Charging question and solar question

[Craigmconrad]

I just purchased a 2020 R23 and while on trailer, I connected a portable Generator to Shore Power. The House Batt through the garmin reads 14.6v during charge. The Eng batt reads 12.4v, and is not charging until I use the parallel switch, then reads 13.5v. I haven’t put a voltmeter on the thruster batt. Shouldn’t all 3 banks charge simultaneously?

I installed a 210w solar panel and Victron 100/30 MPPT controller. Initial startup, it read approx 107w during bulk, then went down to 25w during absorption. The sun cover didn’t change. Does the solar wattage change when controller switches from bulk to absorption to float? I would think the VictronConnect Solar wattage would be unchanged between charging phases.

Any thoughts?

Craig

 

[Craigmconrad]

I think I answered the first question: per the manual

“At start, if the charger senses Battery Bank 2 and 3 had battery connected and the battery voltage is greater than 11V on 12V model (AC1220, AC1240, AC1260) or greater than 22V on 24V model (AC2430), the charger will then concentrate on fully charging Battery Bank 1 first until it reaches float stage. It will then switch to charge Battery Bank 2 and 3.”

 

[Kevin Lamont]

I just purchased a 2020 R23 and while on trailer, I connected a portable Generator to Shore Power. The House Batt through the garmin reads 14.6v during charge. The Eng batt reads 12.4v, and is not charging until I use the parallel switch, then reads 13.5v. I haven’t put a voltmeter on the thruster batt. Shouldn’t all 3 banks charge simultaneously?

I installed a 210w solar panel and Victron 100/30 MPPT controller. Initial startup, it read approx 107w during bulk, then went down to 25w during absorption. The sun cover didn’t change. Does the solar wattage change when controller switches from bulk to absorption to float? I would think the VictronConnect Solar wattage would be unchanged between charging phases.

Any thoughts?

Craig

Hey Craig,

Yes you are correct on the first issue, bank 1 needs to reach full charge before switching over to #2 and so on. Looking at the manual for the Victron it states that:

1.10 Adaptive three step charging
The Controller is configured for a three step charging process:
Bulk – Absorption – Float.
1.10.1. Bulk
During this stage the controller delivers as much charge current
as possible to rapidly recharge the batteries.
1.10.2. Absorption
When the battery voltage reaches the absorption voltage setting,
the controller switches to constant voltage mode.
When only shallow discharges occur the absorption time is kept
short in order to prevent overcharging of the battery. After a deep
discharge the absorption time is automatically increased to make
sure that the battery is completely recharged. Additionally, the
absorption period is also ended when the charge current
decreases to less than 2A.
1.10.3. Float
During this stage, float voltage is applied to the battery to
maintain it in a fully charged state.

Also here is a link to their manual online, https://www.victronenergy.com/solar-cha ... 30#manuals. It appears to be working as designed based on your description. Hope this helps.

Thanks,

 

[Craigmconrad]

Thanks for the information. I think my ACR’s are not opening. My eng and thruster battery sitting at 12.4v while in float, I would assume ACR’s would open when house passes 13.2v, but my house sitting at 13.9v.

 

[Gin]

I’ve been trying to get my education about all-things-electrical-on-boats through the videos and tech talks posted by Jeff Cote, of Pacific Yacht Systems. You might want to check out his “Resources” and search for videos and written tech advice that might relate to ACRs. https://www.pysystems.ca/resources/. Also check out Rod Collins’ ACR article on Marinehowto.com at https://marinehowto.com/automatic-charging-relays/. He describes ACRs as one of the most reliable devises in the marine world. And I think I recall Jeff Cote saying similar in one of his videos.

Maybe something on one or both of those websites can help you troubleshoot to figure out if the ACRs or something else causing your issue. Good luck!

Gini

 

[Submariner]

Thanks for the information. I think my ACR’s are not opening. My eng and thruster battery sitting at 12.4v while in float, I would assume ACR’s would open when house passes 13.2v, but my house sitting at 13.9v.

If the ACR's aren't operating correctly, we had that happen to us. It was easily identifiable. We would take the boat out and about an hour underway the Garmin would report "low voltage, 11.2 volts", at which point I'd have to parallel the house and engine batteries.

The fix: Go look at both ACR's... theres a small yellow wire that goes to them (the ground). It had been knocked off and was laying on the deck. Without the ground connected the ACR's will not close and thus they will not parallel the battery banks.

Under normal operations, while the battery charger will cycle through all 3 battery banks (it only charges one bank at a time). The ACR's will all close and thus all 3 battery banks will read 13.2 volts. (effectively meaning they make 1 big battery bank out of all batteries).