My XW6848 inverter/charger won't charge the battery bank more than 20 amps.

Hi guys,
I am new here. my XW6848 won't charge the battery bank more than 20 amps. I have set the max. charge rate at 50 amps on both bulk and absorb. Floating at 30 amps max. is there other setting I need to look at? my battery bank is 48 volts 370 amps. hours FLA.
Thanks.
I am new here. my XW6848 won't charge the battery bank more than 20 amps. I have set the max. charge rate at 50 amps on both bulk and absorb. Floating at 30 amps max. is there other setting I need to look at? my battery bank is 48 volts 370 amps. hours FLA.
Thanks.
XW6848+ Magnum 4448PAE (Backup) 7800 watts total mixed Panels, 370 AH @48volts battery bank. Grid assist and soon be Tied.
Comments
- Many times, charging current is 120 or 240 VAC amps input (I.e., the AC branch circuit rating), not the DC output amps. (i.e., 30 AAC * 240 VAC = 7,200 Watts; 2,400 Watts / 58 VDC charging = 125 ADC charging to battery bus)
- Do you have 120/240 VAC fed to XW+, or just 120 VAC?
- Have you checked the battery bank AH rating in the XW? I don't remember if it limits charging current to XX% of battery AH capacity, or simply uses to display XXX% state of charge.
- Have you measured the voltage at the battery bus and see what it is really? Also, double check the DC wiring from the battery to the XW Vbatt output and make sure is good, no big voltage drop, etc.).
- Does the XW+ display (nearly) the same VDC for Vbatt as your meter? Some inverter-chargers can be calibrated if the internal meter readings are off.
- XW+ set for battery type (flooded cell, AGM, etc.)?
- Is the Remote Battery Temp Sensor wired up and reading correct battery temperature?
Anyway, no expert, but that is where I would start.-Bill
Thanks.
And, are you discharging the battery bank and then looking for charging current? More or less, you may not see full charging current from a battery charger until the battery bank is ~80% or less state of charge... If the battery bank is >90% SoC, you will generally see much less current (tapering to ~1% or less rate of charge as you approach 100% SoC).
Do you have any other 48 VDC battery bus loads (another standalone inverter, some other DC loads)? Or is the XW+ your only battery bank load?
In very general terms, these are the expected rates of charge for a 48 VDC flooded cell deep cycle lead acid battery bank). Note Rate of Charge is based on battery bank 20 Hour capacity rating. Voltages are for typical FLA batteries at ~25C/75F (as lead acid batteries get hot, their charging voltage should fall a bit). And, as always, try to find the Mfg's specifications/operator's manual:
- Float Charging (no other DC bus loads) ~2% rate of charge maximum (near end of life). New FLA batteries are probably in the ~0.1% to 1% rate of charge (or less). Float voltage is ~54.4 VDC (very rough)
- Bulk Charging: Typically for solar, we suggest 10-13% rate of charge (relatively gentil charging rate). For AC (or genset charging), you can pump upwards of 20-25% rate of charge (typically will only see at less than 80% SoC and less than ~59.00 VDC battery bus voltage).
- Absorb Charging" is the transition from Bulk to Absorb charging (bulk=current limited charging; absorb=voltage limited charging). Generally, Absorb would be ~59.00 volts held from ~80-90% SoC to full charge. For FLA batteries, absorb is roughly 2-6 hours (deeper discharge, longer time)--For time based Absorb cycle. For % of charge, around 1% rate of charge, then transition to float.
- EQ Charging: Controlled over charging at ~60 - 64 volts for FLA batteries (depending on brand/model of battery, industrial batteries can be towards the high end for EQ charging). Typically done once a month (for some vendors), and/or when high to low cell SG is >~0.030 SG units difference). Typically around 2.5% to 5.0% rate of charge (nominally battery bank is supposed to be at 100% SoC, then start EQ--Cannot start EQ on a less than full battery bank)
Short answer is you will not see "maximum" charging current unless the battery bank is significantly discharged (typically 80% to 50% SoC) and/or you have significant DC battery bus loads other than the XW+ Inverter.-Bill
Active cycling, that is fine.... Letting a battery bank set below ~75% SoC for days/weeks/+ at a time--That is generally not good and will cause sulfation of the plates and an "early" battery bank death.
Some folks set the charger(s) to not recharge until the battery falls below ~80% - 75% SoC, then initiate charging. Taking a deep cycle battery from 90-100% SoC (no deep cycles), is usually considered "not good" (there are float service batteries for UPS type applications, but does not sound like your bank). If you have standard FLA deep cycle batteries, some folks here suggest cycling to below ~80% SoC at least once per month.
One question we usually ask--How do you know you are down to 50% SoC? Many Battery Monitors can be less than accurate. Typically, specific gravity (for non-sealed cells), is the 'gold standard' for SoC.
-Bill
Has the XW+ ever worked "correctly", or this behaviour since installed?
Actual Bus Voltage measurements at different SoC/charging modes would be very helpful... But, otherwise, I am probably about at the end of what I can do to help (usual stuff above, look for excessive voltage drop between XW+ Vbatt terminals/output to battery bus, etc.).
On occasion, there has been fixes to "unexplained" behaviours by resetting to factory defaults and then reprogramming. (in other "computers", I have seen this work if there was a firmware upgrade and confusion with old database/bad DB conversion)...
-Bill
Thank you.
I have another problem with XW+, maybe I should start a different thread as it is a different issue. it has stuck on AC by pass few time in the morning since I installed about 4 months back. It stay on AC by pass in the morning didnot use the power from the battery bank + solar. The block sell set at 5 pm to 7 am. it still on by pass at 9 am and the battery voltage gone to 60 volt+ and the support voltage set at 53 volts. I have to disable the grid support and enable it back in order for it to use the solar power and started to sell to the grid. is it normal?
Should I start a new thread or continue on this one?
Thanks again.
I would suggest you keep to this thread. Everyone that would have "useful information" in one thread, would probably have information for the second thread.
If things do diverge/go down the rabbit hole, for one segment of the discussion, then splitting to a second thread to avoid "cross posting" between problems in this thread--Then I would split.
But, it is your choice. And lets give it a couple days for others to reply. We are all volunteers here, so it may take a bit to get feedback.
Paul, I guess you are done towards Jamaica? Local support might be a bit thin (Schneider appears to be trying/using a product support model through distribution->retailers/installer->customer; And a customer may have some difficulty getting direct support from Schneider).
-Bill
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,
Second system 1890W 3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.
5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding.
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
E-mail [email protected]
as dave said, read the manual and get some understanding of the terms used in it...now if you are confused in the terminology....we can help
in the Custom battery setting. The Battery temperature Coefficient set at -108 mV/oC. could that be the problem?
Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
The condition of the batteries is another factor, if known to be on their last legs as stated, the capacity may be significantly less than the value programed into the charging sources, further complicating things. Battery voltage itself is not an accurate measure of state of charge, which is particularly important in grid interactive systems, a battery monitor would be a better way because it calculates what goes into and out of the battery as well as uses voltage at the battery itself as a reference to make the decision when charging is complete.
Changes made to setpoints need to be made very carefully so as not to conflict with other parameters, multiple changes can lead to confusion as they are often made to compensate for some other errors made and so on.
Second system 1890W 3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.
5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding.
The battery bank is way under size now as I pull the dead batteries from the two bank left just one bank working. I am considering to get a grid tie 3kw inverter to cut the charge current to near half in order not to toast the battery bank when the grid is over frequency or under voltage.
Bill
-Bill
|| Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
|| VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A
solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,