Morningstar Tristar controler and MSView anomalies
Been in contact with Morningstar and the guy has been brilliant but im starting to feel bad about having to keep returning to him for each thing as i come across them , realized others have had issues that they have solved or Morningstar has advised them so maybe they can pass on any that are relevant .
My panels are 36 cell PV 12v wired into pairs and 60 cell PV 24v cells per panel total output 1120 watts at 24v . Manufacturers are BP and Atersa .
Have tried resting my batteries before taking the readings so the only consumption was the TS-60 .nothing in or out . The voltage variations were still present , battery voltage did rise and so did the readings on the controller but the disparity remained .
The Sense voltage should be the same as the batteries and if it is taken off the controller it is , its only when its on the controller does the contact show it to be 0.03v lower ie: battery 29.7 controller contacts 30v .
Below is what i have established so far
TS-60 PWM Firmwear Version v01.04.14
MULTI METER MSView shows
BATTERY VOLTAGE 0.3 to 0.5 Higher
BATTERY SENSE VOLTAGE 0.2 to 0.3 Lower 0.2 to 0.3 Higher
ARRAY VOLTAGE 0.3 to 0.04 higher
AMPHOUR TOTAL Far Higher Than Could Ever Be Possible
KILOWATT HOURS None Registered but AMPHOURS shows there should be some
MIN VOLTAGE Never Been Below 24v but it says 7.65v
These Below All Seem To Be Correct
Ah ( Resettable )
HOURMETER
SETTING SWITCHES
CONTROL MODE
CONTROL STATE
PWM DUTY CYCLE
MAX VOLTAGE
LEDs
Comments
-
Is this the TS MPPT or PWM ? (I see it's got PWM settings, so it's not mppt) Sadly, I've got a MPPT and it's going to be vastly different than the PWM.
Maybe it needs a firmware update ? (That's risky too!)
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 , -
Its a PWM and it has latest firmware i think v01.04.14
-
I have noticed variations between the figures shown on ms view and my voltmeters . around .3v -on a 24 volt battery bank . just taken a look and as expected . No remote temperature connected to confuse the figures . Its a PWM and used as charge controler.
New L16 batteries and new ts60 CC
CC terminals 29.80 with voltmeter
msview shows 30.10
Sense 29.70 with voltmeter
msview shows 30.00
Battery lugs 29.70 with voltmeter
Tried without sense and variations remain the same between CC terminals and msview display
Went into absorption at those figures and stayed there , the absorption figure is 30.00v so its leaving Bulk early dropping from 35-40 amps to about 8 to 12 amps possible more but certainly below 18 immediately and stays there until power is drawn off then if enough is drawn off will return to bulk and 35 to 40 amps coming in again .
I know i can increase the set points up .3v but until i know which is right i dont want to risk doing that and cooking batteries .
If anyone has a charge controller of this type i would be grateful if they could see if they are getting the same variations between msview and their voltmeter as it might help to know and possible eliminate possibilities .
Today i tried a friends new one before he fitted it and did it with and without sense wire and there identical readings however i do it which makes me think its unlikely to be the CCs and the voltmeter has also been dismissed as a possibility which only leaves msview but i doubt morningstar wouldent have rectified that if it had been responsible they have to excellent reputation which s why i went for their product .
msview and both CCs have the latest versions . The time clock on the msview displays are also 1 hour behind my PC . My ts60 takes a snapshot at 6.31pm , very little comes in after that so at 7.30pm do a Log update , last night i noticed my Amps were identical to a couple of days ago so i checked back and sure enough the date stamp is also 2 days behind . SO now i have adjusted my PCs time and date to 2 days and 1 hour ahead of real time . msview really needs some work doing as the logs are important .
Is there any alternative to msview i can use without any real programming knowledge .
2240 Watt Array 4 x 460 Watt Mono Panels + 2 x 200 Watt Panels
Victron Smart 150-70 MPPT Charge Controller
24 volt Battery Bank 4 x 6v 400 Amp/Hr Trojan L16 AGM
LiFePO4 Lithium 100 Amp/Hr Battery for Backup
Victron 1600w Multiplus Compact Inverter/Charger
DC to DC Charger ( Non Isolated )
Categories
- All Categories
- 221 Forum & Website
- 129 Solar Forum News and Announcements
- 1.3K Solar News, Reviews, & Product Announcements
- 192 Solar Information links & sources, event announcements
- 887 Solar Product Reviews & Opinions
- 254 Solar Skeptics, Hype, & Scams Corner
- 22.4K Solar Electric Power, Wind Power & Balance of System
- 3.5K General Solar Power Topics
- 6.7K Solar Beginners Corner
- 1K PV Installers Forum - NEC, Wiring, Installation
- 2K Advanced Solar Electric Technical Forum
- 5.5K Off Grid Solar & Battery Systems
- 425 Caravan, Recreational Vehicle, and Marine Power Systems
- 1.1K Grid Tie and Grid Interactive Systems
- 651 Solar Water Pumping
- 815 Wind Power Generation
- 624 Energy Use & Conservation
- 611 Discussion Forums/Café
- 304 In the Weeds--Member's Choice
- 75 Construction
- 124 New Battery Technologies
- 108 Old Battery Tech Discussions
- 3.8K Solar News - Automatic Feed
- 3.8K Solar Energy News RSS Feed