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MasterVolt Combi - Equalise charge mode


sirweste

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Morning folks,

Very specific question this one.

 

Does anyone know how to put a MasterVolt Mass Combi (2000 W /12 V / 100 A) into equalise mode?

I have followed the instruction, by flicking the DIP switch 8 from position OFF to position ON and then back to OFF, but nothing happened.

I've flicked it fast and slow...what does "pulse" mean though?

 

image.png.b084b419908ed4e5f0d8c5fe282f693d.png

 

 

The combi is being fed with 240 V supply from the 2.2 kW Honda genny, the batteries were in a few states of charge when I tried it. But the last time the tail current was at 7 A (my bank is a (poorly) 6 off T-105s).

I don't know if the charger needs to be in float mode before equalise becomes available?

 

Cheers

Ryan

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Keith M said:

Not all combi's had this feature 

If you would like to send me the serial number of the combi  by PM I can check for you.

Thats interesting. I have tried to get mine to go to equalise mode and never suceeded, if you have relevant information can you let me know please.

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Hi Keith!

 

You have already confirmed it has this feature! I'll have a look in me messages in a sec.

 

You popped round (in 2017) when I was moored up in mid Milton Keynes to plug your confuser into the unit - to change some voltage settings. I've not had a 240 V power source since then (been using solar / the boat engine to charge), but recently bought a new 2.2 kW Honda unit.

 

The batteries are in poor health and the other day I dropped them to an indicated 40% SoC so really am keen to do an equalise.

 

 

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Hi Keith!

 

You have already confirmed it has this feature! I'll have a look in me messages in a sec.

 

You popped round (in 2017) when I was moored up in mid Milton Keynes to plug your confuser into the unit - to change some voltage settings. I've not had a 240 V power source since then (been using solar / the boat engine to charge), but recently bought a new 2.2 kW Honda unit.

 

The batteries are in poor health and the other day I dropped them to an indicated 40% SoC so really am keen to do an equalise.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I've just checked, the unit has to be in float....which it wouldn't go into the other night.

 

image.png.ab16c4a0bb7a0d34c6ba6a0c2dbb746d.png

 

Now, next question.

If the volt settings for bulk, float and absorption have all been set to the same 14.82 V, will the unit still go into float?

A clamp meter indicated that there was only 7 A on the positive cable after several hours of charging on Sunday

 

 

Cheers very much

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Depending on the state of charge of the batteries from bulk until 

the inverter /charger going into float a minimum of 6 hours however it is normally longer.

 

Could you not spend 24 hours in a marine with an AC supply?

25 minutes ago, sirweste said:

Now, next question.

If the volt settings for bulk, float and absorption have all been set to the same 14.82 V, will the unit still go into float?

A clamp meter indicated that there was only 7 A on the positive cable after several hours of charging on Sunday

The main point of float is the charging voltage reduces to around 13.2 volts.

 

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Ah OK, I'll have to visit a marina at some point then. 

 

I believe we set everything to bulk voltage because I never have a shore hook up available.

 

Cheers very much for the advice and info

Edited by sirweste
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I have always found our Mastervolt 12/2500-100’s equalise mode singularly useless. Although I did manage to get it into that mode with just the right timing of pulsing the dip switch, it only stays in equalise for 30 mins or so, then goes back to normal.

 

These days I just change the bulk and absorb voltage using a computer (or in our case, a masterview easy panel) up to 15.5v or whatever, it then stays in “equalise” for as long as I want, then I change it back to normal voltages.

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1 hour ago, Keith M said:

You will need to get the 3 voltages re-set 

So that the equalisation mode can be activated

So how does the unit determine if the bank is ready to go into float? I assumed that it would work at a particular current reduction from what was achieved on absorption? Thus didn't think it would matter if the float voltage was set the same as the absorption i.e. it would go into float mode, but the voltage wouldn't change; so I'd get all 5 lights lit up on the front of the unit (have never seen more than 3)

 

 

 

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

I have always found our Mastervolt 12/2500-100’s equalise mode singularly useless. Although I did manage to get it into that mode with just the right timing of pulsing the dip switch, it only stays in equalise for 30 mins or so, then goes back to normal.

 

These days I just change the bulk and absorb voltage using a computer (or in our case, a masterview easy panel) up to 15.5v or whatever, it then stays in “equalise” for as long as I want, then I change it back to normal voltages.

Cheers for the reply, even if it's not perfect - I don't have any other means of equalising, so better than nowt. 

I believe the solar controller does an equalise in the summer occasionally - but I don't know how thorough it is, nor am I too happy about it doing it while I'm not there

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  • 2 years later...
  • 1 year later...
26 minutes ago, Mike55 said:

I've managed to get my Mastervolt Mass Combi into equalisation mode but can't find any recommendation on how long to leave it in this mode.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Ours dropped out of eq mode automatically after about 30 minutes. How long you need depends on why you are doing it and what sort of batteries. The traditional answer is that you keep doing it until the specific gravity no longer increases or you arrived at the original as-new specific gravity. That might be a couple of hours. That is with wet semi traction batteries like Trojans. For sealed cells, AGM etc, “not long” is the answer and refer to the battery manufacturer’s recommendations.

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3 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Ours dropped out of eq mode automatically after about 30 minutes. How long you need depends on why you are doing it and what sort of batteries. The traditional answer is that you keep doing it until the specific gravity no longer increases or you arrived at the original as-new specific gravity. That might be a couple of hours. That is with wet semi traction batteries like Trojans. For sealed cells, AGM etc, “not long” is the answer and refer to the battery manufacturer’s recommendations.

Thanks for the information - I ended up doing it for a little over two hours. Our 2500/12-100 stayed in equalise mode just fine but the voltage never went above 14.8V. The specification stated 'up to 15.5V', which includes 14.8 but seems low. Our batteries are 12V Trojans (30XHS).

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21 minutes ago, Mike55 said:

Thanks for the information - I ended up doing it for a little over two hours. Our 2500/12-100 stayed in equalise mode just fine but the voltage never went above 14.8V. The specification stated 'up to 15.5V', which includes 14.8 but seems low. Our batteries are 12V Trojans (30XHS).

Ok well bear in mind that the equalisation process should only be started after the batteries are fully charged, and the maximum output current is quite low (10A) in equalise mode, so maybe the batteries weren't fully charged when you started. As you'll know, to get from nearly fully charged, to fully charged, can take several hours.

14.8v is a "normal" charge finishing voltage for Trojans (temperature dependant). So as yet you haven't done any equalising.

Maybe try again and check the current, if the current doesn't drop during the process it's because the batteries weren't fully charged. Keep going until they are!

Check the sg which should be 1.277 after applying temperature compensation.

Edited by nicknorman
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5 hours ago, Mike55 said:

The charger had been in float for over 24 hours, so I'd have thought it would have been fully charged by then. The current stayed consistently at 5.6-5.7A.

I'll have another go later today.

 

Well, 14.8v and 5.6A means either the batteries aren’t fully charged, or a cell is developing a short due to accumulation of shed plate debris. What is the charger float voltage set to? Maybe it is a bit too low to fully charge. 13.25v or so is optimum for battery life long term, but you need nearer 13.8 to fully charge.

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27 minutes ago, Mike55 said:

Float voltage is 13.5V.

 

Well that should reasonably ok to fully charge. For reference we had 450Ah of Trojans and when we came back to the boat after a while on float, the charge current was less than 1A. So a drain of 5A makes me wonder if you are looking at the Combi output current and have stuff switched on like a fridge etc. Or is this the current only into the batteries? The current drain from boat systems/appliances may upset the equalise process by drawing too much current. Best to switch everything off during the equalise. Alternatively as I mentioned before, it could batteries on their last legs.

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1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

The current drain from boat systems/appliances may upset the equalise process by drawing too much current.

 

 

Not only that, but the equalisation voltage of 15.5 (should it ever get there) carries a small risk goosing (technical term) any electronic gear in the boat, e.g. inverter, stereo, laptop charger, etc. or even the fridge possibly. Also electric motors e.g. in pumps might possibly overheat if run for longer than a minute or so. So best to for this reason too to disconnect the bank from the boat before equalising.

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19 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Well that should reasonably ok to fully charge. For reference we had 450Ah of Trojans and when we came back to the boat after a while on float, the charge current was less than 1A. So a drain of 5A makes me wonder if you are looking at the Combi output current and have stuff switched on like a fridge etc. Or is this the current only into the batteries? The current drain from boat systems/appliances may upset the equalise process by drawing too much current. Best to switch everything off during the equalise. Alternatively as I mentioned before, it could batteries on their last legs.

Everything other than the charger was disconnected/isolated. The 13.5V at float was with a current of 0.3A. The nominal bank capacity is 520Ah, so well below the 1% target.

Before attempting another equalisation charge I checked the specific gravities - all were within the range 1.25-1.27, except for one cell which had an SG of 1.3 but with the electrolyte discoloured slightly brown. I do remember reading in another thread that brown discolouration was not a good thing, although I can't remember exactly why.

Fortunately the battery involved is the end one of the bank, so easy to disconnect. On attempting another equalisation charge the voltage was up slightly to 15.0V (previously 14.8V) but the current was much the same at 5.4A.

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11 minutes ago, Mike55 said:

I do remember reading in another thread that brown discolouration was not a good thing, although I can't remember exactly why.

 

Because it is indicative of the plates shedding their material and that will build up in the sediment traps at the bottom of the cell and cause a short circuit.

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Because it is indicative of the plates shedding their material and that will build up in the sediment traps at the bottom of the cell and cause a short circuit.

 

 

Thanks for that. But why would the cell have such a high SG reading (1.3)?

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35 minutes ago, Mike55 said:

Thanks for that. But why would the cell have such a high SG reading (1.3)?

 

If it is shorting it may well have driven some water off, but then it would be more difficult to get a sample. I also think that the suspended matter may increase the specific gravity of the liquid.

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