midnite Kid setup question....

kaipo_boy · June 2015

I'm a guy. Yeah, I admit it. I took the Kid out of the box and had to plug it into a 24v power source and "....ooooh, look at all the pretty lights!"
so, it wasn't put into service right away, I kinda played with it a little... so, never got to the proper screens upon powerup to set my battery bank size. How do I get there? I've searched through the menus but cannot locate anywhere to input my battery bank size... wondering if that's affecting my system.

I'm new to solar, so am trying to pick things up as I go. I wasn't aware of how the CC terminated the cycle until actually trying it out; but I now have 6 hours set into the absorb time at 29.5v (4x GC2 Interstates). On a sunny day I can just barely make it to float, but as I'm usually at work then, I haven't been able to take a SG reading to get my actual SOC when it goes into float. When I get home and it's been running a fridge and a freezer (about 2kwh per day draw) all day long even while charging, the bank usually measures around 25.5v... Interstate says a 100% SOC should be near 25.92v. I don't expect to see 25.92v since the fridge and freezer have been pulling out some current after it hit float, but I'm slowly coming to the realization that maybe I don't have enough solar hours in the day to fully charge the bank up. I currently have 3x Trina 285w panels. Is the only solution to add a 4th panel? Are you allowed to run a slightly higher voltage, say 29.8v or 30.0v to compensate and 'push' more charge into the bank during the absorb cycle? Is there a way to tell it to hold the current high after reaching the bulk/absorb threshold? Or perhaps to taper the current slower?

vtmaps · June 2015

kaipo_boy wrote: »

I don't expect to see 25.92v since the fridge and freezer have been pulling out some current after it hit float, but I'm slowly coming to the realization that maybe I don't have enough solar hours in the day to fully charge the bank up.

When you are in float it means the controller thinks the batteries are fully charged and that the controller is "throttling back" the potential power of your panels. If your fridge starts drawing power while in float, the controller will allow the panels to produce more power so that the batteries stay in float without discharging.

As for setting absorb voltage and time, get an hydrometer. If your batteries are new, it may take 50 or more cycles before they are in peak condition and it may not be possible to get them to the SG and resting voltage that interstate recommends.

If you can get to float with 6 hours of absorb at 29.8 volts, then you have adequate panel capacity and sunlight for those batteries.

--vtMaps

boomadge · June 2015

Main menu / aux menu / func / wbjr -off/auto
---> setup button and it will be in there. Don't forget to hit save button when you change anything before backing out.

kaipo_boy · June 2015

boomadge wrote: »

Main menu / aux menu / func / wbjr -off/auto
---> setup button and it will be in there. Don't forget to hit save button when you change anything before backing out.

Thanks! Found it! ...it was set (default) at 400ah, about twice what I have. I have reset it to 208ah, waiting to see if this makes a difference.
I notice that you have a 2000w generator.... my setup is nearly the same as yours, I have about 900w of panel and also have a Cotek inverter. I also bought an IOTA DLS-27-40 but could not get my generator to put out enough watts to power the IOTA... how do you get your generator to not trip the circuit breaker?

boomadge · June 2015

The iota will draw a max of 19.5 amps at 108vac. My gen has a 20 amp breaker And 2500 peak watts. The iota
Has not tripped the breaker.

mike95490 · June 2015

kaipo_boy wrote: »

...... but I'm slowly coming to the realization that maybe I don't have enough solar hours in the day to fully charge the bank up. I currently have 3x Trina 285w panels. Is the only solution to add a 4th panel? Are you allowed to run a slightly higher voltage, say 29.8v or 30.0v to compensate and 'push' more charge into the bank during the absorb cycle? ....

Sometimes, that is a valid way to to put more amps into the batteries. As long as you don't exceed the amp recharge limit for your batteries, or let them heat up from the high amps.

A 2Kwh daily load, and about 800w of panels, I expect 5 good hours of sun should do it. Till you get a generator and boost the batteries in the AM, and let them bulk and then absorb, you won;t know for sure. There are not a lot of places that get 5 hours of good sun, even in the summer time, winter will be a tougher situation for you when you start adding lighting loads too.

also bought an IOTA DLS-27-40 but could not get my generator to put out enough watts to power the IOTA... how do you get your generator to not trip the circuit breaker?

Easy. You need a larger generator. No way to adjust the current on the Iota. Maybe getting a smaller model of Iota instead of a larger generator ?

kaipo_boy · June 2015

Thanks Mike. I figured as much but didn't want to get a larger generator, OR a smaller Iota, so I had to pick up a Meanwell as it draws less amps than the Iota; and when its cloudy I do have to bulk the batteries in the morning.... but its tough as leaving for work early in the morning means I have to do that at like 4 or 5am. Next: quiet running box for the genny. But my 2200w Ryobi is JUST missing a tiny amount of current to keep the Iota happy, as it will run it for around 30 seconds before the breaker trips. So I'm considering looking at a slightly larger genny... but that's a huge expense, and our friend above seems to be able to do it with his genny, a Wolf Genie? which looks like about the same as mine but does not trip with the Iota.

kaipo_boy · June 2015

boomadge wrote: »

Main menu / aux menu / func / wbjr -off/auto
---> setup button and it will be in there. Don't forget to hit save button when you change anything before backing out.

Boomadge, I also bypassed the setup for battery type.... how do I make sure it is set for FLA rather than, say, AGM?

zoneblue · June 2015

kaipo_boy wrote: »

When I get home and it's been running a fridge and a freezer (about 2kwh per day draw) all day long even while charging, the bank usually measures around 25.5v... Interstate says a 100% SOC should be near 25.92v. I don't expect to see 25.92v since the fridge and freezer have been pulling out some current after it hit float, but I'm slowly coming to the realization that maybe I don't have enough solar hours in the day to fully charge the bank up. I currently have 3x Trina 285w panels

The terminal voltage of batteries isnt a good guide to SOC. The only way to do that semi well is to let the bank rest for several hours then measure it. Obviously thats not practical when under use. For new banks you have to analyse the charge accpetance during absorb. Wait until the weekend, and monitor the banks progress every 30 mins or so, voltage, current and SG through a long asborb. Note the time taken and or end amps required to do the job and set the kid accordingly. Do you have the WBJr?

At a rough guess 3 panels isnt enough to reliably power a fridge and a freezer. Not without a lot of gen time.

boomadge · June 2015

Battery type at initial setup is a generic / safe settings. As far as I can tell you can not access the battery type after the initial setup. This is because you now have control over voltages ect.

I believe the only way to access the battery type is by factory reset. This wipes all the memory so you can start fresh.

midnite Kid setup question....

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