Please help 400ah system draining without any load

zYagamiBR
zYagamiBR Registered Users Posts: 2
Hi guys,

the system I have on my rig is:

5x 160w panels
2x 200ah Renogy GEL
1x 60a Renogy MPPT CC
1x 3000 inverter 

i don’t know what’s wrong with it, but I charges to 100% during the day and before the sun is down is already back at 80% at like 5pm. When I wake up in the morning it is around 30%. 

Note I only have fridge working on propane, nothing else is on, no lights, water pumps, nothing. 

At the Renogy app I see that it is not draining energy from the battery rather producing it.



I took this picture just now, it says it’s full but the battery is at 13.2v now. When I wake up it’s usually at 11.2v or so.



im afraid both my batteries are ruined, but I can refund them since they are new. However I don’t wanna change then before I found a probably if there’s one.

Also I was thinking about getting 6x 6v 225ah Trojan with the $950 refund I’ll get on these batteries.

Comments

  • Estragon
    Estragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    A 3000w inverter is pretty big for a 12v system, and can take a fair bit of power just being on with little/no power going to loads.  30-40w wouldn't be unusual.  Eg 35w, if left on 24hrs, would be 840wh, or 70ah@12v.  The charge controller will also take some power in self-consumption but likely much less.

    6x6v 225ah would be three 12v strings for ~675ah@12v.  Assuming actual output from the array in full sun is ~40a, charging capacity is on the low side.  Do you use a generator or other charging source if/when solar doesn't get the job done?

    At 11.2v with little/no load, the bank is pretty much dead.  Doing that regularly likely has damaged the batteries.
    Off-grid.  
    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
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Is your system 12V ?
    Is your inverter really 3,000 watts ?

    The self-consumption of the inverter alone, is going to be substantial, have you looked up it's spec ? and seen if it explains the drain ?

    13.1 or 13.2 is a very low charging voltage for batteries,  14.6 ~ 14.8 v would be expected, but look up the spec for your batteries in Cycle service (not Float service) .
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || 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 ,

  • zYagamiBR
    zYagamiBR Registered Users Posts: 2
    Estragon said:
    A 3000w inverter is pretty big for a 12v system, and can take a fair bit of power just being on with little/no power going to loads.  30-40w wouldn't be unusual.  Eg 35w, if left on 24hrs, would be 840wh, or 70ah@12v.  The charge controller will also take some power in self-consumption but likely much less.

    6x6v 225ah would be three 12v strings for ~675ah@12v.  Assuming actual output from the array in full sun is ~40a, charging capacity is on the low side.  Do you use a generator or other charging source if/when solar doesn't get the job done?

    At 11.2v with little/no load, the bank is pretty much dead.  Doing that regularly likely has damaged the batteries.

    Yea man I just had the both batteries charged to 100% and disconnected. They dropped from 13.4 to 11.9 in like 40 minutes... tomorrow I’ll call the manufacture and refund it has been less than one month.

    I’ve done the test with the inverter on and off, batteries died the same way. I find it funny that in the app it says in generating so much not energy than using it. even if it takes 100ah the inverter along the charge controller, i should still be left with a lot i suppose...

    I also have a 6th 160w panel waited to be set up.
  • Estragon
    Estragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If the voltage while charging got to 14.x and was held there for 2-3hrs, the batteries may have been near 100%.  If ~13.4v was the highest it got though, they most likely weren't.  11.9v with no loads would be well under 50% charged.
    Off-grid.  
    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
  • mike_s
    mike_s Registered Users Posts: 155 ✭✭
    13.4 V?  :o The _float_ charging spec for that battery is 13.5! The cycle charging spec is 14.2. Warranties don't cover abuse.