Magnum Energy MS4448PAE LiFePO4 Charger Settings:

[Phil Orton]

My ME-ARC remote control is version 3..01. I talked to Magnum support about upgrading to a Lithium profile since I'm about ready to replace the batteries with 280ah EVE cells. They did not suggest an upgrade to the remote control. However they did recommend charger settings for the LiFePO4 charge profile as follows:
-Under Custom battery settings: set Absorb to 58.4, with 1/2 hour time per battery.
-Float at 53.6v
-EQ at 58.4v
-Final Chg. stage set to 'silent' rebulk at 53.6v
-Low bat cutoff = 48v

I'm thinking about this:
-Absorb=55.2 for1 hour total
-EQ=55.2 for shortest possible time.
-Float= 54.4
-Final Chg='silent' with rebulk at 54.3
-Low bat cutoff=48v
-On inverter set SOC, to only allow charger input AC to operate when batteries are below 40% and cut off at 70%. This will allow the solar charge controller to handle charging unless above conditions apply.

Finally, here's the question: Is anyone using the Magnum in a similar fashion and can you add any input that would help me get set up? Just want to use the Magnum in the best way for this configuration.
Thanks Much







er

 

[sunshine_eggo]

@55.2 (3.45V/cell), you're likely to need a very long absorption time unless you're charging at low C rate. I would extend your absorption time until the current flowing to the battery is 0.03C.

If you want to charge via generator, you want 56.8V absorption.

Agree with float.
Would rebulk at 53.6V

Make sure temp compensation is disabled.

Make sure you have low temp charge protection external to the inverter.

 

[Phil Orton]

-No gen so ok there
-Good point on absorb will up it a bit until I get adequate charge
-Will set rebulk at 53.6 to start
-forgot about the temp compensation. good point.
-good point, low temp probably won't be an issue where i'm located. but if needed i'll just turn off charger. also, bms has low temp disconnect. think i'm ok on this point.

Great Input, thanks.

 

[thearchiteck]

Thanks for sharing this post! I'm about to make the same upgrade and I'm also trying to figure out if I can dial in the appropriate charge parameters using an older revision of the ME-ARC remote (I'm on version 2.2)

I think I'm in the same boat where the custom battery type settings would be my best bet. We don't have the BMK on our system currently (inherited from previous owners) but I think it would be a worthy/necessary component in order to make this work. I'm trying to avoid having to fork out $400+ for a new controller.

You may have seen this already but there are some really helpful insights in this video that might help clarify or confirm the approach using the custom setting.

 

[Phil Orton]

Had seen the video. It's a good one, thanks for posting it. Agree that the BMK will be helpful/required. I have not reviewed the tech info for ARC 2.2 so can't offer any worthwhile suggestions.
I have BMK installed. It's ver 1.0 but seems to work fine. Use the 'custom' setup with current lead acid bats. I found it interesting that Magnum did not even mention using the latest ARC version to manage the charger?? Really like the inverter charger. Simple to operate and been installed since 2013 without any issues plus it's paid for!!
Think we have enough information to move ahead without blowing something up.
Question: How do you plan to handle the capacitor pre-charge when you make your upgrade?
This inverter really has a big bang on initial battery connection. I'm thinking about a simple resistor but something more permanent would be nice.

 

[Denis]

My ME-ARC remote control is version 3..01. I talked to Magnum support about upgrading to a Lithium profile since I'm about ready to replace the batteries with 280ah EVE cells. They did not suggest an upgrade to the remote control. However they did recommend charger settings for the LiFePO4 charge profile as follows:
-Under Custom battery settings: set Absorb to 58.4, with 1/2 hour time per battery.
-Float at 53.6v
-EQ at 58.4v
-Final Chg. stage set to 'silent' rebulk at 53.6v
-Low bat cutoff = 48v

I'm thinking about this:
-Absorb=55.2 for1 hour total
-EQ=55.2 for shortest possible time.
-Float= 54.4
-Final Chg='silent' with rebulk at 54.3
-Low bat cutoff=48v
-On inverter set SOC, to only allow charger input AC to operate when batteries are below 40% and cut off at 70%. This will allow the solar charge controller to handle charging unless above conditions apply.

Finally, here's the question: Is anyone using the Magnum in a similar fashion and can you add any input that would help me get set up? Just want to use the Magnum in the best way for this configuration.
Thanks Much







er

I have 2 magnum inverters stacked, with 3 banks of 280ah lithium cells.
These are my settings
Definitely need the BMK battery monitor, and shunt.
I have set my end amp to 28, rebulk is set at 51.2 volt,
Hope this helps

 

[Phil Orton]

I have 2 magnum inverters stacked, with 3 banks of 280ah lithium cells.
These are my settings
Definitely need the BMK battery monitor, and shunt.
I have set my end amp to 28, rebulk is set at 51.2 volt,
Hope this helps

Thanks for feedback. Been away for a few days so slow in getting back. On your rebulk, why would you set it this low? The only thing I thought about was to avoid conflict with a solar charge controller that might be the primary rebulk source that was set at a higher voltage. Based on your input I am considering changing rebulk on the Magnum for this reason. Also, did not understand the end amp at 28. If i understand correctly this setting stops charging when the batteries are only taking in a specific amount of current. It seemed high to me to stop charging at that point unless you're just bringing charge up to a point where the solar will kick in and finish the charging. I'm doing this by using the soc function to start charging at 40% and stop at 70% which is enough charge to carry the load until solar takes over. Understand that the specific application or load might determine charging parameters. Thanks again.

 

[Denis]

Thanks for feedback. Been away for a few days so slow in getting back. On your rebulk, why would you set it this low? The only thing I thought about was to avoid conflict with a solar charge controller that might be the primary rebulk source that was set at a higher voltage.

At 51.2volts, or 3.2v per cell x 16, is the number, which I consider or want my cells to be my lowest.
I have grid power, so I use solar system during the day time for 12-14 hours (when it's high peek hours), and then it is set to standby mode for night time.
If anytime we have overcast for many days and the cells are getting low, the rebulk will go on at 51.2v and off at 52.6v, just enough charge to cover the loads and put the cells back up a bit. (Winter time only)
The solar system is there to save on hydro bill, so I do not charge the batteries with grid if I can. ( charger set for 5 amps input)
During the summer months ( 6-7 months) the grid is shut off and I'm offgridd completely, so the rebulk will never go on because there is no other source and the float mode stays on.
I have 2 magnum cc PT-100, so there's never a conflict, and
I also have another 24v magnum inverter with an outback fm60 cc, system in my garage and I haven't seen any problems.
The settings on your charge controller has to be the same as the inverter setup.

Based on your input I am considering changing rebulk on the Magnum for this reason. Also, did not understand the end amp at 28. If i understand correctly this setting stops charging when the batteries are only taking in a specific amount of current. It seemed high to me to stop charging at that point unless you're just bringing charge up to a point where the solar will kick in and finish the charging.

If you're using the LF280 AH cells, like I have, the resting charge amps should be set at 0.05C, which is 14ah per banks, if you're cells are at 3.65v each or 58.4v per bank.
My voltage is set at 55.2v per bank, so 3.45v per cell.
I have three banks of cells, two are eve LF280, tested around 271ah each cells, and the other bank are CATL 290 AH per cell. So by the time that the catl bank reaches 14 ah charge the other two banks will be close to 7 ah each, and as soon as the controllers sees 28 ah and under it will go to float mode, for the rest of the day.
If you set it to a lower level say 15ah, some of your banks will be charged to more than 95%
I'm still working on the system and I might even set it at 32ah, and see how it goes.

I'm doing this by using the soc function to start charging at 40% and stop at 70% which is enough charge to carry the load until solar takes over. Understand that the specific application or load might determine charging parameters. Thanks again.

I have tried the SOC setting and I found that soc is not accurate on the magnum, let's say for example, you are at 100% most of the day and clouds comes in, and night, now you're at 80% the next morning, charging starts and then clouds for a few hours and then suddenly sunshine, the magnum will reset at 100% most of the time. But the actual SOC might be 10-30-40% off. And I've tried it on auto mode, 85%-95% it's all the same.
I have a Trimetric TM 2030A by Bogart Egineering, also monitoring and it is very accurate and doesn't mess up.
The best setting I find is on VDC, you monitor the voltage and you know where you're banks are at, approximately.

 

[Denis]

My ME-ARC remote control is version 3..01. I talked to Magnum support about upgrading to a Lithium profile since I'm about ready to replace the batteries with 280ah EVE cells. They did not suggest an upgrade to the remote control. However they did recommend charger settings for the LiFePO4 charge profile as follows:
-Under Custom battery settings: set Absorb to 58.4, with 1/2 hour time per battery.

At this setting you're cells would be overcharged, my first setting was56.8v with end amp8ah,
I gradually dropped it and now is at 55.2v 28ah endamp

-Float at 53.6v
-EQ at 58.4v

Float is good at 53.6v, mine is presently at 54v. I would not go any higher
EQ stays the same as absorb 55.2 at minimum time.

-Final Chg. stage set to 'silent' rebulk at 53.6v
-Low bat cutoff = 48v

Rebulk 51.2v, only used as protection if the sun hours are very low and you still want to use your solar system.
Low bat 48.8v is the highest allowed on the magnum

I'm thinking about this:
-Absorb=55.2 for1 hour total
-EQ=55.2 for shortest possible time.
-Float= 54.4

I prefer end amps due to sunshine and clouds play a big role in charging, and with these cells, it doesn't matter if you reached the very top of charge or not, on every day.

-Final Chg='silent' with rebulk at 54.3
-Low bat cutoff=48v
-On inverter set SOC, to only allow charger input AC to operate when batteries are below 40% and cut off at 70%. This will allow the solar charge controller to handle charging unless above conditions appl

Rebulk was used more often with the flooded battery, where you wanted to avoid draining your batteries when the clouds showed up.
I prefer VDC setting than SOC

Finally, here's the question: Is anyone using the Magnum in a similar fashion and can you add any input that would help me get set up? Just want to use the Magnum in the best way for this configuration.
Thanks Much

er

 

[Phil Orton]

Great input, thank you.
I'm going to re-think several of my settings and observe how the system reacts. What has become clearer to me is that there is not one configuration that fits all applications. We can go for keeping bats at a high charge level if our application needs it or be more conservative if going for more cycles and the performance fits our requirements. Also, grid pricing, weather and other factors can play a role on discharge depth settings, etc. Lithium batteries and the combination of charge controller, inverter/charger and bms settings give us great system management tools! I'm planning a second set of batteries to add to my 280ah cells and if i step up to the 300+ ah cells your experience will help with that configuration. I'm enjoying this process of learning and will be taking the more conservative route. What is your opinion on the 300+ah cells available now?

 

[Denis]

Great input, thank you.
I'm going to re-think several of my settings and observe how the system reacts. What has become clearer to me is that there is not one configuration that fits all applications. We can go for keeping bats at a high charge level if our application needs it or be more conservative if going for more cycles and the performance fits our requirements. Also, grid pricing, weather and other factors can play a role on discharge depth settings, etc. Lithium batteries and the combination of charge controller, inverter/charger and bms settings give us great system management tools! I'm planning a second set of batteries to add to my 280ah cells and if i step up to the 300+ ah cells your experience will help with that configuration. I'm enjoying this process of learning and will be taking the more conservative route. What is your opinion on the 300+ah cells available now?

Hi happy to help, I have purchased 32 cells which were advertised as 310ah brand new,grade a, but once I tested them they were more in the 290ah range. They are CATL, and I like them, they are closely match, 289ah-292ah, . They have been installed in my system since mid June, and the delta is around.035 v at 3.43v.
Comparing with my eve LF280, at the same voltage,the delta is slightly higher.040, 0.045v
So I think if you get a good price on them it's good. But if you intend to parallel to your 280ah, I would definitely not recommend any lower than what you have.

 

[Feiterfeiter13]

My ME-ARC remote control is version 3..01. I talked to Magnum support about upgrading to a Lithium profile since I'm about ready to replace the batteries with 280ah EVE cells. They did not suggest an upgrade to the remote control. However they did recommend charger settings for the LiFePO4 charge profile as follows:
-Under Custom battery settings: set Absorb to 58.4, with 1/2 hour time per battery.
-Float at 53.6v
-EQ at 58.4v
-Final Chg. stage set to 'silent' rebulk at 53.6v
-Low bat cutoff = 48v

I'm thinking about this:
-Absorb=55.2 for1 hour total
-EQ=55.2 for shortest possible time.
-Float= 54.4
-Final Chg='silent' with rebulk at 54.3
-Low bat cutoff=48v
-On inverter set SOC, to only allow charger input AC to operate when batteries are below 40% and cut off at 70%. This will allow the solar charge controller to handle charging unless above conditions apply.

Finally, here's the question: Is anyone using the Magnum in a similar fashion and can you add any input that would help me get set up? Just want to use the Magnum in the best way for this configuration.
Thanks Much







er

I'm just getting started in Solar but I did just upgrade my monitor and remote. I have a new ARC-50 and it does have the Lithium battery type. I paid $279 for it to replace a ME-RC monitor. I added the ME-BMK remote to get the SOC and AH in and AH out data and it works great from the generator. I was hoping I could add the 200 watt Renogy Suitcase I have on order but looks like the ARC-50 will only accept input from the Magnum PT-100 controller which costs $900 minium.

Good luck!

 

[Feiterfeiter13]

Thanks for sharing this post! I'm about to make the same upgrade and I'm also trying to figure out if I can dial in the appropriate charge parameters using an older revision of the ME-ARC remote (I'm on version 2.2)

I think I'm in the same boat where the custom battery type settings would be my best bet. We don't have the BMK on our system currently (inherited from previous owners) but I think it would be a worthy/necessary component in order to make this work. I'm trying to avoid having to fork out $400+ for a new controller.

You may have seen this already but there are some really helpful insights in this video that might help clarify or confirm the approach using the custom setting.

I just installed a ARC-50 I purchased through Amazon and it had a sticker on back that said "Lithium" and it does have the Lithium battery type selection. I installed the ME-BMK at the same time and get SOC as well as AH in, AH out and other great data.

The solar setup seems to require the MAGNUM PT100 CONTROLLER...YUK...$900

 

[Phil Orton]

Curious as to what the 'standard' lithium settings are from Magnum. Would you mind posting them?
Thanks.
As as of now, after working with different settings for a bit, I've settled on Abs and Eq at 55.2 and Float at 53.6.
On the charger, the BMK/SOC controls starting to charge at 40% and stops at 70%. These settings definitely don't stress the batteries and
are adequate for handling my evening loads. Also, individual cell voltages remain fairly close and BMS balancing works fine. Typically if sun is out Midnite MPPT charges batteries to 100% while running the load. In the evening SOC drops to about 83%. (light load). If I had heavier loads or smaller batteries might need to push them a bit harder. I've only had the Magnum charger come on once and it was when we had 3 consecutive cloudy days. Love these batteries!

 

[thearchiteck]

Glad it's working out for you Phil!

I ended up getting an updated ME-ARC that's running version 5.3 and has the LFP and CC/CV battery type profiles. Here's a screenshot from the manual with the default settings.



We've been up and running for a few weeks now and I'm happy to report another successful upgrade to lithium batteries using the Magnum inverter charger.

We didn't end up using any pre-charge resistor (no big sparks either) but we did add the ME-BMK module and have a much better gauge on everything from the remote. Really happy we got the BMK. The SOC from the BMK is way off from the reading from the battery's built in monitor so I'll have to do some work on that, but we use the voltage and AH readings to trigger the generator to kick on and off when needed.

We are using the CC/CV profile for charging. I'll post my profile here for anyone who might be working with similar battery specs or has any suggestions. Seems to be working well so far! I've made a few tweaks since I started and pretty much still obsessively keep an eye on things just to be sure.

These were the only battery specs I had from the supplier:

16S LiFePO4 Battery (48V 100AH)
Nominal voltage: 51.2V
Charging Voltage: 58.4V
Float Voltage: 54.4V
Charge current: 60A
LBCO (Discharge cut-off): 44V

I have 4 of batteries these in parallel to make a 400AH bank.

These are the settings I am currently using with the ME-ARC-50-L remote:

03C - Battery Type = CC/CV

Max Charge = 200 ADC
CV Charge Volts = 56.4
CV Charge Done = AMPs
CV Charge Done Amps = 25ADC
Max CC/CV Time = 6.0hrs
Set Recharge Volts = 50.8

03D Absorb Done = CC/CV Controlled
03E Max Charge Rate = 60% ~40A

Some other settings:
02B - LCBO - 48.0 VDC
Gen Run VDC - 49.6 - 53.6

I had to dial back the charge rate to 60% which is about 40A for my setup. I found the inverter/charger had a bit of a "hot and melty" smell when it was up around 60A. I'm going to keep it down in the "safe zone" since it's less stress on both the charger and batteries anyway.

We are running this system full time and have constant loads so my plan is to keep a close eye on everything and continue to make tweaks as needed. I'm aiming to manage charge cycles from 25% - 75% SOC and do a full 100% charge a least once per season. On paper (or in my head) that sounds good but in practice I'm not sure if that's realistic. Right now the winter sun seems to get us up to 90-95% pretty quickly (4hrs)

I'm open to any feedback and will check back if anything worth noting changes.

These batteries are literally a night and day difference for us compared to our old and very tired GEL batteries. We went from a heavy (winter season) dependency on the generator to now just occasional use for heavy loads and a top up charge.

Thanks to everyone posting here for sharing information and opinions. This thread has been super helpful!

* I updated some of the numbers. After I posted this I got paranoid and started reading more and decided to dial things back a bit further.

 

[Phil Orton]

Thanks for the update. This is my setup with new batteries in the yellow top box. Think they all look similar! Old batteries
awaiting disposal. Getting close to placing an order for second string of Lithium batteries. After that , hopefully, a new EV to charge! lol...
Next time you have the cover off the battery combiner box would you mind posting a picture.

 

[Denis]

I decided to add one more cells to each of my banks. I've just received and tested 8 more cells LF280K, and I want to see and test the difference it will make.
I presently have 16s3p, and I will upgrade to 17s3p. So I will add 3.2v to all my settings above.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

I decided to add one more cells to each of my banks. I've just received and tested 8 more cells LF280K, and I want to see and test the difference it will make.
I presently have 16s3p, and I will upgrade to 17s3p. So I will add 3.2v to all my settings above.

how are you managing the 17s vs the 16s? does your BMS offer the ability to do either or?

 

[Denis]

how are you managing the 17s vs the 16s? does your BMS offer the ability to do either or?

Yes JBD-AP20S004 BMS is a 13s-20s, so very flexible. Thanks

 

[Denis]

Update, I have upgraded to 17s, and everything is working out, my new settings, are 58.8v for absorb, and 57.2v for float, end amps is set at 34 amps,
My question was, will this upgrade help at all? in any ways?
I think it will, higher voltage, less current same wattage used.
Just a thought.