classic 150 settings ?????

Re: classic 150 settings ?????

I cannot help you with the details... But 2/3/infinity stage charge controllers is pretty much a marketing term these days. More stages sounds cooler.

Bulk/Absorb/Float/Off at night/equalize is a "4 stage charger" in marketing speak.

In normal operation, you and I would look at the programing and see this as a two stage charger. You set the Absorb voltage and the charger goes through bulk (battery is discharged, and all available charging current is dumped into battery bank) until the battery+charging current reaches "absorb set point". Then the charger holds it there until a time/end amp current measurement, and/or other conditions are met. Now the controller goes to float (lower charging/maintaining charging) until the sun goes down (or the loads go up). That is "two" charging settings and simply the sun going down.

There are variations to everything... Aggressive bulk charging (have a high "trip point" voltage setting) until it is reached (batteries can take a lot of current during "bulk charging" very efficiently). Once the trip point ("bulk voltage setting) is reached, then the absorb setting is used (slightly reduced charging voltage) to keep the battery cooler and reduce charging current a bit (nearly full batteries generate more heat and hydrogen/oxygen gases during absorb charging phase).

And then there is how to "terminate" absorb charging stage. Roughly a battery needs around 2-6 hours of Absorb voltage to finish charging (the deeper/longer the battery has been discharged, the longer the absorb time recommended). Some controllers will measure bulk charging time and use it to set absorb time. Others will use a count down timer to terminate absorb (you may set the absorb timer for 2-4 hours in summer and 6 hours in winter--not much sun--if system is used, or 2 hours if cabin is not used in winter).

The problem with end amps (1-2% of battery AH capacity--i.e., a 200 AH bank would terminate at ~2-4 amps of charging current). But a battery charger only knows its output current. If you have DC loads (say you have a 5 amp load during the day to run your computer), the charge controller will never see "end amps" and over charge the battery, so many controllers use both end amps and an absorb "timeout" timer too.

Midnite is coming out with software (and hardware?) to measure battery current with a shunt--And it can do "real" end amps charge termination (does Outback's "Flexnet" system do "end amps" right?).

Anyway... lots of stuff to set. Lots of different theories to try. In the end, remember that you want to get your battery bank >90% State of Charge a couple times a week (some theories are >90% every 5-10 days and cycle in the 50-80% SoC range where lead acid batteries are much more efficient). Make sure you use a Hydrometer to measure your temperature corrected specific gravity (rinse the hydrometer after use with a couple of pulls of distilled water to keep the float/tube clean--otherwise they can gum up and get sticky over time) to see how your battery is performing.

Batteries can be pretty forgiving of exact charging settings/profiles. As long as the state of charge/specific gravity is good. And monitor your water usage--Roughly, refill the battery bank every two months. If you are refiling every month (or more often)--you are charging too hard. If you never need to add water, you are probably undercharging the battery bank. Note there are batteries that do not use very much water (such as Trojan RE series)--but they should still need filling every ~6 months or so.

Overcharging (excessive equalization) is hard on a battery too... So don't believe that charging to 100% every day is good either.

-Bill

Re: classic 150 settings ?????

shockman wrote: »

Thanks for the input! The default settings on classic, are Bulk 14.3, float 13.6, equalize 14.3. It also says absorb time is proportional to bulk, however does not elaborate on those proportions?

The defaults will not damage any battery connected (AGM, GELL, Sealed, VRLA, Flooded Cell)--However, each type of battery does have an "optimum" setup.

Battery instructions say, bulk-con.cur. @10% of C/20 to 2.45v per cell (14.7v), absorb- con volt. 2.45vpc to 3% of C20, hold for 2-3hrs. Optional float con volt. 2.17vpc for unlimited time. equalize con volt. 2.55vpc for 1-3hrs
So I have set controller to 14.7 absorb, 2.5hrs, and float 13.4, eq 15.3 3hrs [I assume you mean Volts, not hours here -BB]. I can't seem to set bulk volts, not an option on menu??? Do these settings appear to be correct??? I will monitor SG as time goes on, no sun today!! yet!

Which is what you did--Perfect starting point. You will probably play with the Absorb timer (closer to 2 hours in summer, closer to 4+ hours in winter when you don't have enough sun anyway--again, as long as the power system is being used, cut back on absorb timer if system is not being cycled).

The "Bulk" voltage setting is not common. As I understand, it is usually only present on some Xantrex high end MPPT models, and some industrial battery controllers.

Monitoring Battery Voltage and Specific Gravity (by cell, logging data) is how you will tell if all is going right.

Note, you should fully charge the battery bank and then equalize (measure SG every 30-60 minutes, and stop equalizing when all cells stop rising in SG) and log the "FULLY CHARGED" cells' temperature corrected specific gravity. This is the 100% full battery for your system (around 1.265 SG at 77F).

Read the Battery FAQs--Lots of good information. And after you are done reading, you will be convinced that off grid battery banks will never work. (at least I was:roll:)

Battery FAQ
www.batteryfaq.org

Remember, it is charge >90% SoC a couple times a week (ideally, or at least once a week during bad weather) and try to not let fall below 50% SoC very often (for long life). And never below ~20% SoC -- That will probably kill your batteries.

Don't let the batteries overheat (over ~115 to 120F), and cool batteries last longer than hot batteries. Never let the plates be exposed (low water), use distilled (or equivalent) water to refill (do not fill to tippy top). Keep battery tops, cables, ends clean (many people grease, use anti-corrosive grease on cable ends).

And if you have parallel battery strings (and just for debugging your DC system), I would highly suggest an inexpensive DC Current Clamp meter (like this one from Sears).

When monitoring your battery bank, you are looking for oddball readings and differences. When all is running well, everything (voltages, specific gravity, battery temperatures, etc.) should all be very similar. Anything different needs to be investigated.

-Bill