Issues

[rmaddy]

How charged are the batteries and what load do you currently have on them?

Keep in mind that when the batteries are full the panels will only provide enough watts to cover any current load. If the batteries are full and there is no load then the panels will be at 0W even in the middle of a bright sunny day.

 

[Jgoodman]

What is the Voltage from the PV panels showing on the SCC?
What is the make and model of the SCC?

Pv input voltage is 37-40 fluctuating , running an MPP Lv2424 scc/ inverter

 

[Jgoodman]

Ok i

How charged are the batteries and what load do you currently have on them?

Keep in mind that when the batteries are full the panels will only provide enough watts to cover any current load. If the batteries are full and there is no load then the panels will be at 0W even in the middle of a bright sunny day.

keep adding loads ( ac , blender , charger for drill batteries etc, and the load increased as did Voltage, took it all away and the load/input watts dropped.

 

[rmaddy]

Turn off the solar for a bit and run some loads for a while to discharge the battery. Run some fans overnight. Get the batteries down to 70-80%. Then turn the solar back on and tomorrow you should see better output from the panels.

 

[Jgoodman]

So I think I am still having some problems I just got the alarm for drained batteries after running the ac for an hour or so turned off the inverter and am just charging but I am really surprised at how fast the power drains.

 

[Jgoodman]

Batteries are down to 24.1 volts 86 watt input but I have 4 109ah batteries hooked up and it only took an hour and a half to shut it down

 

[Jgoodman]

Turn off the solar for a bit and run some loads for a while to discharge the battery. Run some fans overnight. Get the batteries down to 70-80%. Then turn the solar back on and tomorrow you should see better output from the panels.

My controller I think is only set up to do 120 output how can I hook up a load for just batteries?

 

[rmaddy]

My controller I think is only set up to do 120 output how can I hook up a load for just batteries?

Using the inverter is fine. But if the batteries are down to 24.1V that is really low already. Turn the solar back on and let the batteries charge.

 

[Jgoodman]

So I am fairly certain that the array is shaded. It’s 1600 on a clear day and I’m not getting enough energy. I may move the panels to the farthest edge from me in the pic, it seems to have better sun. But that still doesn’t explain how fast my 436 ah drained away to where it shuts down my electrical. Any thoughts on that

 

[rmaddy]

Use a multi meter and measure the voltage of each battery. Make sure they are all the same. Post the results.

What was the total voltage when you started the load on the inverter? We know it was 24.1 after an hour. If the batteries weren't fully charged and all equal, then you just may have had enough to run for an hour. What was the load on the batteries during that hour? Was it the 1200W you mentioned earlier?

When you stated earlier that you had the batteries all worked out, did that include making sure all of them were at the exact same state of charge and fully charged before putting them back in the 2S2P setup?

 

[Jgoodman]

So here is what I have as far as loads. A window ac, box fan, drill battery charger, and some portable power banks, couple rechargeable flashlights nothing crazy, do I just not have enough or do I still have something weird happening

 

[rmaddy]

Ignore what I said about the 1200W load. I was confusing your setup with another one I was helping with. But when you do reply with everything I mentioned in my previous post, do indicate the total load being shown while you have all of that stuff running from your inverter.

 

[Jgoodman]

Use a multi meter and measure the voltage of each battery. Make sure they are all the same. Post the results.

What was the total voltage when you started the load on the inverter? We know it was 24.1 after an hour. If the batteries weren't fully charged and all equal, then you just may have had enough to run for an hour. What was the load on the batteries during that hour? Was it the 1200W you mentioned earlier?

When you stated earlier that you had the batteries all worked out, did that include making sure all of them were at the exact same state of charge and fully charged before putting them back in the 2S2P setup?

Total volts was 26.4 on all batteries after charging and before putting them into the 2s2p. Not sure what the volts were before adding the loads. I guess I don’t recall that I stated 1200 watts. The total loads that I had running may have hit 200 or so but I don’t have the setup for 1200.

 

[Jgoodman]

Ignore what I said about the 1200W load. I was confusing your setup with another one I was helping with. But when you do reply with everything I mentioned in my previous post, do indicate the total load being shown while you have all of that stuff running from your inverter.

I can tell you what the load is with all loads running which indicates 473- 496 watts and when those loads are running the charging light for the battery drops out. Battery voltage goes from 24.1 to 23

 

[rmaddy]

You still haven't posted the voltage of each individual battery. Do so while there is no load. All four should read the exact same voltage.

I don't have any experience with the type of batteries that you have so I can't say whether the drop from 24.1 to 23 is normal but that does seem unreasonable.

But I'm still really suspect of your batteries. Your original bad setup could have ruined one or more. And you have given no indication if you properly balanced all of the batteries before hooking them back up in 2S2P.

Make sure all connections are properly tightened.

If the batteries check out then it would help a lot if you posted a full schematic of your setup showing every wire (and its gauge), fuse, breaker, and other components. Post good pictures of everything.

 

[Jgoodman]

If my panels are slightly shaded and the load is 500 watts while the max output is 355 x2 I’m outpacing the solar but something is wrong with my battery setup still huh? So I need to move the panels to the sunnier part of the roof, and check into my battery setup further. I turned on the window ac and watched it drain the batteries from 24 volt to 20 volts in about ten minutes

 

[Jgoodman]

You still haven't posted the voltage of each individual battery. Do so while there is no load. All four should read the exact same voltage.

I don't have any experience with the type of batteries that you have so I can't say whether the drop from 24.1 to 23 is normal but that does seem unreasonable.

But I'm still really suspect of your batteries. Your original bad setup could have ruined one or more. And you have given no indication if you properly balanced all of the batteries before hooking them back up in 2S2P.

Make sure all connections are properly tightened.

If the batteries check out then it would help a lot if you posted a full schematic of your setup showing every wire (and its gauge), fuse, breaker, and other components. Post good pictures of everything.

Will get that info and get back

 

[Jgoodman]

Will get that info and get back

You still haven't posted the voltage of each individual battery. Do so while there is no load. All four should read the exact same voltage.

I don't have any experience with the type of batteries that you have so I can't say whether the drop from 24.1 to 23 is normal but that does seem unreasonable.

But I'm still really suspect of your batteries. Your original bad setup could have ruined one or more. And you have given no indication if you properly balanced all of the batteries before hooking them back up in 2S2P.

Make sure all connections are properly tightened.

If the batteries check out then it would help a lot if you posted a full schematic of your setup showing every wire (and its gauge), fuse, breaker, and other components. Post good pictures of everything.

So there’s a few pics of the setup took all batteries out of the setup measured each 2 read 12 volts even and 2 read 11.8 volts
All wire is 8 gauge and except for a small chunk of it 3 feet or so is all silicone welding wire. The battery cables are 8 gauge from a parts house , I have no fuses in line at the moment. It’s as simple as it gets. Will work on a diagram to post

 

[Jgoodman]

So there’s a few pics of the setup took all batteries out of the setup measured each 2 read 12 volts even and 2 read 11.8 volts
All wire is 8 gauge and except for a small chunk of it 3 feet or so is all silicone welding wire. The battery cables are 8 gauge from a parts house , I have no fuses in line at the moment. It’s as simple as it gets. Will work on a diagram to post

 

[Jgoodman]

Drew up a diagram