Trimetric 2030 battery monitor
I'm in the process of installing my solar setup. I have everything installed except the solar panels. I am having issues with my Trimetric 2030 battery monitor. After charging to 95%, according to ...
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My trouble with all that is I do not accept that the battery is truly full while it is still accepting amps such as 1 or 2 % of rated AH.
I know some battery blurbs use that notion and the Trimetric is just following that notion.
If you let the battery rest for a time after that, giving time for "SG Lag" to catch up, the hydrometer shows SG is not back up to "baseline." You can need an overcharge to get the SG all the way up, which shows that the battery was not fully charged.
On solar I have often seen the batteries finally reach baseline SG but the Trimetric is showing 10 or so AH "over" what was drawn down. That is despite the Tri's allowance for heat loss. You can adjust that allowance so it comes out even. The usual idea is you need to replace about 115% of what you took out.
IMO, relying on the Tri's notion of "full" is going to mean undercharging the batteries and some sulfation building up over time.
It may not work for others, but I prefer to decide when the batteries are truly at 100% myself, and only then to re-set the Trimetric AH counter.
This can mean operating for many days before solar conditions are good enough to get the batteries that high while you are camping and using the batteries. You have to limit usage and run the 12v stuff on "extra " solar while the batteries get that last bit of recharge, so the batteries do not have a draw cancelling the recharging amps, which is the case when there is no extra solar.
I know some battery blurbs use that notion and the Trimetric is just following that notion.
If you let the battery rest for a time after that, giving time for "SG Lag" to catch up, the hydrometer shows SG is not back up to "baseline." You can need an overcharge to get the SG all the way up, which shows that the battery was not fully charged.
On solar I have often seen the batteries finally reach baseline SG but the Trimetric is showing 10 or so AH "over" what was drawn down. That is despite the Tri's allowance for heat loss. You can adjust that allowance so it comes out even. The usual idea is you need to replace about 115% of what you took out.
IMO, relying on the Tri's notion of "full" is going to mean undercharging the batteries and some sulfation building up over time.
It may not work for others, but I prefer to decide when the batteries are truly at 100% myself, and only then to re-set the Trimetric AH counter.
This can mean operating for many days before solar conditions are good enough to get the batteries that high while you are camping and using the batteries. You have to limit usage and run the 12v stuff on "extra " solar while the batteries get that last bit of recharge, so the batteries do not have a draw cancelling the recharging amps, which is the case when there is no extra solar.
