Arlene303
New Member
Batteries read 43.5 volts last night on our 48V system, shuts off at 42v per spec, ouch, help we've lived off grid a mile from nearest public utility for over 13 years, we might need new batteries now instead of waiting until summer !! Husband dragged the gas generator outside last night in 14" snowstorm, hooked it up, and the Outback Inverter gave a new different fault and would not charge from gas generator, couldn't figure it out. He thought that broke the Outback Inverter after 13 years but alas the sun came up this morning and system charged fully again 100% by 1pm, normally by 11am. But My husband got up every hour last night to stoke 2 fireplaces, and shut off our pumps to glycol in floor heating, because our batteries were so low. This happened 2 weeks ago with the same magic 42 volts threshold as expected. We've had the glycol in floor heating for 3 years installed with our new 1300 sq foot additional reconstruction project, and before that lived happily off grid with this Outback inverter for 13 years. We are in Woodland Park, Colorado.
Should we just buy new batteries? Think we need a backup inverter for 3 months of same exact 3600W Outback inverter VFX3648? What about our FlexMax 80 MPPT Charge Controller (not 60) ? Or did we simply undersize batteries for this new glycol floor heating, planning for 3 days of overcast grey snow skies in reality is giving 1 day of power?
Our 48v lead acid battery system of 16 batteries, all 6V, is made from 2 packs of 8 batteries... we added 8 more batteries a year after 1st pack of 8 batteries, when we installed new 1300sq ft addition to our mountain house with glycol in floor heating (we also have propane), but pumps run on electric:
Eight 4 yr old 370Ah Solar batteries 6V DEKA MK 8L16 to make 48V.
Eight 3 yr old 390Ah Crown batteries 6V L16 deep cycle batteries to make 48V.
Our 12 solar panels, half bought in 2011, half bought in 2014, consist of:
Six 240W 2011 panels 30.4V peak, 7.9A peak, 8.4A short circuit, 3 panels in series, 2 strings in parallel.
Six 250W 2014 panels, wired same way as above.
Darn I wanted to buy two 6000XPs this summer in brand new system with brand new batteries, adding more solar panels too, maybe 10-20 additional solar panels, but I'm afraid husband will call original sellers Backwoods Solar in Idaho tomorrow and they'll talk him into expensive system. Nice people but expensive. Isn't Outback system hard to find parts these days? They are nice people who sell Magnum, Midnite, Outback, Samlex, Schneider and Victron.
Husband dug tractor out from sliding on 14" of icy wet concrete like snow, so he isn't in a 'typing' mood but exhausted and sleeping. Many thanks, and stay warm!
Should we just buy new batteries? Think we need a backup inverter for 3 months of same exact 3600W Outback inverter VFX3648? What about our FlexMax 80 MPPT Charge Controller (not 60) ? Or did we simply undersize batteries for this new glycol floor heating, planning for 3 days of overcast grey snow skies in reality is giving 1 day of power?
Our 48v lead acid battery system of 16 batteries, all 6V, is made from 2 packs of 8 batteries... we added 8 more batteries a year after 1st pack of 8 batteries, when we installed new 1300sq ft addition to our mountain house with glycol in floor heating (we also have propane), but pumps run on electric:
Eight 4 yr old 370Ah Solar batteries 6V DEKA MK 8L16 to make 48V.
Eight 3 yr old 390Ah Crown batteries 6V L16 deep cycle batteries to make 48V.
Our 12 solar panels, half bought in 2011, half bought in 2014, consist of:
Six 240W 2011 panels 30.4V peak, 7.9A peak, 8.4A short circuit, 3 panels in series, 2 strings in parallel.
Six 250W 2014 panels, wired same way as above.
Darn I wanted to buy two 6000XPs this summer in brand new system with brand new batteries, adding more solar panels too, maybe 10-20 additional solar panels, but I'm afraid husband will call original sellers Backwoods Solar in Idaho tomorrow and they'll talk him into expensive system. Nice people but expensive. Isn't Outback system hard to find parts these days? They are nice people who sell Magnum, Midnite, Outback, Samlex, Schneider and Victron.
Husband dug tractor out from sliding on 14" of icy wet concrete like snow, so he isn't in a 'typing' mood but exhausted and sleeping. Many thanks, and stay warm!
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