Runnin hot 14.6ish

[Sundog33]

I’m not saying I’m for all-in-ones.
your missing my point!
I’m saying there is little competition in DIY chargers. That’s why Snoober paid $900 bucks for a Victron. That’s just insane highway robbery. Lol

I really had a hard time finding a new charger that had across the board good reviews. Even Victron amazon reviews are mixed. And in the end there is nothing that blew my socks off with this plastic case unit and wimpy connection ports, compared to my old charger.

sorry, but I can dream can’t I ? If your happy paying 900 bucks, god bless you.

 

[snoobler]

I’m not saying I’m for all-in-ones.
your missing my point!
I’m saying there is little competition in DIY chargers.

Why are you saying that? There are dozens of brands and models with price points all over the place.

That’s why Snoober paid $900 bucks for a Victron. That’s just insane highway robbery. Lol

Not in the least. I'm happy to pay it. I'm paying for 5800W of capacity, reliability, 5 year warranty, robust support, community support and features. I have a guy in Idaho I can call or text for support. If he doesn't know the answer, he contacts Victron. I have full remote control and monitoring of my system that's 3.25 hours away. I would have paid double for the peace of mind it gives me.

I really had a hard time finding a new charger that had across the board good reviews. Even Victron amazon reviews are mixed.

Like Amazon reviews are particularly reliable. There's 1 review on my model, and it's completely false.

And in the end there is nothing that blew my socks off with this plastic case unit and wimpy connection ports, compared to my old charger.

sorry, but I can dream can’t I ?

One should distinguish dreams from flights of fantasy.

If your happy paying 900 bucks, god bless you.

Like I said. I'd have paid double. I will be 100% reliant on this system at some point, and I don't want the false economy of trusting some cheap Chinese made piece of crap with my household power needs.

 

[Sundog33]

Rather not argue with you. Thanks

 

[snoobler]

This isn't an argument. It's an exchange of contrasting opinions from very different perspectives.

 

[Sundog33]

I hear ya Sir.
im just a small fry solar enthusiast with big dreams.

 

[snoobler]

I hear ya Sir.
im just a small fry solar enthusiast with big dreams.

We have that in common.

 

[Sundog33]

We are in 2 different worlds. We can’t compare.

basically I have just a tiny backup system for the odd power outage.
Dont mind me l’m just bitchy because I spent $800 bucks on a 200ah lifepo4,
overkill BMS and Victron controller and its really no better than my old
2x AGM batteries and Chinese charger I had for 10 years.

I figured a 200ah lithium would be equal to 4x 105ah AGM’s.
but I’m not seeing the difference. I have been losing at least 10% capacity
overnight for no reason with no loads.

But, I think I found the issue. I’m not sure yet. I took my inverter out of the loop
and things are looking better. It’s not like its on, but I think it was drawing charge.
I’ll know better in the morning if that fixed it.

so now you know... the reason i am so negative.
I should have bought 8 cells and a 8s BMS. But the cheap man pays twice.
no worries. : )

 

[snoobler]

We are in 2 different worlds. We can’t compare.

basically I have just a tiny backup system for the odd power outage.
Dont mind me l’m just bitchy because I spent $800 bucks on a 200ah lifepo4,
overkill BMS and Victron controller and its really no better than my old
2x AGM batteries and Chinese charger I had for 10 years.

I figured a 200ah lithium would be equal to 4x 105ah AGM’s.
but I’m not seeing the difference. I have been losing at least 10% capacity
overnight for no reason with no loads.

But, I think I found the issue. I’m not sure yet. I took my inverter out of the loop
and things are looking better. It’s not like its on, but I think it was drawing charge.
I’ll know better in the morning if that fixed it.

so now you know... the reason i am so negative.
I should have bought 8 cells and a 8s BMS. But the cheap man pays twice.
no worries. : )

Sure we can. I'm on my second system too. I did a practice system with a 60A MPPT that's a piece of garbage (2 stage charging only), 215Ah of AGM, 24V 2kW WZLREB inverter. It's sitting on a shelf in my shipping container, and the batteries are wired in parallel being floated by a maintainer running off the main system. I pretend it's my "backup" system.

I've paid twice too. About $600 of stuff I can't use because I didn't plan better. I'm on my 3rd SCC because my dumb ass didn't factor in cold weather voltage spikes on a 150/100 with 3S 72 cell panels. Lucky I didn't blow it up. Either needed to get rewire for 2S and get a second MPPT or get a 250/100. Lazy won, and I left the array at 3S and bought the 250/100.

I thought, "hey, I know this solar crap, why not go grid tie at the house?!" Saw Santan with a bunch of cheap 285W UL approved panels, and handed over my credit card for 10kW. THEN I did the research. Too many restrictions/hoops for little financial gain (me providing 60% of my annual kWh only reduces my bill by 30%) with an 8-10 year break-even with me doing DIY. No thank you. $2700 in panels down the crapper.

Oh well. Momma really wants a hot tub up at the ranch. Another 10kW of solar on top of the 6kW should git 'er done.

Good luck with the system. When comparing objective criteria, the components you've purchased should outperform your old system. If they're not, something is likely wrong. Hopefully, you're on the right track with your troubleshooting.

 

[Sundog33]

That in fact was the culprit!
zero loss overnight! I can tell because
I don’t get sun on my panels until 10 o’clock because there on the side of my garage. Don’t ask.

that inverter must be crowbarred or something?? I noticed yesterday after pulling it from the system I was getting 20 more watts from the panels. Thought it might have just been coincidence. We’ll see soon.
like I said. The on switch was on. What the hell??

 

[Sundog33]

Wasn’t on. I meant

 

[Sundog33]

regarding your system. I’m jealous but
I don’t see the Benifits of going whole hog
For my home. I already get a Pat on the back letter from my electric supplier PS&G that my usage is in the top 5% efficient in my neighborhood. I have all top efficient appliances and leds thruout the house. Putting that money up front would take too long to recoup. But I love the idea of preparedness. I came thru the lockdown unscathed. With my emergency stock pile.

 

[Sundog33]

I think the PV power was just coincidence. But the overnight draw has definitely been effected.
I noticed when the inverter was unplugged and I turned it on I got the low voltage alarm tone. So these caps must be on a constant charge and leaking pretty badly.

 

[Sundog33]

Half the problem solved. Maybe I’ll more the panels on top of my Sun room so I get more charge time.

 

[Sundog33]

Speed of charge. Charging to full @ 13.8V can take 50%-200% longer depending on charge current.



There is no issue with hooking the regulator to the charge controller in the manner we've discussed. For each component they list, there is a way you do not want to hook this unit to them.



A solar charge controller is a device that accepts PV input and charges a battery. My $900 Victron 250/100 doesn't even have load ports. In fact most Victron models don't.



You're still describing two completely different functions.

Because that's not what load ports do. I'm sorry you don't like the way the industry has been doing things for decades, but if there was a legitimate demand for what you want, it would have been met. 12V devices that are typically connected to 12V batteries are designed to handle the higher voltage, and the reality is they are only subjected to the highest voltage for brief periods during bulk and absorption charging. During the majority of operating time, they see 13.8V max during float and under 13V while solar charging isn't available.




You're mostly alone in this. The market has expanded substantially with many more options available.

One should distinguish dreams from flights of fantasy. . Ouch!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So now that we are friends... I can tell you how wrong you are. : )

Victron DOES in fact regulate LOAD Output and can be configured with the Ethernet port to a laptop.
You can specify how high or low you want the LOAD Output to range. In example 11v to 14v
If you have the 100-20 like mine, it can take 12, 24, OR 48 In and you can program it to give 12v out.

So there, I learned you something.

 

[Sundog33]

Also if we are being honest. No means No!
it’s ok to be wrong sometimes. We all don’t know everything....


“There is no issue with hooking the regulator to the charge controller in the manner we've discussed. For each component they list, there is a way you do not want to hook this unit to them.”

 

[Substrate]

@Sundog33 - maybe this will help, or put us into the weeds, I don't know.

One of your biggest concerns is why you can't attach this directly to a solar panel and have it work. Yes, many like yourself wish that to be true. But it doesn't work.

One good reason is that they need a -stable- input to function properly and not burn out, which a battery-less solar setup definitely isn't.

I was going to go into the weeds and start talking about solar panels only being designed to charge batteries, and not power equipment directly (solar panels being known as "voltage sources" rather than 99% of the rest of the worlds devices being "current sources"), but decided to stop as the weeds grew rather tall.

But lets think about this some more - you also want to run devices on batteries where the CV/absorb doesn't go as high as say 14.6 volts, but rather closer to 12v without having to use regulators.

Have you thought about running a 9v solar system, where the absorb would be closer to 11.5 volts during CV/absorb?

Sure, custom panels and batts but do-able for your specific needs. If LifeP04 doesn't cut it, you could also investigate some of my favorite little AGM's, like Enersys Cyclons. They love to be hammered.

So a 9 - 10v nominal solar system is not impossible, it's just not very popular commercially. And your existing gear might not like running at say less than 11v when you aren't in the CV stage... You can do it though as kind of a one-off thing.

 

[snoobler]

One should distinguish dreams from flights of fantasy. . Ouch!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So now that we are friends... I can tell you how wrong you are. : )

Victron DOES in fact regulate LOAD Output and can be configured with the Ethernet port to a laptop.
You can specify how high or low you want the LOAD Output to range. In example 11v to 14v
If you have the 100-20 like mine, it can take 12, 24, OR 48 In and you can program it to give 12v out.

So there, I learned you something.

Sorry friend. Those numbers are the triggers to turn the load ports off. Note the word "switch." They do not regulate the voltage in any way. The load ports are always battery voltage. If the battery drops below the low number, load switch off. If the battery goes above the high number, load switch off. At all times, the load ports are battery voltage except when outside the low/high value range.

You can read about their configuration in the manual:

https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Manual-SmartSolar-charge-controller-MPPT-75-10-75-15-100-15-100-20-EN-NL-FR-DE-ES-SE-.pdf

Also if we are being honest. No means No!
it’s ok to be wrong sometimes. We all don’t know everything....


“There is no issue with hooking the regulator to the charge controller in the manner we've discussed. For each component they list, there is a way you do not want to hook this unit to them.”

I read the description at the time as well. The bold WIRING instructions exactly describe connection to the load ports. One could improperly connect the unit to any of those devices, but that's not the case in this conversation. We are literally following their wiring directions.

 

[Sundog33]

I’m not sure which wiring instructions your referring to but again. Not to be used with mttp is enough for me.

as far as switch. if I didn’t want to fry anything above 14volts at least that is some protection.

Will call it a draw and fight another day : )

 

[Sundog33]

My original post of what to do at 14.6 has been answered as the default settings of this Victron Load output is set to a high of 14v. Whether the Load then turns off as you suggest or just holds at 14v is yet to be confirmed.

also, with further research I found that you can regulate Load output with the the Steetlight function. Setting up “Dimming” parameters. In example 100% / 50%
output.

so this Charger is a little more smart than just a “power in/ power out - period!” As you had alluded to. I like it!

 

[Sundog33]

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