Batteries discharging at night with no load on
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![christo1985](https://w4.vanillicon.com/4239034ef22c484ca7abe32ea083791e_100.png)
christo1985
Registered Users Posts: 8 ✭✭
I have mounted 3x160w Poly's on the roof of my bus, connected in parallel to a 60a mppt charge controller ' sun shield pro solar' feeding 3x100ah lead acid batteries, The distance between the panels and the charge controller is less than 15 feet using 10AWG from panels to controller and 4AWG from controller to batteries, batteries are also connected in parallel with a ground to the bus chassis, i also have a 2000w inverter connected to the batteries, but it is always switched off when not being used.
i have 6 led lights and a small water pump connected to this system, Maybe using 2 of the 6 lights for about 1-2 hours every night and the bars on the controller seen to go from 5 bars to 3 bars within this short amount of time? and at night it will go down as much as 1 bar with no load on.... the battery v never gets less than 12.8v but the bar's on the controller get down?
Im not sure if i should change some settings on the controller or i have made a mistake with my wiring size or the battery bar indicator on the controller isn't accurate?
Any feedback would be great.... cheers
i have 6 led lights and a small water pump connected to this system, Maybe using 2 of the 6 lights for about 1-2 hours every night and the bars on the controller seen to go from 5 bars to 3 bars within this short amount of time? and at night it will go down as much as 1 bar with no load on.... the battery v never gets less than 12.8v but the bar's on the controller get down?
Im not sure if i should change some settings on the controller or i have made a mistake with my wiring size or the battery bar indicator on the controller isn't accurate?
Any feedback would be great.... cheers
Comments
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The wire size from panels to controller are a little on the small size and would give you about 5% volt drop using 160W×3×.75 (average output) ÷14.4V=25A and the linked volt drop calculator, you want to be 3% or less. Are the batteries flooded or sealed,AGM, deep cycle etcetera, that would give some indication of what the settings should be. The bars on the graphic are at best an indication of charge, usually whilst charging, ~14.4V being fully charged, if the voltage is at 12.8V with no load overnight, that would be normal.
http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html
1500W, 6× Schutten 250W Poly panels , Schneider MPPT 60 150 CC, Schneider SW 2524 inverter, 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Battery Bodyguard BMS
Second system 1890W 3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.
5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding. -
If using V I'd forget the "bars" and get a proper V meter. 12.6 in the morning is good
ThomOff grid since 1984. 430w of panel, 300w suresine , 4 gc batteries 12v system, Rogue mpt3024 charge controller , air breeze windmill, Mikita 2400w generator . Added 2@ 100w panel with a midnight brat -
Question, is this the controller you have, see link, the parallel arrangement would indicate a PWM not MPPT, also can you post the panel specifications on the back of the panels, always helpful
https://www.amazon.com/Ramsond-Sunshield-Charge-Controller-Regulator/dp/B009AI4LVM
1500W, 6× Schutten 250W Poly panels , Schneider MPPT 60 150 CC, Schneider SW 2524 inverter, 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Battery Bodyguard BMS
Second system 1890W 3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.
5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding. -
I really appreciate all the feedback guys..
I have attended a few pic's hopefully this will answer you questions. -
Not sure if the pics successfully uploaded?
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you need to first click on the tab that says 'attach image' to load a pic.
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just an observation but the red wires should be on the positive side unless this is a positive ground system.
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One thing I notice is a li symbol in the bottom left corner of your CC screen. Is it set for Lithium ion batteries? As the voltage settles overnight it might think your battery is losing charge and giving you the less than full reading.
2.1 Kw Suntech 175 mono, Classic 200, Trace SW 4024 ( 15 years old but brand new out of sealed factory box Jan. 2015), Bogart Tri-metric, 460 Ah. 24 volt LiFePo4 battery bank. Plenty of Baja Sea of Cortez sunshine.
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Good spot there @littleharbor2 pictures are worth a 1000 words.1500W, 6× Schutten 250W Poly panels , Schneider MPPT 60 150 CC, Schneider SW 2524 inverter, 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Battery Bodyguard BMS
Second system 1890W 3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.
5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding. -
That's funny.... the manufacturer told me the the LI battery stands for lead acid?
Good spot, thank you for that. Should it be on GEL or something else? -
Long story short, the red is now negative and black positive for the PV inlet, the angle of the photo also makes the load wires look like there in the wrong spot.
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christo1985 said:That's funny.... the manufacturer told me the the LI battery stands for lead acid?
Good spot, thank you for that. Should it be on GEL or something else?
Don't know the ins and outs of your controller but You should find in the manual an explanation. FLA would be for conventional, Flooded Lead Acid. batteries AGM for sealed Absorb Glass Mat batteries. VRLA for sealed, Valve regulated Lead acid (AGM, Gel).batteries and Gel for .....you guessed it Gel batteries.2.1 Kw Suntech 175 mono, Classic 200, Trace SW 4024 ( 15 years old but brand new out of sealed factory box Jan. 2015), Bogart Tri-metric, 460 Ah. 24 volt LiFePo4 battery bank. Plenty of Baja Sea of Cortez sunshine.
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Christo, you now have the colours backwards.... in wiring DC systems the black is the negative and RED is the POSITIVE..... in AC wired systems the BLACK is the POWER (+) and White is the common
KID #51B 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
CL#29032 FW 2126/ 2073/ 2133 175A E-Panel WBjr, 3 x 4s 140W to 24V 900Ah C&D AGM
Cotek ST1500W 24V Inverter,OmniCharge 3024,
2 x Cisco WRT54GL i/c DD-WRT Rtr & Bridge,
Eu3/2/1000i Gens, 1680W & E-Panel/WBjr to come, CL #647 asleep
West Chilcotin, BC, Canada -
Hey west branch....
When I did the wiring for the panels I made a mistake so I taped the ends, black is now positive and red negative, I know it's the other way around, amateur mistake -
Thank you guys for the feedback! You have been awesome....
I will change my battery type on my CC and see if that makes a difference
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