Is there a book

parbob1

I’m getting ready to install phase 2 ..my solar panels.,   Is there a book or other reading that would help educate me..  I find myself at loss with the terms used.   For example Mr Mr1 wrote this to me and I now understand 

Being an SW owner,  there is no way to adjust the Absorb cut off / switch over to float other than the battery Amp Capacity setting (well except for using the absorb timer - but even with the timer I think it still uses 2% Battery Capacity if you have a long absorb time set).  But the Amps cut off for the switch over from Absorb to Float is 2% of capacity and that is fixed at 2% of the Battery Capacity setting you input.  The user cannot adjust this 2%.  And even with the 2% fix,  it still cuts off on the hi side when charging (that is, higher than 2%).  So if you want longer absorb times that are controlled by battery capacity and not the SW absorb timer (which also still uses the 2% of capacity setting),  just know you may need to experiment with the number you use for Battery Capacity that you put into the SW to achieve the proper charge on your battery bank - generally based on a Hydrometer reading.

I have a 435 Ah battery bank and have my capacity set at 50 Ah and it still switches over from Absorb to float at about 6 amps.  Nope ... not a true 2%.   And my bank according to SG is not at 100% SOC.  So if you want or need a longer absorb time you put in a lower capacity than your actual battery bank.  And even then it still may not be long enough to achieve 100% SOC using a hydrometer.  So ...

My work around is to also set Float to the same voltage as absorb and use the charger timer charge block (not the absorb timer) when using the SW to charge.  Then I can get a controlled time and how long my batteries stay charging at absorb voltage.  

If I use the SW charger for EQ,  I set all the voltage values to the same voltage - Bulk / Absorb / EQ - to the manufacture EQ voltage (well except Trojan is 32.4v and the SW only goes up to 32v),  and starting with an already near 100% SOC charged bank,  I start EQ and use the Charge  Block to control EQ time.  Over wise you are limited to EQ in 1 hour increments as the SW stops EQ after an hour for each EQ session and a good EQ often takes longer. 

 

mcgivor

The sponsor NAWS has a learning center which has a wealth of information 
https://www.solar-electric.com/learning-center