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Refractometer


ralphclaydon

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Ah, I see. I'd better give the EQ mode a go first then to see if I get the 30 minutes issue before moving on to plan b.

 

I have the 2 little remote panels, APC and ICC as I recall, which would be junk if I went for the masterbus option, but I was considering the USB interface - just haven't done the think-through yet.

 

Thanks for sharing your own experience, much appreciated.

 

 

Edited to remove double post. Serves me right for doing this on my phone!

Edited by Sea Dog
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The ICC plugs into the remote connection and so isn't really affected by anything else you might plug in. However the APC does plug into the QRS232 port so it would have to be unplugged temporarily when you plugged in the USB interface, but that is not a particularly big deal since you only need to equalise from time to time (no more than once a month, say).

 

I'm not familiar with the APC but I doubt it does anything that couldn't be done from a Masterview Easy. However the MV is around £250, plus £100 for the Masterbus interface so not a cheap option, but it would be a less faffy option.

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Just a quick up date on initial problem.

I have replaced my Pro Digital battery charger with a Sterling 30A Pro Charge Ultra .

My reasoning is the 15.5v Equalisation mode!

I have had this charger on for about 3 days, On Float i have readings on charger of 13.8v and 2.1Amps could anyone tell me what the Amps is telling me?

I am still not sure whether to send the batteries back for Battery mega store to check out!

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The amps reading is telling you that the batteries are fully charged, as the tail current is now down to about 4% of the bank capacity in Ah (440). This assumes you are not running any 12v loads off the bank. So you are now in a position to equalise, if that is your intention.

 

The float voltage is a bit high, at 13.8 against Trojan's advised 13.2. Does the new charger have some adjustment for the type of battery in use? and if so, is it correctly set?

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Just a quick up date on initial problem.

I have replaced my Pro Digital battery charger with a Sterling 30A Pro Charge Ultra .

My reasoning is the 15.5v Equalisation mode!

I have had this charger on for about 3 days, On Float i have readings on charger of 13.8v and 2.1Amps could anyone tell me what the Amps is telling me?

I am still not sure whether to send the batteries back for Battery mega store to check out!

The amps at float doesn't really tell you anything useful. What is relevant is the amps in absorption or bulk mode. To getting the charger back into absorption or bulk, you just need to turn it off and on again, then it will go briefly to bulk, and then to absorption for a while.

The amps reading is telling you that the batteries are fully charged, as the tail current is now down to about 4% of the bank capacity in Ah (440). This assumes you are not running any 12v loads off the bank. So you are now in a position to equalise, if that is your intention.

 

The float voltage is a bit high, at 13.8 against Trojan's advised 13.2. Does the new charger have some adjustment for the type of battery in use? and if so, is it correctly set?

Hi Boredrider

 

I have just checked the charger and the readings now are 13.8v and 0,3 Amps

it ha battery type selection, i have gone with "Flooded/open lead acid" i can not see iffloat voltage can be altered!

The optimum float voltage of 13.2 or so is at 25 deg C battery temperature. It should be higher at low temperatures, so 13.8 is OK if the batteries are very cold. Edited by nicknorman
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Just switched charger off//on. volts went to 15,0 and Amps 7,2.

Ok well the batteries are pretty well charged. You will probably find the 7.2A decreases fairly quickly. What I would be looking for is less than 4A at 15v (or slightly lower voltage if it goes into absorption mode) to be fully charged. If you repeatedly trigger the bulk /absorption modes you could probably get the current down to a couple of amps which is even closer to fully charged.

 

Are you going to try an equalise?

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Hi Nick

As the Amps have already gone down to 2,5 at 15volts, does this tell us that the batteries really are Fully charged? In other words they are as good as when i purchased them?? or do we mean fully charged but only 75% of what i use to have?

You know the story! so do i do an equalise charge or not? I really don't know how at the moment!

 

Thanks

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Hi Nick

As the Amps have already gone down to 2,5 at 15volts, does this tell us that the batteries really are Fully charged? In other words they are as good as when i purchased them?? or do we mean fully charged but only 75% of what i use to have?

You know the story! so do i do an equalise charge or not? I really don't know how at the moment!

 

Thanks

Fully charged, but only for their capacity at the moment. Yes I would do an equalise charge for a couple of hours. It certainly can't hurt and will probably do some good, plus it's a learning experience. Just check the water levels are OK ( I'm sure they will be) then trigger the charger into equalise mode. I don't know how you do that on your charger, best to read the instructions? Also best to turn off any boat's services that would either draw significant power (eg fridge) or dislike the high voltage (eg unregulated lighting).

 

Ed: to get into desulphation mode, press and hold the setup button for 5 secs, use the up or down arrow keys to illuminate the equalise LED, then press the up and down arrow keys simultaneously for 3 seconds.

Edited by nicknorman
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No, not correct, it needs to last for a few hours to do anything useful. I'll have a look at the manual, in the mean time please describe exactly what you are doing to get it into equalise mode, and what you see.

Edited by nicknorman
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Hi

Finger trouble !!!!

Have managed to get on equaliser mode, when sharted was on 15.8V and 13,2 Amps, the hand book says it will stay on this mode for 4 hours!

the smartgauge has a warning code E 03!

 

 

Now 15.8 and 6.00

Fans going like the clappers!

Edited by ralphclaydon
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Hi

Finger trouble !!!!

Have managed to get on equaliser mode, when sharted was on 15.8V and 13,2 Amps, the hand book says it will stay on this mode for 4 hours!

the smartgauge has a warning code E 03!

 

 

Now 15.8 and 6.00

Fans going like the clappers!

Good. It's 15.5v adjusted for temperature. Yes you will get the E03 but don't worry about it, just press a button on the Smartgauge once the equalise is finished, to get rid of the warning.

 

6A is a healthy figure although it will probably decrease as the process takes effect. I found ours can be down to 2.5A or so at the end.

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Another update!

Checked water after Equalisation for 4 hrs. No lose at all.

Battery charger turned off,

 

12.10 PM

8 x 10w lights

computer

and TV (47V) turned on.

 

Voltmeter 12.75v

 

12.40 PM

Volts 12.40

 

1.20 PM

Volts 12.3

 

3.00PM

Volts 12.34.

 

4.00PM Volts 12.10 -12.15

 

5.00 PM volts 12.00

 

The batteries are still not taking a charge, but they don't seem to be using water ether!!

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Another update!

Checked water after Equalisation for 4 hrs. No lose at all.

Battery charger turned off,

 

12.10 PM

8 x 10w lights

computer

and TV (47V) turned on.

 

Voltmeter 12.75v

 

12.40 PM

Volts 12.40

 

1.20 PM

Volts 12.3

 

3.00PM

Volts 12.34.

 

4.00PM Volts 12.10 -12.15

 

5.00 PM volts 12.00

 

The batteries are still not taking a charge, but they don't seem to be using water ether!!

Hmmm well it does seem as though they have very low capacity. To be honest I'm not sure what else to suggest apart from sending them back (if they are still under warranty?). That the SGs are quite high surely means there is no significant sulphation.

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I can't help with this problem, but I have a query about refractometers.

 

Are they the ones that do coolant as well?

 

How much electrolyte do they 'use'? I presume the test sample is lost after testing.

 

Are they accurate and precise?

 

Ta.

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I can't help with this problem, but I have a query about refractometers.

 

Are they the ones that do coolant as well?

 

How much electrolyte do they 'use'? I presume the test sample is lost after testing.

 

Are they accurate and precise?

 

Ta.

Mine does battery electrolyte, windscreen washer antifreeze and coolant, both types. They require one, or possibly two, drops of liquid. Literally drops.

 

As to accuracy, really they aught to be calibrated across the entire scale, at least according to someone in whom I have great faith, but I suspect they are as accurate as the average hydrometer, The do need calibrating for the 0 value using a drop, or two, of the water calibrating liquid supplied.

 

The number of drops, one or two, depends on the diameter of the rod you use to obtain the sample.

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Mine does battery electrolyte, windscreen washer antifreeze and coolant, both types. They require one, or possibly two, drops of liquid. Literally drops.

 

As to accuracy, really they aught to be calibrated across the entire scale, at least according to someone in whom I have great faith, but I suspect they are as accurate as the average hydrometer, The do need calibrating for the 0 value using a drop, or two, of the water calibrating liquid supplied.

 

The number of drops, one or two, depends on the diameter of the rod you use to obtain the sample.

Yes, I doubt they use any more liquid than would normally be left behind inside a conventional hydrometer, and probably less.

 

You don't need super-accuracy for coolant, and for battery SG it is probably more important to be considering the differences between cells, rather than the absolute SG. They do seem pretty accurate though, or at least easy to read to a high resolution, unlike conventional ones.

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Much obliged. I'll have to have one!

Two bits of advice, if I may be so bold. If you look for refractometers on eBay under garage equipment just check that you aren't looking at aquarium or wine devices and secondly there does seem to be an incredible amount of badge engineering on these things. The prices range from"b****y hell, how much?" to 15 or 20 quid, perhaps less. When you look at the enlarged pictures they mostly look identical so either badge engineering or the design departments don't have much imagination.

 

I have had mine for about twelve months and checking the SG is now just a bit of a nuisance rather than a complete pain.

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