Max Charger voltage spec

G

Gin

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 12, 2012
Messages
874
Fluid Motion Model
R-31 S
Vessel Name
Echo II (2019)
I have a 2019 R31s with the Kisae Abso 2000W charger/inverter. I have installed a Balmer SG200 gauge to monitor my batteries. After I run the boat and put it on shore power, I sometimes come back to an “over voltage” alert telling me that my batteries reached 15.5 volts while being charged. I have no idea what that really reflects: a peak voltage? The bulk or float voltage? Just not sure.

My question: is 15.5 too high for any purpose? Should I set the charger lower (assuming the setting is user controlled)? If that charge level is not an issue, then maybe I should change the alarm threshold for the Balmer gauge .. .

I can’t find anything on point in the manual about setting the max charging level for the charger. And the generic info I can find on charging AGM batteries isn’t very helpful (so far).

Anyone have advice? Thanks.

Gini
 
Gini,

I have the same problem and have never been around to "catch it in the act". I have the Balmar Smartgauge and I get it E03 error, meaning voltage over spec for the batteries. After some trial and error I may have narrowed the problem down.

I too blamed the charger and its specs (ProMariner 2500). To see if it was the charger's fault, I left the boat unplugged. When I came back a week later, I had the same alarm. The ONLY way you could be spiking the voltage was through the Morningstar solar power voltage regulator (which drops voltage from 24 volts out of the panel and then manages it in the 13-14v range). So I suspect your culprit is the solar power system.

And we have been on the boat continuously for the past 6+ weeks and have not had the error appear, except one time when we left the boat for five days, unplugged, at the dock.

My suspicion is that this is a voltage spike that is being picked up by the Balmar gauge. If it is a spike, I doubt it is a problem for the batteries. And I doubt that even if the voltage regulator on the solar system was able to put 15+ volts into the batteries, the amperage would be pretty tiny.

This is a long-winded way of saying I am choosing to live with it until I catch it in the act and can understand it.

Sorry about all the smoke in Portland. Ugh.

Jeff
 
Jeff!

So great to hear from you. I’ve been following your ventures to the PNW, and envying your move to the Puget Sound. Have meant to reach out to you about it all, but life just slips out from under me at times. These have been those kind of times. Still, hope to catch up to you a bit more in good time.

Meanwhile, on things voltage related . . .

Your theory about spikes makes sense. My reservation is that I think — but am not sure — that I’ve gotten some of my high voltage alarms after being on shore power and in the boathouse. And in the boathouse, I get no solar. To make sure, I need to manually log and track the alarms — when I get them, what conditions seemed to have caused them. I haven’t done that. Pretty sure, though, that I have gotten one or a few after coming back in after a day’s outing, hooking up to shore power in the boathouse, and then all charging would have been on the charger only.

I’m going to go back through the Kisae charger/inverter settings to make sure they are what they should be. Otherwise, I will try to monitor my charging current to see if I can find any spikes. I have had some low voltage alarms an the Balmar moinitor, but I’m reasonably confident they have occurred when, for example,I have been heavingly using the windlass during nanchoring or thruster use has caused a temporary dip in the voltage on those batteries.

Maybe having a very smart battery monitor is a bit of a challenge all on its own.

And yes, the smoke and fire situation in Oregon is awful. Thankfully, we are fine where we are, and we are likely to stay fine, except for our air quality. We have several friends who have had to evacuate themselves and their farm animals, everywhere from the coast to the Willamette Valley. Fortunately, they have been able to return to their homes in the last 24 hrs.. But so many homes have been wiped out. What an awakening to the changes we are experiencing, and (sadly) are likely to be facing into the years going forward . . .

Hope you are having a blast in the Puget Sound and the smoke from our fires stay well away from you.

I will keep monitoring my batteries and trying to make sense of those high voltage readings. I’ll post whatever I learn (if I learn anything).

Take good care.

Gini
 
Gini,

Is your charger set up for the type batteries it is charging?
Check this site for a wealth of information regarding boat electrics. This guy is VERY smart!
https://gilwellbear.wordpress.com/

Jeff
 
Hi Jeff,

Yes, I think it is set up for AGM batteries, which is what I have. But I intend to double check. Will do that once I can get back to my boat, which right now, I am declining to do until the smoke index for my area (Salem/Portland Or) drops into the non-hazardous range (I’m about 60 miles from where the boat is moored).

Meanwhile, reading through the specs in the online manual, it didn’t look to me like the charger should ever go up to 15.5, let alone higher, regardless of battery type. Do you have a different read on it? Or a different experience? All ears, if so!

Thanks for your input!

Gini
 
pretty sure its the smart solar controller and the standard controller not reacting quickly enough when both are producing power.

i have the balmar and used to get the EO3 error. I switched out the smart solar controller (not very smart) to a victron mppt with bluetooth battery monitor and havent had the error since as the battery sense tells the controller how many volts and temp is actually at the batteries in real time. I have much more confidence I am not trashing the batteries now (or at least less quickly!).
 
Hi Gini,

The highest I have ever seen is 14.5 volts on a sunny day with the engine running. On shore power it usually stops at 13.5 in my covered slip.

Jeff
 
Thanks for the added info, Jeff and Gavin. Good suggestions, and I look forward to learning more through the link you provided Jeff. Thanks!

Gini
 
Gini,

Today I turned my back on our Balmar Smartgage while plugged into shorepower and turned around and saw the E03 error (too high voltage). Curses! Later, while messing around in the quarterberth I bumped the shorepower switch, shutting it off. When I turned it back on, bingo, another E03 error. So I am presuming that this is a voltage spike that is short-lived and not a real issue.

I still want to catch it in the act. Did you figure yours out?

Jeff
 
Hi Jeff,

I have not figured out the over-voltage issue I was having. But I am not getting the fault with the boat in the boathouse except for an occasional E03 error if shorepower doesn’t get disconnected in the right sequence. For me, the two issues are different. I get an actual excess voltage “fault” in some circumstances and the E03 in others. Both issues seem to be caused by momentary spikes. I assume the solar controller may be briefly causing the overcharging issue, until it cuts out. And my best thinking on the E03 is that it sometimes (not consistently) happens if I cut the main AC breaker without first cutting all the loads, before disconnecting shore power.

Here’s an interesting possibility — Balmar is coming out with a software upgrade for the SG200. I’ve been a beta tester for it, because I’ve been getting a 0% SOC reading after the batteries sit on shore power for a day or more). They’ve finally tracked it down to a problem with their lead acid and AGM battery chemistries. In the beta upgrade I’ve been testing, they have altered those chemistries. The upgrade has solved the 0% SOC reading (which they think was happening when the batteries were on the float cycle). My long shot theory is that maybe some of the other little pesky spikes and E03 readings will disappear with the new battery chemistries. Maybe.

Balmar hasn’t posted the SG200 software update yet. You can keep an eye out for it here: https://balmar.net/sg200-upgrades/.

If you come up with any other solutions, let us all know!

Gini
 
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