outback mate

wellbuilt · July 2018

Hello all
I have a question for the board .
I have a flex power one unit from out back with a mate 3 system .
The question is what is the best way to learn to program it .
The manual doesn’t really tell you where to start ?
They don’t really expect us to read the manual and be able to program the unit .
I’ve have about 1/2 an hour of scrolling thru the mate .
And 3 hours of manual time plus some good u tube vids.
I have no internet at the site so it would be hard to have some one help me over the phone .
I new this mate set up would be a problem for me , I hate computers and Technology .
I’ve set up some older type systems with little trouble .
. Did you guys just open the box and get your units to work?
. Advice need Thanks in advance

Dave Angelini · July 2018

Give it some time and devote a small amount of time regularly. Your attitude needs to be more positive as it will in the end determine your success. Keep looking at u-tubes from Outback and as they have said from the very beginning of technology, "when in doubt, read the manual"

Estragon · July 2018

I got my mate and inverter stack going with just the manuals, though it did take a bit to get used to the manuals. To me, it uses too much space with drawings of buttons instead of a text path like "foo->bar->setting".

Are there paticular settings you're having trouble with?

Dave Angelini · July 2018

Yep too much space and not enough real world examples.

Forgot to add, the Outback forum is an excellent resource. Someone from Outback may have had a client or customer with similar issues!

wellbuilt · July 2018

Thanks guy for the Encouraging words feeling a little better about it , haven’t found out how to check the firm wear yet
or how to go to set up wizard .
Hope fully I can get it up and running next weekend .
My battery’s are sitting so the clock is ticking

petertearai · July 2018

Yes it dose need a few reads to get your head around all options .. Lots of the things you can set may not be relevent , What is your system set up to do ? Start with the baisics to get your baterys charging .

wellbuilt · July 2018

Peter , I really just have no clue where to start .
I’m not a computer electric device kind of guy , and I hate the stuff .
I’m not really in to all the fancy stuff .
I’ve used 3 systems 2 on sail boat one on a trailer .
The sail boats just worked , I had all the power I needed until November when the boats where put up for winter
My trailer had flood battery so I checked them , and added water the cc EQed them every 30 days .
My new system really just has to make power , charge battery’s thru the inverter , charge battery’s thru the flex max 80 , and it would be good if I can use the battery Monitor.
I have no grid or Internet For that matter .
I can text but can’t really call out .
i think I need to get to the profile wizard and start there , I don’t know why that is not in the front of the manual ?
After 20 minutes reading my eyes start to go buggy , why is the type so small , it’s like outback is trying to keep a Secret.
Is this manual on line ?

Raj174 · July 2018

Yes, the manuals are online. Here's the link:

http://www.outbackpower.com/resources/documents/product-documentation

Rick

petertearai · July 2018

Ignore the Mate . Try direct through the Fm 80 to set up charge parameters . Need to set bulk and float voltages . And absorb timer , ( maybe 3 hours to start with ) . What are your battery AH ?
The inverter should invert ...without any settings , however if you want to charge via " inverter charger " then you will need to use the mate to set bulk and absorb voltages ...see how you go , maybe you will need to involve a payed person ?
I found the mate a bit scary to start with .

wellbuilt · July 2018

Thanks for the outback manuals that helps .
I have 8. 215 ah battery’s hooked up now with 8 more ready for cables and my battery box to be finished I have Cables on order now
So 430 AH total for as long as they last .
I have 3 295 watt q cell solar panels screwed to a trailer in the driveway to start with , so I’m going to charge with the genarator inverter / charger and use some solar until I get the panels on the roof .
I’m going to buy a total of 24 solar panels @ 295 watt and use 18 panels on my roof and 5 for pumping water with one extra Incase we break one .
I will need a second fm 80 at some point .
I have no problem paying some one to help me set this up but I don’t reall have some one to call
it hard enough getting a tire changed where I’m at..
it over a hour to a real town .
I do have a few computer programmers at my disposal but no one with solar experience
I have a grid tie solar crew but the guys told me they could not set up the outback unit .
I am feeling more Confident after reading the manual online when I could see it that I can make this happen

Dave Angelini · July 2018

text me or e-mail below! I have done this for over 150 offgrid homes. I charge a small fee. No-mark-up on excellent wholesale prices. All clients are happy.
You can also call the store if you buy something from them. They are excellent.

wellbuilt · July 2018

Hi Dave thanks for the offer , I have been reading every thing you have written here for years along with bill estragon Rick and a bunch of other gentlemen .
I’m feeling better about the system start up , I’m going to give it a try this weekend if it doesn’t work out for me I will defenetly look you up.
Thanks so much
John

wellbuilt · July 2018

Could some one help me with my charger set points .
The battery manufacture was not much help , they are looking into it ?
Absorb 59.28 float 52.8 EQ 62.2 .
I have gc215 battery’s

Estragon · July 2018

My L16 settings are a bit lower...58.8 absorb, 52.1 float, and 61.2 EQ, all as per maker (USBattery) specs. Yours are pretty close.

Raj174 · July 2018

What is the brand and model number.

wellbuilt · July 2018

The battery’s are Duracell gc215 AH at 20 hrs . They where made buy east penn

Raj174 · July 2018

wellbuilt said:

The battery’s are Duracell gc215 AH at 20 hrs . They where made buy east penn

Found this post from May of 2015, I suspect they're still the same.

http://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/339311/duracell-branded-6v-info

Basically,

You will have to multiply these voltage settings by 2.

"These charging specs will work perfectly"

1. BULK STAGE = 10% of Ah (C10) or 21.5 amps

26 amps (max.current) per series string.

2. ABSORPTION STAGE = 2.44 vpc (x 3 cells) = 7.32 v x the # of batteries in your strings(4)=29.28V

3. FLOAT STAGE = 2.34 vpc (x 3 cells) = 7.02 v x the # of batteries in your strings(4)=28.08V

4. EQUALIZE STAGE = 2.53 vpc (x 3 cells) = 7.59 v the # of batteries in your strings(4)=30.36V

Rick

wellbuilt · July 2018

Hi all it seems like I’m getting use to the mate .
I’ve have 3 solar panels hooked up my fx 80 is still sleeping but it’s foggie here
I think I have my setting in corectly I have not tried genarator charging yet I still need a few parts .
So far so good
I was looking a t the set points that rick gave me and float seam very high 56.16 for a system that will sit in float
for weeks at a time
any Comment on this ?
And I was not sure about the re float. And rebulk set point and what they do .
Thanks in advance for all your help
John

Estragon · July 2018

The float seems high to me as well. All float is supposed to do in our application is offset self-discharge. Maybe more applicable to an application like a floor machine or golf cart that only floats overnight and gets used the next day?

mcgivor · July 2018

Estragon said:

The float seems high to me as well. All float is supposed to do in our application is offset self-discharge. Maybe more applicable to an application like a floor machine or golf cart that only floats overnight and gets used the next day?

It is rather high for float, but in the case of grid powered float in the floor machine/golf cart it would be extreme in my opinion, off grid float usually lasts until the array can no longer support the voltage, with constant discharge after that point, not sure your comment is relevant, thoughts?

Estragon · July 2018

Wellbuilt mentioned his bank floating for weeks at a time, which is what I was thinking about. It's certainly true a solar system isn't floating at night.

My guess is a GC type of application may tend to cycle more deeply, so the float might be completing the charge (sort of a lower voltage extended absorb) rather than just offsetting self-discharge.

wellbuilt · July 2018

I came back from fishing and the crazy box on the wall is working .
No smoke or flame .
I’m getting a high of 780 watts in full sun .
With cloud cover I’m getting in 150 watts not to bad
I was floating at 100% after a few hours of sun .
I’m running the inverter on 120 watts now just some lights radio pumping some water and a fan .
I used a combination of setting ( I don’t really know why , I don’t know much about this stuff )
59.2 absorb 52.1 float and ricks 60.8 for EQ .
I could someone explain to me about the re-float and the Rebulk settings on my controller they are still at factory

Raj174 · July 2018

Can't make a comment on re-float or rebulk, I haven't used them, however I would recommend the float voltage be at least 54V. This is a more common float level.

BB. · July 2018

More or less, there is a line of thought where any recharging is a charging cycle. 90 to 95% is one cycle, and 50 to 95% is a charging cycle.

There is another theory where lead acid batteries shallowed cycled the batteries do not last as long. Cycling to 75% state of charge at least once per month (or even normal cycling between charges) should be a good thing.

If you set rebuilt to a lower state of charge before a full charging cycle (like 75% soc equivalent equivalent), batteries are thought to last longer.

Bill

Estragon · July 2018

Rebulk is a voltage setting that will trigger another bulk/absorb cycle. For example, say your bank gets full in the morning. You go into the workshop and do stuff with power tools. Meanwhile, it got cloudy, and the tools used more than solar could provide, so the bank got drawn down some. If the voltage gets taken down to rebulk voltage (often has to stay at Vrebulk for some period of time), a bulk/absorb cycle gets triggered.

Like Bill says, you want it set low enough that it doesn't get triggered very often, but high enough that you don't leave the shop at sundown and find the bank at a low SOC and have to fire up the genny to get you through the night. If the delay time is settable, you want to make it long enough so a pump starting or whatever doesn't trigger it.

wellbuilt · July 2018

How about refloat I did not come across the rebuke seting ? But I found refloat
would that be set a 75% charge also

wellbuilt · July 2018

I changed to float voltage to 54 v

Raj174 · July 2018

@wellbuilt
I found this application note called "OutBack Battery Setup Using OutBack Chargers", it has the information you need and more.
File attached below.

Rick

wellbuilt · July 2018

You are the man , I’m standing on a rock in the pitch black reading this ,I only get cell service about 150’ from the house .

littleharbor2 · July 2018

wellbuilt said:

I only get cell service about 150’ from the house .

Have you tried a signal booster and Yagi directional antenna? In Baja we are 20 miles from the nearest cell tower. We went from barely being to make calls to 4G service and ability to use our phones hot spot for internet.

wellbuilt · July 2018

no signal booster yet .
I haven’t had any power .
I will have to look in to it when I have the power figured out .
I tried a repeater and that did not work at all .

outback mate

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