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meerlaan

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  1. meerlaan
    @nicknorman ok I can just about follow what your saying, i am not sure I follow why the victron would go into float early (before reaching 1% tail current) but I see that I can set them up to be the same voltage so it wouldnt make a different, I might have to ask you some more questions when I get my cable So only managed about 2 hours eq charge, I feel I may need to redo with a slightly higher voltage but here are my results : Battery 1 [Front] 1.270 [Middle] 1.270 [Rear] 1.270 Battery 2 [Front] 1.280 [Middle] 1.280 [Rear] 1.280 Battery 3 [Front] 1.275 [Middle] 1.265 [Rear] 1.270 Battery 4 [Front] 1.270 [Middle] 1.275 [Rear] 1.265 Battery 5 [Front] 1.270 [Middle] 1.275 [Rear] 1.265 Battery 6 [Front] 1.280 [Middle] 1.275 [Rear] 1.280 Readings are still a little all over the place, I did as advised and mixed the batter water a bit and filled tester a few times before taking a reading and then took 2 or 3 to check for consistency. They definately seem better!!
  2. meerlaan
    Great thanks @Tony Brooks Sorry I meant to say 'charged voltage' - the charged voltage parameter should always be slightly below the end of charge voltage of the charger (usually 0.2v -0.3v below the 'float' voltage of the charger)
  3. meerlaan
    its now reading 15.6v and 10a
  4. meerlaan
    Thanks, @nicknorman Think I need to bite the bullet and just buy the cable no point being tight there not cheap batteries!! I have finally managed to get my multiplus into eq mode took quite a bit of fiddling with the switches, (off and on again) So for sure the batteries are as charged as they are going to be, the float mode went on twice, i switched off victron and let it go through the stages again. I will do a couple of hours and text the SG, One thing I didnt understand (well another 1 thing) my BMV read 100% before my tail current was 1% even though I made a point of setting this perhaps I have my charge voltage wrong ? ( 13.2v ) Also, is it essential I have all 12v stuff turned off while running eq charge ?? I am currently writting this in candle light The reading on my BMV currently is 15.33v and 12.3a so I am concerened the voltage is not high enough to eq, perhaps I should wait for the cable?? Thanks Martin
  5. meerlaan
    Thanks for all your responses !! @Ditch Crawler yes I am liveaboard and continuous cruiser so batteries constantly in use! Specially with the miserable wather and dark days Can anyone give me a link to a reliable SG tester please? I thought I had gone for a good choice but happy to get another one as really dont want to screw my batteries up! @smileypete what does ISTR mean?? Is my voltage too low then?? I tried to keep notes of my volatge at various stages and mine seemed to be at 14.59v for most of the absorbption phase, wonder how I increase this!! Do I need a cable for my multiplus?? @mross yes think I was a bit shakey at the beginning, it was a little tricky down in my engine room. Think I may have been stiring a little more and more vigorous getting the acid in after the intial tentative ones, wasnt sure if this was right but seemed to give more reliable results, as you noticed So my plan is to charge batteries back up to float mode today on a cruise and then stick my victorn into eq mode, think it switched of every hour so I plan on resetting this 2 or 3 times and checking my SG with the reader I currently have and see if I can get the results to improve. Anyone know if my victorn will eq at 16v or I need to set this up? :/ I guess when it switches into this mode I can check the v on my BMV..? Feel like things might be making a little sense, thanks again for everyones help and adice. Martin
  6. meerlaan
    So it took me a little longer to have enough time on the boat to charge the batteries for long enough to do a SG test. Today I charged my batteries for about 9 hours using my genny, my victron mulitplus didnt go into float until about 8.5 hours, ( I happened to be watching my BMV when it did) the amps where reading 4.8a (ish it was still jumping around a little) and 14.59v, it switched to float mode and this dropped to 2.07a and fluctuated to 2.33a the voltage dropped to 13.92v and crept up to 14.24v and then rested at 13.96v with the current at 3.06a. I reset my BMV and set the tail current to 1%, I noticed my charge voltage is 13.2v is this correct ?? Just before batteries were in float mode, amps where probably down to 5.89a I did a SG test for all my batteries. I took three readings of each just to be sure, results are: (All in chronological order of when I took readings) Battery 1 [Front] 1.185 (first reading) , 1.255 , 1.255 [Middle] 1.245 , 1.250 , 1.250 [Rear] 1.255 , 1.255 , 1.270 Battery 2 [Front] 1.245 , 1.270 , 1.270 [Middle] 1.240 , 1.260 , 1.255 [Rear] 1.275 , 1.275 , 1.260 Battery 3 [Front] 1.260 , 1.255 , 1.255 [Middle] 1.245 , 1.250 , 1.245 [Rear] 1.260 , 1.250 , 1.255 Battery 4 [Front] 1.255 , 1.255 , 1.255 [Middle] 1.255 , 1.265 , 1.260 [Rear] 1.245 , 1.255 , 1.245 Battery 5 [Front] 1.250 , 1.250 , 1.250 [Middle] 1.250 , 1.260 , 1.260 [Rear] 1.245 , 1.245 , 1.250 Battery 6 [Front] 1.260 , 1.260 , 1.260 [Middle] 1.250 , 1.255 , 1.255 [Rear] 1.255 , 1.265 , 1.260 Anyone make any sense of these ?? Hoping to do an eq charge at the weekend and retest, any idea how long I should do this for ?? Thanks for all your help, Hopefully these results dont show my batteries to be ruined :/
  7. meerlaan
    Great thanks @nicknorman just thought best to check, thanks thanks for explaining the 13v Will post results up later.
  8. meerlaan
    Thanks for all your reponses!! My hydrometer has arrived and I am planning to check my batteries later today, I am currently giving them a good charge with my genny and keeping an eye on my amps, hoping to get them to rest for 30mins of so before checking my batteries with my hydrometer, is it safe to do direclty after charging for a few hours or should I wait a bit?? do I squirt the acid from the hydrometer back into the battery? do I need to clean before each cell of each batter ?? Thanks for any tips On another note after charging my batteries for 3 or so hours on tuesday I then left them for about 6 hours or so with everything off and when I came back first thing I did was check the voltage on my BMV it read 13.00v which dosnt make sense as I didnt manage to get tail current down to below 20amps before I went out and 13.00v is above 100% what am I missing. Thanks
  9. meerlaan
    haha, I think you understand the situation correctly @Sea Dog I think I am beginning to understand that my trusting my battery monitor has been a massive mistake and hopefully my batteries are still in reasonable condition. after three hours of so charging the charging current is now 20amps I am surprised once a week is not enough as I have a reasonable amount of solar, but am learning lots this week
  10. meerlaan
    thanks mross that is very helpful
  11. meerlaan
    @Sea Dog Thanks for your response I think I basically understood / understand the bulk - absorption - float stages but am prepared for my understanding to be wrong! I thought float charge was a lower amp charge given when the batteries had almost reached 100%. So I am confused why currently they have been charging for a few hours with my monitor saying 100% but still in absorption stage my amps currently reading 36ish It is the generator that I am switching off, I have a portable honda job. I am using this to charge the batteries up once a week. Once I thought sufficient charging had been done I would turn off.
  12. meerlaan
    Yeah I have the manual I remember seeing the terminal I think when the front cover was off. @nicknorman Perhaps easier to see from these photos I am not sure what to look for. 8
  13. meerlaan
    @nicknorman great thanks for that I will change that when I reset my BMV after a proper eq charge, any idea why its reading 100% now ?? as even 4% should be 27amps (I think)
  14. meerlaan
    @mross The electrics were done recently by someone who seemed to do a very good job and checked all the cable sizes with me around so I would hope they are right Measuring at batteries and at input terminals makes sense to me but could you clarify where I should stick my red and black prongs! Thanks I wonder why my monitor is reading 100% and 50amps but its still in absorption on my mulitplus, I am sure it is usually on float when it reaches 100% and I turn it off. This make sense to anyone??
  15. meerlaan
    @system 4-50 I hope it will be ok, I have done my best to vent it as much as possible, it is a little hard to see but the plywood has holes that continue all the was down to the sides of the multiplus. @rusty69 Yeah, every weekend I try to give my batteries a 'good charge' and usually can hear when the genny quietens down I would check and if there reading 100% I would stop charging :/
  16. meerlaan
    Well its reading a 100% now and its still in absorption, current was reading about 60amps but falling... now 58 ish
  17. meerlaan
    not really :/
  18. meerlaan
    I am just charging my batteries to see if I can determine my tail current, (my hydrometer hasn't arrive yet) they were reading 90% on BMV for what its worth... Not sure at what point but the Victron has switched to absorption and I took some photos of my monitor, I am guessing I am waiting for the 83.7amps to read between 6.75 - 13.5amp which I imagine is going to take a long time...
  19. meerlaan
    Hi @mross Could you clarify how I can "measure the volts between the battery and the inverter." I will be checking the battery bolt and crimp in a moment. I have added some photos of my setup annoyingly after a year I have finally boxed in my inverter so its a little tricker to get to the cables at the bottom :/ @nicknorman that would make a lot of sense!! it has only started happening the past 5 or 6 weeks since the temps have been getting colder, I guess the heating element requires more power as the water is colder, thanks so much for your idea I will try your hot water trick. Hi @Phil. does it do it automatically?? think I need to check my setup as in the summer months I certainly had enough solar.
  20. meerlaan
    Great thanks @mross I will check this with something with a high load tomorrow, I have a 240v dehumidifier
  21. meerlaan
    I have a uni-t UT203 and yes bolts Can I do this reading any time or will it only tell me something when washing machine is on ?
  22. meerlaan
    You mean when the measure when the washing machine is on? I got scared and turned it off, could I perhaps test it with something else with a lower power usage? Can you confirm which terminals I should be checking (sorry for the stupid question) Hi @mross "see if there is any voltage between the battery post and the clamp itself that attaches the cable to the battery." Could you clarify how I do this, I have a uni-t digital clamp meter but still getting used to it. Thanks
  23. meerlaan
    Thanks @rusty69 I see what you mean. Well there is something I find odd, when I check the BMV with the washing machine on it reads -2.4Kw which seems alot for a cold wash. The light even seems to flash when I have the genny connected and running, which seems very odd. How would you suggest checking the connections ? Beyond just visually is there anything I am looking for or can test ?
  24. meerlaan
    Thanks for your response! Sorry, I AM CONFUSED, what with the batteries being 6v I forget that everything is 12v. I didn't set this system up so I imagine it's done properly I believe my numbers should read 14.10 - 14.7 and 16.20v for equalisation. @rusty69 Could you clarify..... "I would also check your connections on the inverter,and the terminal voltage if you are able." @Tony Brooks thanks for your detailed response! you said "allow to cool and retest." could you give me an idea how long to wait. Thanks
  25. meerlaan
    Hello all, Unfortunately despite my best intentions I am need of some advice regarding my battery bank... I have only just become aware that I need to equalised my batteries some how this information slipped my mind during all my research and planning for my batteries. I think I thought my controller or multiplus did it automatically as its soo bloody expensive I have also been relying on my battery monitor telling my my SOC, I now understand this may not be the case. And would appreciate any advice on what I can do now... My system is: 6 x T105 Trojan 6v 225ah batteries that are just over a year old. I rarely run them below 80% and regularly check and top up water. 930w of solar and Outback FastMax controller Victron Multiplus 12/3000/120 Inverter/ Charger Victron BMV700 Battery Monitor Honda eu20i for charging This issue which recently arose... my inverted has started flashing low battery when running my washing machine on a cold wash (which used to be fine) I thought it could be the washing machine malfunctioning as it is an old one but someone said its my batteries and has lead me to learn despite me thinking I am taking good care of them perhaps I am not :/ So, I have bought a hydrometer : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pro-Hydrovolt-HYDRO-VOLT-Lead-Acid-Battery-Hydrometer-Electrolyte-Tester/322082591860?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 But don't really know what to do with it and would appreciate any advice, I know this is lots written about batteries and I have been reading it but any advice specific to my situation would be greatly appreciated as I don't want to do any more damage to my expensive and rather lovely batteries. Which I am hoping I haven't done too much damage too. I am going to charge my batteries now using my genny and look at the amps going into the batteries to see when a tail current (1-2% of capacity, 6.75 - 13.5amp for my 675ah battery bank) is reached this should hopefully tell me when it they reached 100% more accurately than my battery monitor. I will then run an equalisation charge, I have looked at how to switch this on with my Victron Mulitplus, I will set equalisation to 8.10v (indicated on the trojan website) I am then planing on setting my float charge (on my multiplus settings) to the same as my absorption charge 7.05 - 7.35 as this will bring my batts to 100% state of charge quicker when I am charging as I only charge using a generator I will not leave it running on float for very long. If I have made any errors please let me know, thanks again for any advice. Martin
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