This question has popped up from time to time. I can now measure the amps from my converter and my solar charge controller also displays what is going into the system. Here are the first results.
Blue Sky 3024di and PD9140A
Time 7:00 am on May 20th, 2012
Ambient Temperature 4 C (39 F)
battery banks charging at 0 amps from converter and 1 amp from Blue Sky Voltage 13.2 (float)
Line voltage 118.
The load--a dedicated inverter outlet installed in the kitchen and a Cuisine Art 4 cup coffee pot (400 watts).
I set the converter to bulk mode--14.4 volts, followed by 13.6 and finally 13.2.
The results:
At the 14.4 volt setting, the Blue Sky went immediately to bulk charging @ 2 amps and the converter bounced up to between 30 and 32 amps
I then triggered the converter to 13.6 mode. Blue sky stayed at 2 amps and the converter ouput dropped to 16 to 17 amps
Finally I triggered the converter to 13.2 volts. Blue sky stayed at 2 amps and the converter output dropped to 7 amps.
I'll be repeating this test at solar noon some day soon. (I want a nice clear sky)
Interesting. I have two converters in my new TT, and when you have power, the batteries and one of the converters disconnects from the main panel (the second converter and the disconnect is a mod) so the trailer then runs just on the OEM converter. I am getting ready to install my solar, which will be connected to the batteries, so I was wondering how well it would play with my second converter. Looking forward to your report.
FTR: OEM converter is WFCO 55 amp
Auxiliary converter is Samlex 45 amp with temperature probe and remote display
Solar charge controller is Blue Sky 2512iX with temperature probe and IPN Remote
Batteries are group 31 Deka AGM
What is the controller's "bulk" voltage? (float was given as 13.2 but it jumped out of that-what made it do that?)
We would need the battery state or other info to know what amps the bank would take at the time to see that the chargers are doing their max amps. If one charger is not up to speed is it from the other charger or because the battery SOC is high?
Now we need to see what the solar controller does with and without the converter and what the converter does with and without the controller and then what they each do together as battery voltage rises.
With two chargers at once it is all about their voltages wrt battery voltage. If one charger is lower max voltage it will taper first and then drop out as the other charger takes the battery voltage past that charger's max.
"Playing well together" may also involve having to start the lower voltage charger first and get it running before cutting in the other, or else the lower voltage one might not start at all if it "sees" the higher voltage. My various Vectors have that and I have to start each accordingly. There is one 1092A that for some reason needs to be started first while the other 1092As don't care. All the 14.6v 1092As need to be running before I start the 14.8v 1093DBD.
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When my battery (s) are cold my Morningstar will push the Battery voltage up to 14.95 if the battery (s) are near full.
I will not see any converter current after about 14.5vdc, all solar unless there is something that loads the Morningstar down below the converter set voltage (charge mode,,, Bulk 14.4, Absorb 13.6 or Float 13.2)....Then they begin to share the load.
This question has popped up from time to time. I can now measure the amps from my converter and my solar charge controller also displays what is going into the system. Here are the first results.
Blue Sky 3024di and PD9140A
Time 7:00 am on May 20th, 2012
Ambient Temperature 4 C (39 F)
battery banks charging at 0 amps from converter and 1 amp from Blue Sky Voltage 13.2 (float)
Line voltage 118.
The load--a dedicated inverter outlet installed in the kitchen and a Cuisine Art 4 cup coffee pot (400 watts).
I set the converter to bulk mode--14.4 volts, followed by 13.6 and finally 13.2.
The results:
At the 14.4 volt setting, the Blue Sky went immediately to bulk charging @ 2 amps and the converter bounced up to between 30 and 32 amps
I then triggered the converter to 13.6 mode. Blue sky stayed at 2 amps and the converter ouput dropped to 16 to 17 amps
Finally I triggered the converter to 13.2 volts. Blue sky stayed at 2 amps and the converter output dropped to 7 amps.
I'll be repeating this test at solar noon some day soon. (I want a nice clear sky)
Hi PT;
I am glad to see this type of test underway.
Could you post links or navigation steps needed to look at the charging profiles of your converter/charger, Solar controller and batteries?
I do have some questions, but I would like to be able to refer to mutually agreed technical references.
The panels are Unisolar US-64 US-64 wired in series parallel for a PV voltage of 33 and nominal wattage of 256 on a non tilt install.
The batteries are seven Marine style batteries from Walmart rated at 125 amp-hours each in two banks one of four the other of three. The bank of four is now 6 years old and sat unused (and neglected, mea culpa) for three years. The bank of three is from September of 2009.
ummm it was 7 a.m. and there was no more energy to be had from the sun. I had hoped to redo at solar noon today but it is overcast and rain is in the forecast--and that will be so for the next four days. The output from solar did double.
smkettner wrote: I don't understand why Blue Sky stayed at 2 amps at all voltages.
With a 40 amp load I would think it would ramp up or is 2a the max at 7a?
The converter is either on or not, so there is no worry about it "seeing" the controller especially when you have the Charge Wizard to keep it at 14.4v no matter what it "sees."
The controller has more brains with set points, so you will need to learn if it needs to be on before turning on the converter.
Your amps from the controller will not reflect the voltage differences the same way as with two "regular" chargers, since the solar amps also reflect the time of day. Pretty hard to figure how much is due to remaining voltage diff between controller and battery and what contribution the converter is making for total amps sharing while also looking at what the controller could be doing at that voltage if only the sun were higher up.
All you can do, once you have them both running, is set each's voltage to as high as it will go and let them sort it out as to who is doing what for amps as battery voltage rises. If the bank is still not chargerd when it gets to 14.4 then the solar will keep it going till sunset. Nothing you can do or need to do it seems like.
If gen time matters, use another charger as well at first if you have one handy. The more amps the shorter the gen time until the battery bank won't take that many amps
Once the battery acceptance rate is reduced so that say three chargers are sharing the work, but two of them could do it all, you can yank the third charger but you don't have to. Same amps.
But where one of the chargers is solar, you want to get the batteries up fast until the solar alone can do all the amps the batteries will take so then you can shut off the gen. Except if there is lots of daylight left to go and you can turn off the gen earlier and let the solar do the rest, even though at first the batteries will still take more than the solar can do.
My 2512i adds whatever the panels are producing until the acceptance voltage I programmed is reached. After that it does nothing.
Sometimes higher engine rpm will spike the voltage to 15.2, then the solar cuts out prematurely, even after it falls back to the mid 14's, until I shut the engine off.
I do not have a converter, but a schumacher charger which will act like a converter on the 12 amp setting. This charger will not start if the solar has the batteries above 12.6, unless I trick into doing so by turning on my Highbeams and foglights for a minute or so.
But when this charger has the battery voltage above my acceptance setpoint, the solar quits adding it's current
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