Power issue

[Dennis 1]

I have a question: I have a SmartShunt 500/50mV. I get a notification of low voltage on the app. It's showing 11.21V but the percentage on the shunt shows batteries at 100%.

This morning everything was off and I cannot figure out why. So I plugged in my battery charger and everything came back on and it is charging and the Noco charger looks like it's at 25% charged.

I don't quite understand what is going on. I do have a Lynx Power In and am not sure if a fuse could be blown but everything did come on when I hooked up the charger. I have a 40a Epever CC and the battery light is red. I tested all 3 batteries with a multimeter and they were all at 11.69V. I have 3-100ah 12V Lithium Iron Phosphate Mighty Max Batteries wired in parallel

Any help with this issue or problem would be very appreciated

 

[MichaelK]

Is there an inverter attached to this system? Is it on 24/7? What loads other than an inverter would you have on it? It looking at your MT-50 screen, you have very little power coming into the system because it's only 8am? What kind of power are you getting at noon?

With 300Ah of battery capacity, you should be trying to max out the 40A on your controller. To reliably get 40A you'd need 40A X 12.5Vcharging X 1.175fudgefactor = 588W. Call that two 290W panels. What do you have in place now?

 

[Dennis 1]

This shows the inverters I have. The Power Tech On 2000w inverter gets turned off at night but, the Victron 1200/12 is on 24/7 because it is connected to my transfer switch which controls my boiler pump motor. It has not been real sunny lately but in the summer it was working great.

I have 6-100w solar panels 4 Rich Poly panels and 2 HQST mono about 30 feet from the CC with 10 guage wire. I can't figure it out just in the last week it just seems like the CC has been acting (I don't know if it is going bad I have had it now @ years and on 24/7) up prior to that I have had no issues at all. Hope these may help.

 

[740GLE]

Why is your “charged voltage” setting of the smart shunt so low?

Resting voltage of a lifepo battery of anything under 12v is pretty much zero SOC.

What are the SCC settings? You should be trying to get the batteries back up to 13.8-14v each load cycle, otherwise you’re just slowly draining them till empty.

 

[chess-equality]

Why is your “charged voltage” setting of the smart shunt so low?

Resting voltage of a lifepo battery of anything under 12v is pretty much zero SOC.

What are the SCC settings? You should be trying to get the batteries back up to 13.8-14v each load cycle, otherwise you’re just slowly draining them till empty.

Also "Battery starts synchronized" is turned on, it means when you disconnect then reconnect the shunt, it will always set SOC to 100%.

 

[HRTKD]

I suspect the solar charge controller is part of the problem. The shunt settings are a bit goofy, but the solar charge controller won't care about that.

Check the input voltage and amperage to the solar charge controller using a DC multimeter.

What is the panel configuration? 6s, 3s2p?

 

[Dennis 1]

I suspect the solar charge controller is part of the problem. The shunt settings are a bit goofy, but the solar charge controller won't care about that.

Check the input voltage and amperage to the solar charge controller using a DC multimeter.

What is the panel configuration? 6s, 3s2p?

Thank you, I will check the panels but they are 2s3p

 

[HRTKD]

Thank you, I will check the panels but they are 2s3p

Are there fuses between the strings? If so, check the fuses. If not, add some.

 

[Dennis 1]

I suspect the solar charge controller is part of the problem. The shunt settings are a bit goofy, but the solar charge controller won't care about that.

Check the input voltage and amperage to the solar charge controller using a DC multimeter.

What is the panel configuration? 6s, 3s2p?

Should I check the panels, Combiner Box, circuit breaker before the CC, or the CC itself Thats why I questioned if the CC was going bad it is 2+ years old and on 24/7

 

[Dennis 1]

Are there fuses between the strings? If so, check the fuses. If not, add some.

The only fuse I have for the CC is in the Lynx Power In. There are 3 circuit breakers in the combiner box one for each string of panels

 

[HRTKD]

The only fuse I have for the CC is in the Lynx Power In. There are 3 circuit breakers in the combiner box one for each string of panels

The breakers in the combiner box are good enough. I would test the voltage at each connection. That's the easy/cheap thing to check. Bad connections can do funny things. But if you have one or more strings not producing, you have an entirely different problem than a bad solar charge controller.

For a solar charge controller that has been on constantly for two years, I would have spent more money on it. You've got some good Victron gear in that system. A Victron Smart MPPT would fit right in.

 

[Dennis 1]

The breakers in the combiner box are good enough. I would test the voltage at each connection. That's the easy/cheap thing to check. Bad connections can do funny things. But if you have one or more strings not producing, you have an entirely different problem than a bad solar charge controller.

For a solar charge controller that has been on constantly for two years, I would have spent more money on it. You've got some good Victron gear in that system. A Victron Smart MPPT would fit right in.

Thank you I'll check it out tomorrow and let you know then if that's ok

 

[740GLE]

Mid fry isolating all but one string of PV, see what the SCC does, the try the next. One string may have fried a blocking diode or something.

How old are the flexible panels? Those typically aren’t as robust as traditional panels.

 

[Dennis 1]

I have traditional panels and not flexible. I will try isolating each string I can just turn the circuit breaker at the combiner box, I did not think of that.
Thank you

 

[Dennis 1]

Thank you I'll check it out tomorrow and let you know then if that's ok

I hope you have some time to help with this issue.
What do you think about turning off all power that maybe going in the power inverter make sure no energy is being used, then push calibrate. I turned off "Battery starts synchronized" I had someone else tell me about this.

I went out to the combiner box and checked the breakers for the panels in there, I have 3 strings 2 Rich panel strings and 1 HQST each string has 2-100W panels wired in series then they go into the combiner box.

The 2 Rich breakers were 32.4V and 32.9Vand .84A and .74A,
The HQST 32.5V and .81A
The combiner box had all the panels at 33.84V and 2.84A.
The charge controller from the MT-50 had the panels at 34.4V and 3.8A, the battery at 12.9V and 5.5A
I tested the 3-100ah batteries with a multimeter and the all tested 12.89V and 2.48A

It was cloudy when I checked the panels and about 65` even with that it does not seem like the panels are charging like they used to. I thought these might help
Thanks again for any help with this issue

 

[Dennis 1]

I hope you have some time to help with this issue.
What do you think about turning off all power that maybe going in the power inverter make sure no energy is being used, then push calibrate. I turned off "Battery starts synchronized" I had someone else tell me about this.

I went out to the combiner box and checked the breakers for the panels in there, I have 3 strings 2 Rich panel strings and 1 HQST each string has 2-100W panels wired in series then they go into the combiner box.

The 2 Rich breakers were 32.4V and 32.9Vand .84A and .74A,
The HQST 32.5V and .81A
The combiner box had all the panels at 33.84V and 2.84A.
The charge controller from the MT-50 had the panels at 34.4V and 3.8A, the battery at 12.9V and 5.5A
I tested the 3-100ah batteries with a multimeter and the all tested 12.89V and 2.48A

It was cloudy when I checked the panels and about 65` even with that it does not seem like the panels are charging like they used to. I thought these might help
Thanks again for any help with this issue

The breakers in the combiner box are good enough. I would test the voltage at each connection. That's the easy/cheap thing to check. Bad connections can do funny things. But if you have one or more strings not producing, you have an entirely different problem than a bad solar charge controller.

For a solar charge controller that has been on constantly for two years, I would have spent more money on it. You've got some good Victron gear in that system. A Victron Smart MPPT would fit right in.

The breakers in the combiner box are good enough. I would test the voltage at each connection. That's the easy/cheap thing to check. Bad connections can do funny things. But if you have one or more strings not producing, you have an entirely different problem than a bad solar charge controller.

For a solar charge controller that has been on constantly for two years, I would have spent more money on it. You've got some good Victron gear in that system. A Victron Smart MPPT would fit right in.

Thank you I'll check it out tomorrow and let you know then if that's ok

I hope you have some time to help with this issue.
What do you think about turning off all power that maybe going in the power inverter make sure no energy is being used, then push calibrate. I turned off "Battery starts synchronized" I had someone else tell me about this.

I went out to the combiner box and checked the breakers for the panels in there, I have 3 strings 2 Rich panel strings and 1 HQST each string has 2-100W panels wired in series then they go into the combiner box.

The 2 Rich breakers were 32.4V and 32.9Vand .84A and .74A,
The HQST 32.5V and .81A
The combiner box had all the panels at 33.84V and 2.84A.
The charge controller from the MT-50 had the panels at 34.4V and 3.8A, the battery at 12.9V and 5.5A
I tested the 3-100ah batteries with a multimeter and the all tested 12.89V and 2.48A

It was cloudy when I checked the panels and about 65` even with that it does not seem like the panels are charging like they used to. I thought these might help
Thanks again for any help with this issue

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[Dennis 1]

Thank you everyone for all your help. My shunt is at 100% and 14.23V after running the charger for all day & night. Now just to see if there is something wrong with my Epever 40A CC any suggestions on how to test it would be appreciated