Need Solar Guru Help!

[campermama]

This is my system...

570w solar panels (parallel)
?2 100ah BB lithium (parallel) (12v)
Victron smartsar 100/50 controller
Renogy battery monitor
Renogy 2000w inverter

Victron goes through bulk mode until it reaches absorption V, then goes to absorption mode for 1 hr (recommended by BB), (highest V I have seen on the monitor during absorption mode is 13.5, while mppt reads 14.4)then it goes to float (mppt reads 13.6v, monitor reads 13.4v), the amps never go down to 0, it sticks around at 2-4 amps. So to me it seems batteries are never "fully" charged?

V always drops to 13.2(something) v when it gets dark. According to charts I have seen that is only 70%!
ALSO, discharging amps at night seem really low....TV, inverter on, led lights on, it shows - 1.8 amps, how can that be?

Here is a "drawing" of my set up....

My 12v System

[Y-Guy]

OP has said it's fixed. Closing this thread off.

[jaycocreek]

Interesting,I will have to look on my Victron controllers for that dial switch I don't remember seeing...Even so,the #7 setting would change to whatever setting that is set in the app..As to the opp..Each battery brand I have,has a somewhat different resting voltage and for one set,13.2+ is the norm..

Victron wrote:
Default settings for LiFePO4 batteries
The default absorption voltage is to 14.2V (28.4V, 56.8V) and the absorption time is fixed and set to 2 hours. The float voltage is set at 13.5V (27V, 54V). Equalization is disabled. The tail current is set to 0A, this so that the full absorption time is available for cell balancing. The temperature compensation is disabled and the low temperature cut off is set to 5. These settings are the recommended settings for LiFePO4 batteries, but they can be adjusted if the battery manufacturer specifications advise otherwise.

The Victron default 2 hour absorption time seems excessive for daily charging so the smart app gives the option to change the settings to whatever is best for your particular battery which differs between brands.

[CA_Traveler]

Her controller is 100V and I don't recall the panel Voc being stated so series connection may or may not be possible. Use Voc and not Vmp for the input voltage calculation.

My 3 panel Voc is about 120V and the controller is 150V. Serial panels with bypass diodes are a winner!

[Golden_HVAC]

Many of the MPPT charge controllers are designed to have several panels in series, hopefully they are the same watt rating panels? So one I have now is rated at 150 to 450 volts input, and I have 2 KW of 250 watt panels for my house, and the plan is 8 each 33 volt in series, and 8 amps. Output can be 48 volts in my case, or 12 volts in your case.

I would check the panels and charge controller input limits, and see if you could wire them in series, there will be less voltage drop into the charge controller. It seems to be working normally. Your RV is drawing about 1.8 amps to run things like the LP detector, refrigerator, and so on. The battery is getting about 2 amps, the RV is using 2 amps, the total of the solar output is about 2 amps because the battery is mostly full.

Now if your battery was reaching 12 volts or less by morning, then ask what is wrong. If it is 12.5 volts, everything is fine.

If you use more than about 50% of your battery power each night, then I would expect it to stay in the absorption charge rate for a few hours each morning. But if you only use 25%, then it will quickly top off the battery, like what you are seeing.

I think everything is fine.

Fred.

[bigfootford]

Following the thread and would like to know what the resolution was.
I too am getting ready to do the FWC/AGM conversion to Lith batt's.
Glad you got it resolved.

Jim.

[3_tons]

BTW, I just now took a moment to slog thru the BB link, and one should be advised that this link covers ONLY the bluetooth software programming, NOT hardware settings, thereby (BB) totally negating Victron’s black & white ‘explicit instruction’ to set the rotary switch to #7…In this regard, chemistry is chemistry, BB’s are not special…To avert such understandable confusion, BB would do better to have pointed this software vs hardware distinction out, so therein lies the sum total of your difficulties…

3 tons

[campermama]

3 tons wrote:
Yep I believe I’m right, yet you dismiss how BB had pre-programmed my Victron, though I hadn’t requested it (great customer service!!)…I only took my limited time to write to help lead you outta an apparent chosen state of purgatory… My solution is Victron’s solution and is your EASY solution…

3 tons

Well you were wrong and it is now all fixed!

Happy trails 🙂

[3_tons]

Yep I believe I’m right, yet you dismiss how BB had pre-programmed my Victron, though I hadn’t requested it (great customer service!!)…I only took my limited time to write to help lead you outta an apparent chosen state of purgatory… My solution is Victron’s solution and is your EASY solution…

3 tons

[CA_Traveler]

Make sure you get a clampon meter that measures both DC amps and DC volts. Amazon has one for $30. Many are for home use and don't measure DC amps.

Verify your various meter readings and if you truly have 0.9V difference between the MPPT output and the battery at 4.5A then there is as they say "There is Trouble in River City". Saying this and hoping that the wiring is not compromised or some factor... Not suggesting otherwise and there could be an equipment issue...

[campermama]

Trust that whatever they suggest in writing (?? - link doesn’t work) is entirely superfluous to me, as I don’t lend it any more credibility than that which Victron recommends, and as I stated (consider re-reading?…), BB had opened the box and pre-programmed the charge controller for the LiFePo4 algorithm - per Victron’s manual and handed it to me…This was a physical ‘in store’ transaction, and I’ve had a grand total of ZERO issues, so do whatever you like, but it’ll never work properly until you realize that Victron knows their product and they state that the rotary selector needs to be on #7…

BTW, there’s nothing special about BB’s or anyone else’s lithium LFP chemistry (Lithium is what it is, period…), the primary difference is in cell grade quality, cell type ( pouch, prismatic, or cylindrical…), warranty (you get what your willing to pay $$ for…), and assemblage technique, while BMS’s all do about the same thing (i.e. catastrophe avoidance)…Trust, that there’s no ‘magic secret sauce’ involved…

3 tons

Wow! Everybody has their own opinion! And apparently your is the right one (so you believe). I am in contact with both Victron and BB so we'll see what they say.
Meanwhile...I was just basically looking for maybe ideas what could be the problem, I'm not an expert at this but I do feel I have a good understanding of this stuff, pretty good for being female and fixing all my own stuff.

[bigfootford]

https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Manual_SmartSolar_MPPT_100-30__100-50/en/configuration-and-se...

[3_tons]

Go to section 5.1 and 5.1.2 (see table #7), then follow what Victron advises…To stray away towards some errant ‘alternate stratagem’ is the root of your charging problem, but then again, trust that I respect everyone’s own innate ‘free agency’…

https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Manual_SmartSolar_MPPT_100-30__100-50/en/configuration-and-settings.html

3 tons

[2oldman]

https://battlebornbatteries.com/programming-a-victron-smartsolar-charge-controller

[3_tons]

campermama wrote:

3 tons wrote:


Well I find that rather odd since I live near by and was at BattkeBorn when they handed me my victron charge controller and they’d advance pre-programmed it for exactly what the Victron user manual called for, and mine works perfectly - it must depend on which day of the week you speak to the BB fella’s - I donno?…

3 tons

Here it is...

=https://battlebornbatteries.com/programming-a-victron-smartsolar-charge-controller

Trust that whatever they suggest in writing (?? - link doesn’t work) is entirely superfluous to me, as I don’t lend it any more credibility than that which Victron recommends, and as I stated (consider re-reading?…), BB had opened the box and pre-programmed the charge controller for the LiFePo4 algorithm - per Victron’s manual and handed it to me…This was a physical ‘in store’ transaction, and I’ve had a grand total of ZERO issues, so do whatever you like, but it’ll never work properly until you realize that Victron knows their product and they state that the rotary selector needs to be on #7…

BTW, there’s nothing special about BB’s or anyone else’s lithium LFP chemistry (Lithium is what it is, period…), the primary difference is in cell grade quality, cell type ( pouch, prismatic, or cylindrical…), warranty (you get what your willing to pay $$ for…), and assemblage technique, while BMS’s all do about the same thing (i.e. catastrophe avoidance)…Trust, that there’s no ‘magic secret sauce’ involved…

3 tons