I bought a house that came with an off-grid solar setup and have been working on updating it and have some questions on making sure I am using it correctly.
It had an older Outback FX60 charge controller so I upgraded to the FM80 (and the mate3s) and added an FNDC battery monitor. It had been working on flooded lead acid batteries that are getting a bit worn out.
With the new LiFePo4 batteries I got I seem to be having some difficulty getting them to charge correctly.
If I try and charge them (using absorb voltage setting) anywhere near what the mfg recommends (58.8v) I can watch it go a bit haywire when the voltage gets to around 57.5. I start seeing fluctuations in voltage and spikes going over 60V then the charging shuts down.
If I charge it to a lower number, such as 56V it doesnt do that, but I also seem to be getting far less useable power from them.
I also am not sure if I should be using float at all or exactly what my 'absorb' voltage should be set to.
Then there's the refloat/rebulk settings. Any idea what they should be set to? (I set them to 52v just so it'd be above the mfg recommended 51.2 V for 80% DoD)
I notice that my system is backing off on solar input and keeping the battery at around 54V which is the CC's Float value. Is that OK for the battery (not shortening the life) and still giving me a decently 'full' charge so they will last the night?
FM80 Charge Controller
2x Inverter VFX 3648
Mate3s
2x OBPS PS2DC Industrial Control Panel 3004905
Kohler Generator 14RESA (A/C - auto generator start)
OBPS Auto transformer PSX-240
15x Sharp ND-208U2 Solar Panels
2x HSKY 48v 103Ah Batteries (parallel)
It had an older Outback FX60 charge controller so I upgraded to the FM80 (and the mate3s) and added an FNDC battery monitor. It had been working on flooded lead acid batteries that are getting a bit worn out.
With the new LiFePo4 batteries I got I seem to be having some difficulty getting them to charge correctly.
If I try and charge them (using absorb voltage setting) anywhere near what the mfg recommends (58.8v) I can watch it go a bit haywire when the voltage gets to around 57.5. I start seeing fluctuations in voltage and spikes going over 60V then the charging shuts down.
If I charge it to a lower number, such as 56V it doesnt do that, but I also seem to be getting far less useable power from them.
I also am not sure if I should be using float at all or exactly what my 'absorb' voltage should be set to.
Then there's the refloat/rebulk settings. Any idea what they should be set to? (I set them to 52v just so it'd be above the mfg recommended 51.2 V for 80% DoD)
I notice that my system is backing off on solar input and keeping the battery at around 54V which is the CC's Float value. Is that OK for the battery (not shortening the life) and still giving me a decently 'full' charge so they will last the night?
FM80 Charge Controller
2x Inverter VFX 3648
Mate3s
2x OBPS PS2DC Industrial Control Panel 3004905
Kohler Generator 14RESA (A/C - auto generator start)
OBPS Auto transformer PSX-240
15x Sharp ND-208U2 Solar Panels
2x HSKY 48v 103Ah Batteries (parallel)