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Battery/alternator/solar wiring schematic


swift1894

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  • 2 weeks later...

When you sort it please come back so those who know can explain how to set up the MICC to minimise the "stet of charge" error

Sorry Tony I forgot to get back to you (got side tracked by at least 5 other jobs that need doing!).

Anyway, wiring done, so is there something I need to do re MICC to minimize "state of charge".

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Sorry Tony I forgot to get back to you (got side tracked by at least 5 other jobs that need doing!).

Anyway, wiring done, so is there something I need to do re MICC to minimize "state of charge".

 

No, that was rather tongue in cheek. The point you need to grasp is that such instruments are exceptionally good at persuading the unknowing to wreck their batteries by consistent undercharging. This is because it can accurately measure how many amp hours have been taken form the battery but can not accurately measure how many of the amp hours being fed to the battery are actually converted into chemical energy in the plates.

 

IF the MICC has the facility you need to set it for the battery type you have got, probably tell it the present battery capacity which you will not know because of sulphation, and set the tail current to a sensible figure so it recalibrates itself. Then very regularly charge to that reset point so it recalibrates and stays as accurate as it can be - which some will say is not very.

 

The reason I said Those who know is because I have no experience of the MICC and all the amp hour counters are slightly different in their setup.

 

You need to grasp that there is a good chance that yours will tell lies re state of charge and institute other procedures for checking it. I would suggest voltage readings just before you go to bed when all the loads are switched off.

 

Popcorn time - incoming smile.png

 

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No, that was rather tongue in cheek. The point you need to grasp is that such instruments are exceptionally good at persuading the unknowing to wreck their batteries by consistent undercharging. This is because it can accurately measure how many amp hours have been taken form the battery but can not accurately measure how many of the amp hours being fed to the battery are actually converted into chemical energy in the plates.

 

IF the MICC has the facility you need to set it for the battery type you have got, probably tell it the present battery capacity which you will not know because of sulphation, and set the tail current to a sensible figure so it recalibrates itself. Then very regularly charge to that reset point so it recalibrates and stays as accurate as it can be - which some will say is not very.

 

The reason I said Those who know is because I have no experience of the MICC and all the amp hour counters are slightly different in their setup.

 

You need to grasp that there is a good chance that yours will tell lies re state of charge and institute other procedures for checking it. I would suggest voltage readings just before you go to bed when all the loads are switched off.

 

Popcorn time - incoming smile.png

 

Tee-hee!?

The batteries are 6 brand new Trojan 105s, so 675Ah at 12 volts.

Currently the MICC is saying 13.17v, 0.4A (nothing running at mo and I switched genny off 30 mins ago) and SoC 40%!!!!!! So I think I need to reset the MICC

Edited by swift1894
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Tee-hee!
The batteries are 6 brand new Trojan 105s, so 675Ah at 12 volts.
Currently the MICC is saying 13.17v, 0.4A (nothing running at mo and I switched genny off 30 mins ago) and SoC 40%!!!!!! So I think I need to reset the MICC

 

What did the current read just before you switched the charger off? Taking a range of views it should be down to around 10% of battery capacity, so say about 6 or 7 amps. That's the tail current and we can argue about whether 5, 10, 0r 16% of capacity is the so called fully charged tail current reading all day but 10% is near enough for most people.

 

Unless you have solar the 13.7V must still be surface charge that will dissipate over the next few hours. If it stabilises at around 12.7 to 12.8 V without a load then you can consider the batteries about fully charged and reset the meter. However I think it should reset itself by the tail current if you can program it.

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What did the current read just before you switched the charger off? Taking a range of views it should be down to around 10% of battery capacity, so say about 6 or 7 amps. That's the tail current and we can argue about whether 5, 10, 0r 16% of capacity is the so called fully charged tail current reading all day but 10% is near enough for most people.

 

Unless you have solar the 13.7V must still be surface charge that will dissipate over the next few hours. If it stabilises at around 12.7 to 12.8 V without a load then you can consider the batteries about fully charged and reset the meter. However I think it should reset itself by the tail current if you can program it.

Reading at mo 13.44v 7.6A (that will be coming from solar panels)

 

I'll let things settle down tonight (when solar goes to sleep) and if things stabilise around 12.7 I'll reset the meter.

Edited by swift1894
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The batteries are 6 brand new Trojan 105s, so 675Ah at 12 volts.

 

Nope. 6 brand new T105s will give around 470 Ah at 12V. Once they've been through a few hard discharge and full recharge cycles then they'll start to approach 670 Ah capacity. (At 20 hour rate.)

 

Tony

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Nope. 6 brand new T105s will give around 470 Ah at 12V. Once they've been through a few hard discharge and full recharge cycles then they'll start to approach 670 Ah capacity. (At 20 hour rate.)

 

Tony

Good point. I've heard about Trojans taking a while to get up to max.

Should I "tell" my MICC the capacity is 470Ah to start with?

Is this peculiar only to Trojans?

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Yes please. All advice gratefully received.

 

Looks like it was for a BMV, should apply for the MICC if it uses similar settings:

 

http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=69564&page=2#entry1385646

 

Can you find out and post all the existing settings from the MICC?

 

For example say you charge by genny, and the max charge voltage is 14.4V and minimum 'tail current' is 3 amps when it levels off to a steady low level.

 

Then set the 'charge voltage' just below this at 14.3V and set the 'tail current' just above this at say 4 amps.

Edited by smileypete
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Is this peculiar only to Trojans?

Apparently not although whether it's to the same degree on all batteries I couldn't say.

 

Tony

 

For example say you charge by genny, and the max charge voltage is 14.4V...

It's worth pointing out that he'll never get the best out of his Trojans if he can't get the charge voltage closer to 14.8.

 

Tony

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What did the current read just before you switched the charger off? Taking a range of views it should be down to around 10% of battery capacity, so say about 6 or 7 amps. That's the tail current and we can argue about whether 5, 10, 0r 16% of capacity is the so called fully charged tail current reading all day but 10% is near enough for most people.

 

Unless you have solar the 13.7V must still be surface charge that will dissipate over the next few hours. If it stabilises at around 12.7 to 12.8 V without a load then you can consider the batteries about fully charged and reset the meter. However I think it should reset itself by the tail current if you can program it.

 

 

Pedant input - 1%, not 10%!

 

 

Nope. 6 brand new T105s will give around 470 Ah at 12V. Once they've been through a few hard discharge and full recharge cycles then they'll start to approach 670 Ah capacity. (At 20 hour rate.)

 

Tony

 

Very true. They get better in their first 6-12 months.

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It's worth pointing out that he'll never get the best out of his Trojans if he can't get the charge voltage closer to 14.8.

Tony

Yes I realise that (after it was pointed out to me on this forum), so I'm getting a Sterling regulator.? Edited by swift1894
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Pedant input - 1%, not 10%!

 

 

Agreed - another brain fart, must be getting too old it seems.

 

PS - that's not being pedantic, its getting the fact right. Everyone makes mistakes sometime.

Edited by Tony Brooks
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Swift, it would seem we are both in the middle of quite similar electrical refits of Sheffield size keels - might be interesting to compare notes. :-)

 

If you look at the "Remote battery isolators" thread you will see the wiring diagram I drew up for ours, although there are some subsequent corrections discussed in the thread.

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