Hey guys, new member here - I owe a lot of what I've researched/read to these forums and since after hours of searching and not being able to resolve my issue I figured maybe someone here would be able to guide me.
Quick overview of the setup as a whole:
2x206AH SOK Batteries
Renogy 3000W Inverter Charger
Renogy DC to DC/MPPT 50A Combo
2x200W Renogy Solar Panels.
(For reference, the solar is not currently connected and the van is parked in my shop and not running so the DC to DC/MPPT isn't really doing anything currently).
When I first got my electrical setup a few weeks back, I set the Renogy inverter charger to the Lithium program then plugged into shore power with my inverter charger and the batteries started charging and eventually it stopped charging and I had full capacity batteries. I didn't think much of it. Over time I noticed that the inverter charger was not charging my batteries while plugged into shore. I'd be at ~80% capacity and no charge would happen. Another odd thing I noticed is that if I disconnected my batteries with my shut off switch (with shore power still plugged in) and then re-connected them, it would charge them back up to 100%.
This obviously isn't ideal behavior for a few reasons but I've spent the better part of a few days trying to resolve it and can't seem to find a solution. I found some information on currentconnected.com regarding the "user" settings when using SOK batteries which is listed as:
But with the charging inverter, a LOT of those settings don't even seem to be adjustable or accessible via the on screen display. The only relevant settings (programs) I can find are:
So first things first I set the battery type (Program 5) to b-0 for user defined. I then went to program 12 (low battery voltage setpoint) and it does **not** allow you to change this parameter for some reason? It also does not allow me to change Over-Voltage Battery Recover (program 13). Note that program 94 (selection of battery type) is correctly set to Lithium.
For Boost charging (program 26), Renogy states in their manual that when Lithium is selected:
So with the wording of that in the manual plus the info I got from currentconnected, I set that to 14.6V.
For Float charging (program 27), when using Lithium the Renogy manual mentions:
So here I set to 13.8V.
After changing these settings the batteries started charging without me having to do anything. After getting close to ~100% I noticed that the Renogy charger kept showing the batteries were "charged" then voltage would drop and it would immediately continue to start charging them again at full charge current. It did this over and over until I went back into Program 26 (boost charging) and changed that from 14.6V to 13.4V (referencing the "Boost Charge Return Voltage").
Now it wasn't stuck in a constant charging/full cycle where it would switch every 20 seconds or so, but instead it would now start to charge every 4-5 minutes. The battery monitor would start to flash, it would show +4amps, and the fans would kick on and run for 15-20 minutes then stop again. 5 Minutes later, rinse and repeat. And it did this basically non stop for well over 2 hours until I got tired of it and just unplugged the shore power.
When I set the battery type back to Lithium (program 5 to b-L) it doesn't do the start/stop charging, it just never charges the batteries even if they dip into the 70% range without me first disconnecting the battery's and reconnecting them (I'm guessing it just sees the voltage drop to nothing and it tricks the inverter into charging mode or something). By default it doesn't want to charge lithium at all until they're at 12.5V which is like ~15% capacity? That doesn't really do me much good if I'm plugged in and my 12V DC system is draining my batteries and I end up leaving camp at like 20% battery power being plugged in for nothing...
Throughout this I've emailed both SOK and Renogy and haven't received help really from anyone and I'm feeling a bit stuck at this point and not really sure what to do. I'm kind of wishing I went with another inverter at this point but due to space constraints the Renogy style (long slim) seems to be the only one that will fit where I want to put it. I have a lot of volume , just not a lot of width unfortunately.
Sorry for the long winded post, just wanted to make sure I included as much info as I could remember! Thanks in advance.
Quick overview of the setup as a whole:
2x206AH SOK Batteries
Renogy 3000W Inverter Charger
Renogy DC to DC/MPPT 50A Combo
2x200W Renogy Solar Panels.
(For reference, the solar is not currently connected and the van is parked in my shop and not running so the DC to DC/MPPT isn't really doing anything currently).
When I first got my electrical setup a few weeks back, I set the Renogy inverter charger to the Lithium program then plugged into shore power with my inverter charger and the batteries started charging and eventually it stopped charging and I had full capacity batteries. I didn't think much of it. Over time I noticed that the inverter charger was not charging my batteries while plugged into shore. I'd be at ~80% capacity and no charge would happen. Another odd thing I noticed is that if I disconnected my batteries with my shut off switch (with shore power still plugged in) and then re-connected them, it would charge them back up to 100%.
This obviously isn't ideal behavior for a few reasons but I've spent the better part of a few days trying to resolve it and can't seem to find a solution. I found some information on currentconnected.com regarding the "user" settings when using SOK batteries which is listed as:
Code:
Settings for Renogy Charge Controller (Wanderer, etc.)
IMPORTANT: For battery type, select “USER”
High Voltage Disconnect: 15.0
Charge Limit Voltage: 14.6v
Equalize Charge Voltage: 14.4
Boost Charge Voltage: 14.6v
Float Charge Voltage: 13.8v
Boost Charge Return Voltage: 13.4
Over Discharge Return Voltage: 12.0v
Low voltage Alarm:11.8v
Over Discharge Voltage: 11.0v
Discharge Limit Voltage: 10.5
Over Discharge Delay Time: 5 Seconds
Equalize Charge Time: 0
Boost Charge Time: 15 Minutes
Equalize Charge Interval: 0
Temperature Compensation: 0But with the charging inverter, a LOT of those settings don't even seem to be adjustable or accessible via the on screen display. The only relevant settings (programs) I can find are:
Code:
01 Utility Priority and Battery Priority
05 Custom Battery Type / User Mode
11 Maximum Utility Charging
12 Low Battery Voltage Setpoint
13 Over-Voltage Battery Recovery
26 Boost Charging
27 Float Charging
29 Low DC Cut-off Voltage
94 Selection of Battery Type CustomSo first things first I set the battery type (Program 5) to b-0 for user defined. I then went to program 12 (low battery voltage setpoint) and it does **not** allow you to change this parameter for some reason? It also does not allow me to change Over-Voltage Battery Recover (program 13). Note that program 94 (selection of battery type) is correctly set to Lithium.
For Boost charging (program 26), Renogy states in their manual that when Lithium is selected:
So with the wording of that in the manual plus the info I got from currentconnected, I set that to 14.6V.
For Float charging (program 27), when using Lithium the Renogy manual mentions:
So here I set to 13.8V.
After changing these settings the batteries started charging without me having to do anything. After getting close to ~100% I noticed that the Renogy charger kept showing the batteries were "charged" then voltage would drop and it would immediately continue to start charging them again at full charge current. It did this over and over until I went back into Program 26 (boost charging) and changed that from 14.6V to 13.4V (referencing the "Boost Charge Return Voltage").
Now it wasn't stuck in a constant charging/full cycle where it would switch every 20 seconds or so, but instead it would now start to charge every 4-5 minutes. The battery monitor would start to flash, it would show +4amps, and the fans would kick on and run for 15-20 minutes then stop again. 5 Minutes later, rinse and repeat. And it did this basically non stop for well over 2 hours until I got tired of it and just unplugged the shore power.
When I set the battery type back to Lithium (program 5 to b-L) it doesn't do the start/stop charging, it just never charges the batteries even if they dip into the 70% range without me first disconnecting the battery's and reconnecting them (I'm guessing it just sees the voltage drop to nothing and it tricks the inverter into charging mode or something). By default it doesn't want to charge lithium at all until they're at 12.5V which is like ~15% capacity? That doesn't really do me much good if I'm plugged in and my 12V DC system is draining my batteries and I end up leaving camp at like 20% battery power being plugged in for nothing...
Throughout this I've emailed both SOK and Renogy and haven't received help really from anyone and I'm feeling a bit stuck at this point and not really sure what to do. I'm kind of wishing I went with another inverter at this point but due to space constraints the Renogy style (long slim) seems to be the only one that will fit where I want to put it. I have a lot of volume , just not a lot of width unfortunately.
Sorry for the long winded post, just wanted to make sure I included as much info as I could remember! Thanks in advance.
