Victron 12/40

[sailaboutvic]

My Sterling charger works the same. If the batteries need 5a the charger outputs 5a plus whatever the load is. My solar controller does the same.

Still awaiting for victron to reply to my email , I have a feeling some thing not right .
Seen to spend more time here these day getting info on batteries.
Still try to find a monitor to give me a readout at set times with a chart so I can see where amps are being used up . And when they are being replaced , so I have a better idea what's going on .

 

[RobbieW]

Hi Vic,
Not sure if I'm going to muddy the waters or not...

In your first post you mentioned the dip switches on the charger, its not ckear what they are set to now. The manual says the default is for gel which is the most conservative charge regime with the lowest voltages. In principle the higher the voltage used at absorb the faster the battery will charge, the downside is that higher voltages create more heat which can boil away the water in the electrolyte. Thats fine if you can replace the water as you can with an open LA but sealed batteries are more problematic, it helps if the manufacturer has given a charge voltage but on generic sealed LAs thats unlikely. I'd set the charger to the AGM setting for your batteries I think, the LA setting is probably too aggresive.

Your descriptions of the charge cycle dont sound right to me but it depends how Victron have programmed the charger. I'd expect the bulk stage to take the battery up to a preset voltage whilst charging at whatever rate the battery will take, that may take some time depending how deeply the battery has been discharged. Once the preset voltage is reached it should switch to absorb which charges at a set voltage until some other condition is met, then it should switch to float. It sounds like Victron are using a simple timer for the absorb stage, but I'd expect the voltage to switch to a steady reading rather than decay over time down to the float. Maybe with little load the battery voltage stays higher than the charger.

In principle it doesnt sound as if theres much wrong with your batteries. I might suggest that 300ah is a bit light for a full time liveaboard though. Using the 50% DoD measure that gives you 150a to play with, you probably use that in a couple of days. That means you really need to get the batteries back to 100% each day. I was getting 60a ish daily from 200watts of solar and used about 100a daily from a bank with a nominal 720ah so after 3-4 days I'd run the engine for a couple of hours (assuming we hadnt gone somewhere) to push some charge back in.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Hi Vic,
Not sure if I'm going to muddy the waters or not...

In your first post you mentioned the dip switches on the charger, its not ckear what they are set to now. The manual says the default is for gel which is the most conservative charge regime with the lowest voltages. In principle the higher the voltage used at absorb the faster the battery will charge, the downside is that higher voltages create more heat which can boil away the water in the electrolyte. Thats fine if you can replace the water as you can with an open LA but sealed batteries are more problematic, it helps if the manufacturer has given a charge voltage but on generic sealed LAs thats unlikely. I'd set the charger to the AGM setting for your batteries I think, the LA setting is probably too aggresive.

Your descriptions of the charge cycle dont sound right to me but it depends how Victron have programmed the charger. I'd expect the bulk stage to take the battery up to a preset voltage whilst charging at whatever rate the battery will take, that may take some time depending how deeply the battery has been discharged. Once the preset voltage is reached it should switch to absorb which charges at a set voltage until some other condition is met, then it should switch to float. It sounds like Victron are using a simple timer for the absorb stage, but I'd expect the voltage to switch to a steady reading rather than decay over time down to the float. Maybe with little load the battery voltage stays higher than the charger.

In principle it doesnt sound as if theres much wrong with your batteries. I might suggest that 300ah is a bit light for a full time liveaboard though. Using the 50% DoD measure that gives you 150a to play with, you probably use that in a couple of days. That means you really need to get the batteries back to 100% each day. I was getting 60a ish daily from 200watts of solar and used about 100a daily from a bank with a nominal 720ah so after 3-4 days I'd run the engine for a couple of hours (assuming we hadnt gone somewhere) to push some charge back in.

Hi Robbie Hope all well we not heard from you for a while .
First batteries i an isolated them one at a time , charging them fully , taken them tho the Absorption stage then leaving them a while longer so I hoping their are up to at less nearly full , then leaving them 36 hour and checking them for any drop , one batteries been tested the second is being done over the next 24 hour , the third I start on to morrow .
The batteries under a year old so I doubts any thing wrong with them .

Charger .
The dip It's set on LA . It seen to be doing what victron data sheet says , I agree it must be on some kind of time , as almost to the four hour the Volts go from 13.5v to 14.5 and the current stays around 2 or 3 amps .
Where I am puzzle is , if I connect the charger to the battery I using at the time , leave it a bit to settle , check the amps on the BM then turn on a good load , the BM goes to discharge , turn the load off and we have an income current of 2 or 3 amps , to me this is saying the charger isn't replacing any amps being removed , so it may go tho its cycle but unless there isnt any load the batteries are never going to get fully charged .
Now unless the batteries are given out some funny reading , which I doubt then it have to be the charger .
Putting that to one side , even if the charger was replacing what current was being removed , let's say 1600 the batteries are 80% soc that 30 amps plus what's being used need to be replace , with this 4 hour cycle I would need to run my generator at less four hours more likely five five so the charger get pass the Absorption stage , remember we talking topping up not charging flat batteries, which is just stupid , I be better of running my engine .

I like to get hold of a monitor that would give me a timeline chart so I can see what going on but so far no luck .

Of cause the main problem is our bank isn't big enough , but we really haven't got any were near the other battery's we can put any .

So I floging a died horse ,
we had 4 batteries on Isabelle , the same amount of panels and a wind gen which didn't really put much in , but from oct we could sit on anchor for at less two days without having a problem and running the engine .

I need to look at a better charger one that will top up the batteries and not run for 4 hours to do so , I mean we talking topping up not charging flat batteries , very frustrating.

 

[RobbieW]

...
Where I am puzzle is , if I connect the charger to the battery I using at the time , leave it a bit to settle , check the amps on the BM then turn on a good load , the BM goes to discharge , turn the load off and we have an income current of 2 or 3 amps , to me this is saying the charger isn't replacing any amps being removed , so it may go tho its cycle but unless there isnt any load the batteries are never going to get fully charged ...

This is one of the bits that puzzles me; I'd expect the voltage to slowly increase and the charge amps to slowly decrease during bulk until the preset absorb voltage is reached - that shouldnt be timed. Its the end of the absorb stage where there are potentially different criteria that could be applied but I'd still expect the switch to float to be sharp not gradual.

Whilst youre in a marina, can you turn off the solar and run the batteries down over a day or so ? Then plug in the charger to see how the charge rate goes. That should mimic using a generator through the Victron charger, I think thats one of the options you have ? whilst you're at anchor. I wonder if youre getting some odd results because the charger isnt having to work hard enough and thats messing with its operation.

We have the boat back on the Hamble for a couple of years whilst we do some work on her and try to get some other things sorted out. Including keeping an eye on an aging Mum

 

[crisjones]

Hi Robbie Hope all well we not heard from you for a while .
First batteries i an isolated them one at a time , charging them fully , taken them tho the Absorption stage then leaving them a while longer so I hoping their are up to at less nearly full , then leaving them 36 hour and checking them for any drop , one batteries been tested the second is being done over the next 24 hour , the third I start on to morrow .
The batteries under a year old so I doubts any thing wrong with them .

Charger .
The dip It's set on LA . It seen to be doing what victron data sheet says , I agree it must be on some kind of time , as almost to the four hour the Volts go from 13.5v to 14.5 and the current stays around 2 or 3 amps .
Where I am puzzle is , if I connect the charger to the battery I using at the time , leave it a bit to settle , check the amps on the BM then turn on a good load , the BM goes to discharge , turn the load off and we have an income current of 2 or 3 amps , to me this is saying the charger isn't replacing any amps being removed , so it may go tho its cycle but unless there isnt any load the batteries are never going to get fully charged .
Now unless the batteries are given out some funny reading , which I doubt then it have to be the charger .
Putting that to one side , even if the charger was replacing what current was being removed , let's say 1600 the batteries are 80% soc that 30 amps plus what's being used need to be replace , with this 4 hour cycle I would need to run my generator at less four hours more likely five five so the charger get pass the Absorption stage , remember we talking topping up not charging flat batteries, which is just stupid , I be better of running my engine .

I like to get hold of a monitor that would give me a timeline chart so I can see what going on but so far no luck .

Of cause the main problem is our bank isn't big enough , but we really haven't got any were near the other battery's we can put any .

So I floging a died horse ,
we had 4 batteries on Isabelle , the same amount of panels and a wind gen which didn't really put much in , but from oct we could sit on anchor for at less two days without having a problem and running the engine .

I need to look at a better charger one that will top up the batteries and not run for 4 hours to do so , I mean we talking topping up not charging flat batteries , very frustrating.

Hi Vic,

I still think some of your problems are related to the innaccuracy of the BM and this is giving you dodgy info??

Check your multimeter - most are capable of measuring up to 10A of current. If so then you could use your multimeter to measure the current flowing into or out of the battery and compare this with what the BM is telling you - it may highlight some errors.
To use the multimeter to measure current you will have to connect it in series with the battery cable - remove positive lead from battery, connect one lead from multimeter to battery positive post and the other lead to the positive battery cable you have just removed. Be CAREFUL that you do not have more than 10A flowing in or out although there should be a fuse in the multimeter to prevent damage.
Best to make sure the battery is near fully charged so the input current will be automatically limited by the battery.
You can then turn on some loads and see what happens on the multimeter - you will be able to see if the battery charger is compensating for the loads or not.
Good Luck getting it sorted.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Hi Vic,

I still think some of your problems are related to the innaccuracy of the BM and this is giving you dodgy info??

Check your multimeter - most are capable of measuring up to 10A of current. If so then you could use your multimeter to measure the current flowing into or out of the battery and compare this with what the BM is telling you - it may highlight some errors.
To use the multimeter to measure current you will have to connect it in series with the battery cable - remove positive lead from battery, connect one lead from multimeter to battery positive post and the other lead to the positive battery cable you have just removed. Be CAREFUL that you do not have more than 10A flowing in or out although there should be a fuse in the multimeter to prevent damage.
Best to make sure the battery is near fully charged so the input current will be automatically limited by the battery.
You can then turn on some loads and see what happens on the multimeter - you will be able to see if the battery charger is compensating for the loads or not.
Good Luck getting it sorted.

Hi Chris
Thanks for the suggestion, although your about Three days late HaHa , I did that some days back and other then the different what the MPPT saying what's comein and what the BM saying it all the same ( different in MPPT and the BM is because the batteries are not excepting the full current from the panels as they are full ) but if I turn on a load then you can see it increasing .

What I have not done is the same with the charger , I was a bit worried doing this , because as you say my meter will only take 10A , it also mean I would need to turn the charger off to set it all up , and I notice if I turn the charger off , once turn back on the current for a short while will be high then before I turned it off so although it may only read 2 A before I turn it off it may go up to over 10A for a while before setting down back to 2A if you get my meaning .

I have order a DC clamp meter , once it comes I will have a go then .
Tested third battery to day , so far two out of three are fine , I know in the morning what the last one like , although the test isn't going to tell me , how many AH each battery have left .
Still awaiting on a reply from Victron .

 

[Gypsy]

There have been many knowledgible responses here about charging and what voltages/currents to expect. I think some extra terminology might help explain some of the variations presented by Vic and others.

Multistage chargers have 3 main stages. The 1st, Bulk charging uses 'constant current' methodology. That is to say, the voltage from the charger is determined (within limits for the type of battery selected) by whatever is necessary to achieve the maximum current the battery will accept or if the battery bank is larger than the capacity of the charger, the maximum the charger can provide. This Bulk charge may be for a time determined by the software of the charger or to a voltage maximum or to a maximum battery temperature if sensors are installed.
Once the programmed limit of the Bulk (constant current) mode is achieved the charger then goes to the 2nd mode, Absorbtion, which is 'constant voltage'. That is to say the charger maintains a constant voltage and the current flow is determined by the acceptance level of the battery at any given point in the process.
There comes a time when the charger determines (by software) that the rate of current accepted by the battery indicates that the charge is complete and it drops to the 3rd mode, Float mode. Lower voltage and typically just enough to maintain charge.

I make the point about 'Constant Current' and 'Constant Voltage' because much has been made of the different voltages seen during charging and questioning why one can see lower voltages in the early stages of charging compared to later stages when the current flow is lower. In the first stage the goal is to maximise the current into the battery, if it is significantly discharged it does not need the maximum voltage to get the current required. Later in the cycle, higher voltage will be required to continue useful charging current.

However, if we all get confused or bored with this subject, we can revert to an anchoring discussion .

 

[sailaboutvic]

There have been many knowledgible responses here about charging and what voltages/currents to expect. I think some extra terminology might help explain some of the variations presented by Vic and others.

Multistage chargers have 3 main stages. The 1st, Bulk charging uses 'constant current' methodology. That is to say, the voltage from the charger is determined (within limits for the type of battery selected) by whatever is necessary to achieve the maximum current the battery will accept or if the battery bank is larger than the capacity of the charger, the maximum the charger can provide. This Bulk charge may be for a time determined by the software of the charger or to a voltage maximum or to a maximum battery temperature if sensors are installed.
Once the programmed limit of the Bulk (constant current) mode is achieved the charger then goes to the 2nd mode, Absorbtion, which is 'constant voltage'. That is to say the charger maintains a constant voltage and the current flow is determined by the acceptance level of the battery at any given point in the process.
There comes a time when the charger determines (by software) that the rate of current accepted by the battery indicates that the charge is complete and it drops to the 3rd mode, Float mode. Lower voltage and typically just enough to maintain charge.

I make the point about 'Constant Current' and 'Constant Voltage' because much has been made of the different voltages seen during charging and questioning why one can see lower voltages in the early stages of charging compared to later stages when the current flow is lower. In the first stage the goal is to maximise the current into the battery, if it is significantly discharged it does not need the maximum voltage to get the current required. Later in the cycle, higher voltage will be required to continue useful charging current.

However, if we all get confused or bored with this subject, we can revert to an anchoring discussion .

Thanks Ray , very usefully info

I heard from victron who said what we all knew what should happen but in my case hasn't , at any stage of charging any current taken out should be replaced by the charger .
Of cause this isn't happening in my case , so it looks like there may be a fault with the charger .
Before doing any thing I wait for my new clamp on dc meter arrives just in case my BM is playing up as chris sugested . Although it is showing current when I start the engine and also panels current ,

 

[vas]

hello,

just went though all this discussion as I also have a centaur charger (24/60 in my case) and 600W of solar (2panels 1X2m 300W each connected in serial, outputting 80+V) and all that going to a 2x2x180Ah LA batteries now completely dead and to be replaced with 4xT105 Trojans (effectively going down from 360Ah to 220Ah)
Neither Victron Centaur nor solars have anything to do with destroying the first batch of batteries, it was my own fault...

Following the installation of the solars early this summer, I spent the rest of the summer trying to figure out how charging works and trying to find the best way of keeping batteries alive (with dead batteries made the exercise a bit more difficult )

My observations are:

A. Victron Centaur are v.old school, crap and under no circumstances should be allowed to work fulltime (say on shore power) Yes it is three stage, yes it has dip switches to set it up, but that's about it. No temp comp and old circuit. I'm talking from the experience of the local (knowledgeable) guy selling S/P and Victron dealer here in Volos. He's paid out of his pocket some good money (replacing destroyed batteries) to learn that and he's now reluctant to even replacing batteries on craft that have Centaurs installed and spend their life in shore power.

B. Victron MPPTs look and feel way more advanced! They start charging in bulk (for as long as it needs to get them somewhere I guess depends on type of batteries) then have a second stage (absorption iirc) that I've noticed (through the BT dongle) lasts 6:00h fullstop, not a minute more. If you run out of time, simply you never get into the float stage (got a few months worth of spreadsheets to prove it!). Of course as you noticed you can get the MPPT to start the whole process again, if you manage to draw more than a set amount and drop V over a set step. Good thing with Victrons MPPTs is that using the BT dongle I can alter V (for sure!) and durations (iirc) on each stage.

Conclusion is I'm going to follow Hurricane's approach (over on the mobo forum he's got 600W solar on a 67ft mobo with much higher consumption) and start my day with half to 1 h geny (or engine in your case) which will do most of the bulk stage using the high Amps of the motor (or in my case of the Centaur) and then relax in silence throughout the day knowing that solar will be able to top up slowly, do the 6h cycle by early afternoon and be done with before the sun sets

cheers

V.

 

[sailaboutvic]

hello,

just went though all this discussion as I also have a centaur charger (24/60 in my case) and 600W of solar (2panels 1X2m 300W each connected in serial, outputting 80+V) and all that going to a 2x2x180Ah LA batteries now completely dead and to be replaced with 4xT105 Trojans (effectively going down from 360Ah to 220Ah)
Neither Victron Centaur nor solars have anything to do with destroying the first batch of batteries, it was my own fault...

Following the installation of the solars early this summer, I spent the rest of the summer trying to figure out how charging works and trying to find the best way of keeping batteries alive (with dead batteries made the exercise a bit more difficult )

My observations are:

A. Victron Centaur are v.old school, crap and under no circumstances should be allowed to work fulltime (say on shore power) Yes it is three stage, yes it has dip switches to set it up, but that's about it. No temp comp and old circuit. I'm talking from the experience of the local (knowledgeable) guy selling S/P and Victron dealer here in Volos. He's paid out of his pocket some good money (replacing destroyed batteries) to learn that and he's now reluctant to even replacing batteries on craft that have Centaurs installed and spend their live in shore power.

B. Victron MPPTs look and feel way more advanced! They start charging in bulk (for as long as it needs to get them somewhere I guess depends on type of batteries) then have a second stage (absorption iirc) that I've noticed (through the BT dongle) lasts 6:00h fullstop, not a minute more. If you run out of time, simply you never get into the float stage (got a few months worth of spreadsheets to prove it!). Of course as you noticed you can get the MPPT to start the whole process again, if you manage to draw more than a set amount and drop V over a set step. Good thing with Victrons MPPTs is that using the BT dongle I can alter V (for sure!) and durations (iirc) on each stage.

Conclusion is I'm going to follow Hurricane's approach (over on the mobo forum he's got 600W solar on a 67ft mobo with much higher consumption) and start my day with half to 1 h geny (or engine in your case) which will do most of the bulk stage using the high Amps of the motor (or in my case of the Centaur) and then relax in silence throughout the day knowing that solar will be able to top up slowly, do the 6h cycle by early afternoon and be done with before the sun sets

cheers



V.

Running the gen for a hour in the morning is some thing Chris sugested some time back , which we plain to start doing when we back at anchor , we where doing the position , running the gen at night to top up the batteries if needed , make water and heat the water , thinking all the time the victron was putting in an hour or charge , but now it looks like for the first hour or two it just doing a bulk charge , so in reality I would need to run the gen Six hour to get somewhere near a full charge ,

 

[RobbieW]

Running the gen for a hour in the morning is some thing Chris sugested some time back , which we plain to start doing when we back at anchor , we where doing the position , running the gen at night to top up the batteries if needed , make water and heat the water , thinking all the time the victron was putting in an hour or charge , but now it looks like for the first hour or two it just doing a bulk charge , so in reality I would need to run the gen Six hour to get somewhere near a full charge ,

Whilst youre right that you'd need to run the gen for a long time to fully charge the batteries, >12 hrs more likely, I think youre missing the point a bit, Vic.

The bulk charge is when the highest current is being delivered into the batteries so making use of your most capable charging device makes sense for that initial period. Your mains charger, the Victron, is small for the bank you have, the rule of thumb is around capacity / 4 for LA batteries (not sure about sealed). So if you want to use a mains charger to get the most into the batteries over that initial hour when they are most depleted you need to be looking at something that can deliver about 75 amps. Combining that initial boost with the solar over the rest of day gives a fair chance of bringing the bank close to full charge daily.

I know that you prefer to sail if you can but I am happy to motor for extended periods occasionally as thats the time when I know the batteries are fully charged from the equipment on board.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Whilst youre right that you'd need to run the gen for a long time to fully charge the batteries, >12 hrs more likely, I think youre missing the point a bit, Vic.

The bulk charge is when the highest current is being delivered into the batteries so making use of your most capable charging device makes sense for that initial period. Your mains charger, the Victron, is small for the bank you have, the rule of thumb is around capacity / 4 for LA batteries (not sure about sealed). So if you want to use a mains charger to get the most into the batteries over that initial hour when they are most depleted you need to be looking at something that can deliver about 75 amps. Combining that initial boost with the solar over the rest of day gives a fair chance of bringing the bank close to full charge daily.

I know that you prefer to sail if you can but I am happy to motor for extended periods occasionally as thats the time when I know the batteries are fully charged from the equipment on board.

Thanks Robbie , it looks like the charger may have a problem and if so I look into a bigger one . We also looking at ways of trying to get two more batteries in ( don't ask where we put them , maybe the dinghy ) and in that case we would need a bigger charger anyway .
The 12/40 victron is said to be able to take 400Ah and has we turn off our Started battery from the relay I would had through the charger is only dealing with just the house batteries 300Ah .
( the charger leads go one to the starter battery the other to the house batteries relay)

 

[crisjones]

Thanks Robbie , it looks like the charger may have a problem and if so I look into a bigger one . We also looking at ways of trying to get two more batteries in ( don't ask where we put them , maybe the dinghy ) and in that case we would need a bigger charger anyway .
The 12/40 victron is said to be able to take 400Ah and has we turn off our Started battery from the relay I would had through the charger is only dealing with just the house batteries 300Ah .
( the charger leads go one to the starter battery the other to the house batteries relay)

Hi Vic,

I think you can ignore the starter battery for any charger size calculations. Personally I do not see any need to connect the starter battery to anything other than the alternator, provided the battery is in good condition it will get recharged very quickly when you run the engine. Every car, van and truck on the road only uses the alternator, many of them are used infrequently, yet batteries last a long time.
Our first starter battery lasted 8 years without any additional charging, our current starter battery is 4 years old and both voltage and SG show it to be still perfect.
It is always good to have an emergency switch to connect your domestic bank to the engine battery so you can start the engine if the starter battery does fail. This switch can also be used to charge the starter battery from the domestics if you need to.

 

[vas]

Running the gen for a hour in the morning is some thing Chris sugested some time back , which we plain to start doing when we back at anchor , we where doing the position , running the gen at night to top up the batteries if needed , make water and heat the water , thinking all the time the victron was putting in an hour or charge , but now it looks like for the first hour or two it just doing a bulk charge , so in reality I would need to run the gen Six hour to get somewhere near a full charge ,

imho, if your batteries cannot keep an evening-night session (after being charged to 95+% or so by the solars) and be at 60odd % the following morning, you're way under Amped for your life on the hook.
Further, normal lead acids (unless proper deep cycle) wont live long enough like that.

cheers

V.

 

[sailaboutvic]

imho, if your batteries cannot keep an evening-night session (after being charged to 95+% or so by the solars) and be at 60odd % the following morning, you're way under Amped for your life on the hook.
Further, normal lead acids (unless proper deep cycle) wont live long enough like that.

cheers

V.

Hi Vas
We been living like that for the pass 8 years with LA batteries last lot last six years ,
Our problem is we changed boats last year so we still getting use how this boat batteries are going .
We put Three new batteries on under a year ago , and I just finish tested them so I do know they are holding their charge , although I also know it no way tells me how much Cap left in them but being under a year old I wouldn't had tho they lost much .
We use to have five 100ah on other boat until one die and we ended up with 400 AH , we had the same amount of panels we had now on this boat , but we did have a 914 wind gen , as I sure you know they don't throw out much . But it helped on windy nights .
Over the summer we had no problems with the 300Ah with plenty of Med sun our BM would show at less 75 soc in the morning , but sunset it was 104% soc time to charge 0 while at anchor ,
The problem arise from End is Sept , if we was normal cruisers and hit the Marina in Oct , I guess we wouldn't have the problem but as it's not unusually for us not to go on till Dec and left in March doesn't help .
The real solution is more batteries AH , but where to put them .
In the mean time I need to sort out the charger ,

 

[sailaboutvic]

Hi Vic,

I think you can ignore the starter battery for any charger size calculations. Personally I do not see any need to connect the starter battery to anything other than the alternator, provided the battery is in good condition it will get recharged very quickly when you run the engine. Every car, van and truck on the road only uses the alternator, many of them are used infrequently, yet batteries last a long time.
Our first starter battery lasted 8 years without any additional charging, our current starter battery is 4 years old and both voltage and SG show it to be still perfect.
It is always good to have an emergency switch to connect your domestic bank to the engine battery so you can start the engine if the starter battery does fail. This switch can also be used to charge the starter battery from the domestics if you need to.

Hi Chris
Yes I agree I never taken in account the starter battery on any boats as long as they are not charged from the same lead .
When ever we used any charger we alway turn off the master switch for the starter .

 

[sailaboutvic]

Well a week of messing about with batteries is over at last and taken advise from a friends , not mention any name , (a chris) , I put all the testing to one side and settled for a beer or two .

Update .
The victron has a problem and it going away to get looked at .

All batteries are holding their charge for a good 30 hours .

The batteries are around 60% in the morning before the panels start to work , so I did what was suggested , and charged the battery's up for an hour in the morning , then let the panels take over , by early afternoon the BM read 13.5 V soc104% time to discharge 199 hour , amps going in zero although the MPPT was showing the panels making current ,
I am taken that to be an indication that the batteries are fully charged and on float .
the batteries stayed like that, any load taken out is replaced by the panels , this is shown on the BM ,until the panels stop putting in a charge.

I am trying to find somewhere near by to put at less one more battery which will give me 400Ah bank , not much for a full time live aboard I know but it means managing our power which we very good at anyway , plus we managed with 300Ah the extra 100 will go some way in the winter months .

There still one thing I don't understand unless as it's been pointed out to me , the NASA BM1 may be programmed in that way .

The BM is set for 300AH bank , if I charge my batteries fully and reset the BM , with no load it reads soc 104%, 199hours to discharge surely it should read 300hours ?.
if then I put a load on say 1A it start to calculate time to discharge from 199 hours ,
So if the BM is programmed to start at 199 hours no matter what size bank you have at which point does it take into account the extra AH . Or is the BM faulty too?
Any suggestion? .
Might drop an email to the company in the morning .

 

[crisjones]

Well a week of messing about with batteries is over at last and taken advise from a friends , not mention any name , (a chris) , I put all the testing to one side and settled for a beer or two .

Update .
The victron has a problem and it going away to get looked at .

All batteries are holding their charge for a good 30 hours .

The batteries are around 60% in the morning before the panels start to work , so I did what was suggested , and charged the battery's up for an hour in the morning , then let the panels take over , by early afternoon the BM read 13.5 V soc104% time to discharge 199 hour , amps going in zero although the MPPT was showing the panels making current ,
I am taken that to be an indication that the batteries are fully charged and on float .
the batteries stayed like that, any load taken out is replaced by the panels , this is shown on the BM ,until the panels stop putting in a charge.

I am trying to find somewhere near by to put at less one more battery which will give me 400Ah bank , not much for a full time live aboard I know but it means managing our power which we very good at anyway , plus we managed with 300Ah the extra 100 will go some way in the winter months .

There still one thing I don't understand unless as it's been pointed out to me , the NASA BM1 may be programmed in that way .

The BM is set for 300AH bank , if I charge my batteries fully and reset the BM , with no load it reads soc 104%, 199hours to discharge surely it should read 300hours ?.
if then I put a load on say 1A it start to calculate time to discharge from 199 hours ,
So if the BM is programmed to start at 199 hours no matter what size bank you have at which point does it take into account the extra AH . Or is the BM faulty too?
Any suggestion? .
Might drop an email to the company in the morning .

Vic,
I answered about the 199hrs in my email yesterday - it is probably the maximum value programmed into the BM so until your discharge current is above about 1.5A the BM will show 199hrs to go from full charge. Once discharge is say 2A then it should display around 150hrs to go.