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StephenH 
podders Helping podders - pHp 
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6289 |
 Topic: SOCPosted: 22 Jul 2020 at 7:58am |
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There is quite a bit of difference between the two versions of the controller and the manual. It looks like the display is very different. It looks like with the new version, everything is displayed on the LCD panel with no LED indicators. The new one can be used for 24V setups also. Interesting!
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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fwunder
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 22 Jul 2020 at 1:22pm |
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Midday report. Got a bit of a late start and it's been partly cloudy.
Just checked. Array voltage reports 18+v. Charging voltage reports 14.5v. Controller amperage reports 2.2 amps. If I got this right, seems to me the power curve is working. It's tapering off. I will be surprised if the controller doesn't show FUL this afternoon. |
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2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
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fwunder
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 22 Jul 2020 at 1:48pm |
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So interesting!
Just since I reported above (about 20 minutes ago) Array voltage reports 18+v. Charging voltage reports 13.7v. Controller amperage reports 0.1-0.5 amps. |
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2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
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fwunder
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 22 Jul 2020 at 4:19pm |
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Have to conclude for the day. Got some good thunder boomers moving in.
For the last couple hours under partly cloudy skies the controller was reporting as above (13.7v @ 0.1-0.5 amps) . That's float. I think it's working exactly they way we all would expect it to. I have to conclude that there is an issue with the first edition controller. I have opened another ticket with Renogy, but the controller is well past its 30 day warranty. It was probably doing the same in the beginning, but I just didn't know any better than to notice or care. I also used it so little that no damage was done to batteries. Thanks to everyone who contributed. Hopefully, we all learned a bit. BTW, I did get my hydrometer today and all six cells of batteries specific gravity measured +1.275 |
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2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
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StephenH
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6289 |
Posted: 22 Jul 2020 at 4:43pm |
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I'm glad the new controller is working out.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 22 Jul 2020 at 6:42pm |
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Just note that that array voltage number really doesn't mean much. The array will sit at the battery voltage when it is connected. In electrical engineering parlance, batteries are considered a voltage source and soar arrays are considered to be a current source. IOW, the battery can suck up or provide any current asked of it, at least for a short period, so it sets the voltage for the whole system. The 18V is probably the open circuit voltage of the array, measured during the portion of the PWM cycle when the controller has shut off current flow to the batts.
My sense is that there is nothing actually wrong with either controller. Renogy just changed their software at some point and modified their equalization algorithm. The new ones are not pushing the battery voltage up as high, at least not at the same time as the old ones are.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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fwunder
Senior Member
Joined: 04 Oct 2013 Location: New Jersey Online Status: Offline Posts: 1676 |
Posted: 23 Jul 2020 at 6:43am |
The obvious question, for me, is... Is there any harm in charging flooded batteries @ 14.7v for any length of time? Perhaps most controllers don't have digital readouts so neophytes like me don't try to over think the process? fred
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2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6 Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks! |
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 23 Jul 2020 at 7:03am |
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Short term is fine, long term damage is possible with too high charge voltage settings, read the battery university link I posted. And you'd have to keep a close eye on the water level.
In the old days charge controllers were just a simple high voltage disconnect, maybe temp compensated if you were lucky. You fiddled with the set points till you got a little battery gassing but not too much. Flooded batts were just fine with that approach. Now with everything having a microprocessor or two all the mfgs try to one up each other with "features" and "charge stages". You need different settings for AGM and gel batteries, and of course for Li. But for most folks its probably TMI (too much information) as you suggest. Especially that spurious amp hour production number is misleading because it makes it look like you have a stray load somewhere. I would just set the controller on gel batt charge mode so the equalize stage is defeated and see how that does for awhile, especially if you are going to also be running the new controller. I didn't like the warning that you have to shut off loads once a month to equalize or it might get stuck. |
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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JR
Senior Member
Joined: 31 Aug 2018 Location: Manistee, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 344 |
Posted: 23 Jul 2020 at 12:17pm |
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As I sit on the shores of Lake Michigan near Charleviox, MI. under clear skis and my panels collecting much sun...I think everyone has diagnosed your problem with your first charge controller. I have a Morningstar which gives you the option of manually setting many of the set points which limits or even eliminates the equalization of the battery (ies) if that is your desire. Hopefully your controller will supplement your camping memories.
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Jay
179/2019 |
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offgrid
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
Posted: 23 Jul 2020 at 4:19pm |
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+ 1 for Morningstar. I used to work with the founders of that company back in the late 80s/early 90s at another solar company. Great guys and excellent high quality products. Can’t say enough good things about them.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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SOC