Newbie asking about system voltage and battery equalization

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willie46ca
willie46ca Registered Users Posts: 2
in General Solar Power Topics #1
I have a ts mppt 45. When the settings for dip switches 2and 3 refer to system voltage is it the panel voltage or the battery bank voltage? I have it set for the battery bank voltage. 12 volts, 2 off, 3 on. Switches 4 5 and 6 are set on-off-off respectively. I can not get the batteries to go into the equalization stage with the push-button. Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks
willie46ca
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #2
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    Re: Newbie asking about system voltage and battery equalization

    Welcome to the forum.

    System Voltage is the nominal battery bank Voltage: 12, 24, or 48.

    This may sound like a silly question, but why are you trying to initiate an equalization charge?

    I'm going to have to look up the DIP settings before I know what they mean. Can't seem to remember things so well.
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  • Photowhit
    Photowhit Solar Expert Posts: 6,003 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #3
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    Re: Newbie asking about system voltage and battery equalization

    Sounds like he's initiating a system, I believe it is often suggested equalizing on setup for flooded batteries. Pretty sure C60 suggested that years ago.

    It sounds like you've read the instructions, but I'll ask though I haven't read the instructions, Did you press the button long enough? often to prevent accidental starting it re quires a lengthy push 5-15 seconds. Does pressing the button only setup the equalizing after the batteries have been fully charged? Equalizing should only be done when the batteries are fully charged typically in Float mode.
    Home system 4000 watt (Evergreen) array standing, with 2 Midnite Classic Lites,  Midnite E-panel, Magnum MS4024, Prosine 1800(now backup) and Exeltech 1100(former backup...lol), 660 ah 24v Forklift battery(now 10 years old). Off grid for 20 years (if I include 8 months on a bicycle).
    - Assorted other systems, pieces and to many panels in the closet to not do more projects.
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  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
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    Re: Newbie asking about system voltage and battery equalization
    Photowhit wrote: »
    Did you press the button long enough? often to prevent accidental starting it re quires a lengthy push 5-15 seconds.

    This is true. Also, if the selector switches 1 through 6 are switched while the controller is powered up, the controller must be completely powered down then restarted in order for the new switch positions to be recognized. Like Cariboocoot, I'd have to look up the info on switch positions, which I just did :)
    ("When the settings for dip switches 2and 3 refer to system voltage is it the panel voltage or the battery bank voltage?") Definitely battery voltage. For 12 volts, #2 off; #3 ON.
    Switches 4-ON, 5-OFF, 6-OFF = Flooded battery bank, so EQ mode is available. Most likely not holding the button in long enough.
    To help us better understand your system, can you please tell us what you have for panels and what you have for a battery bank. inverter info and load info would also be a big help.
    Cheers
    Wayne
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  • willie46ca
    willie46ca Registered Users Posts: 2
    #5
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    Re: Newbie asking about system voltage and battery equalization

    Hi Wayne

    From Canada as well. This system is at a cottage I just sold on Rice Lake in Ontario. Sale closes on the 21st of this month. Had the components and just installed them. Part of the sale is that the system is working.

    I have a 250 watt, 36 volt panel. Ts mppt 45 controller, 6-2 volt fork truck batteries in series from a dealer I deal with and a 3000 watt Canadian tire modified sine wave inverter.

    The intent is to run the lights and other light things such as phone chargers without starting the generator. Running 4- MR11, I think 3 watt led bulbs at this point and it does that fine. Being new I am up looking at the voltage every 5 min lol and my observation is that there is a big voltage drop without any load, 14.5 to 12.5 approx. Thought an equalization was in order.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #6
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    Re: Newbie asking about system voltage and battery equalization

    Canadian Tire inverters aren't that great. It's probably sucking the batteries down on its own.

    A single 250 Watt panel on a 12 Volt system will provide about 16 Amps of current through an MPPT controller. What is the capacity of those forklift cells? Probably much too high for 16 Amps to be useful on. Should have stuck in a couple of GC2's. You may never get enough charge to make the EQ possible from the panel alone.
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  • waynefromnscanada
    waynefromnscanada Solar Expert Posts: 3,009 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
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    Re: Newbie asking about system voltage and battery equalization

    Yes, if the batteries were mine I'd definitely do an EQ on them. However, as Cariboocoot said, a single 250 watt panel is very unlikely enough to do that job.
    Another note is the 3000 watt inverter. That's huge for a 12 volt system and will likely have a big draw just to keep the thing running even without any load on it.
    If all you need to run are a few lights, (make them LED lights) and a couple of cell phone chargers etc, I'd go with a far smaller inverter that will be less of a parasite on the battery bank. With just one 250 watt panel, you don't have much power coming in, so you've got to be very careful with what you use.
    Another pain in the butt thing about CTC inverters is that they're usually intended for automotive use where the battery voltage doesn't go above 14.5, so when used with a solar system, they'll shut down on over-voltage when the sun shines and there's enough solar power to drive the battery voltage up to where it's often needed to properly charge the batteries, especially in Winter when it's cold.
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