htr.

has 3 100w renolgy eclipse panels on the roof.

A 255ah lifeline battery for the "house" linked up with the starter battery thru a "Blue sea ML-ACR automatic charging relay, fused at both batteries with a blue sea marine grade disconnect just before the "house batt".

A renolgy 40 amp commander controller, panels have a disconnect before the controller.

A renolgy mt50 digital charge controller(hooked to the 40amp commander controller) to monitor the house battery.

An Xantrex "link lite" digital gauge that is set up to ONLY monitor both batteries, kind of a redundant monitoring system.

Blue sea systems fuse box with disconnect between batt and fuse block, currently all systems off EXCEPT the MT50 and xantrex are wired with fuses but wired to be on all the time. (KNOWN parasitic drain)

Van is stored in my garage all winter,cold in Montana right now, so far garage has not gone below 40deg.
I do have a forced air furnace on the ceiling in the garage.

Yes I have shore power in the garage, I tried hooking up one of my "Yuasa mili amp" charger to the house battery(cause I have 5 running in my garage all winter long for other battereis) but doesnt seem to do alot with this 255ah batt..

So just started trying my old 4amp charger last night.

So, questions..
I assume its ok to leave a large battery charger on the house battery all season long? correct?

what does a Large amp battery charger mean? How many amp charger should I get?

What brand charger, model, any help very much appreciated

thanks

[wolfe10]

Yes, please post exactly what RV you have.

Also, do your have shore power where you store it?

Stored outdoors, under cover or inside?

Without answers to those questions, you could get a lot of correct answers that do NOT apply to your rig/situation.

[CA_Traveler]

Battery monitors are available that can show voltage, amps, battery charge %, etc. But they may not be necessary or practical for your situation.

[CA_Traveler]

What do you have? A truck only with a house battery and no camper. Or a MH with a Ford chassis? It wasn't clear to me how the solar panels were connected to just a truck.

40F is helpful and a small charger should be OK but leave it on for days if not all winter. I leave one on a car for the summer while we're traveling.

Oops Lifeline - My posted number of 14.8V should be about 14.4V. Check the Lifeline specs for your model as the AGM charging requirements are different than flooded batteries.

For charging a discharged battery the charger size is dependent upon how much time you have. I have 80A for 440A Lifelines and they can accept much higher. Rarely do I see 80A. A 15-20A charger with a AGM setting would be good. But a smaller charger for maintenance is good.

The MT50 is likely OK for solar, but generally the lights aren't very helpful. Maybe someone with experience on that controller will post.