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Stirling combi inverter fan always on


Chrisgriff

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Hi guys,

 

i saw saw a couple of threads on this subject but thought I'd add this as it didn't really answer my problem.

 

our Stirling pro combi Q cooling fan is going continuously....and its always on 'charger on fast mode' program.

 

the batteries as far as I can tell are fine. I have 4 X 6v batteries and I check them to see if fully charged and it seems so.... They are reading at close to 6v when I checked them.

 

we are on shore power 99% of the time. And the only bit of heavy loading electricity we use is a domestic fridge (not 12v) as the previous owner left it behind so we thought we would use it.

 

we have been on the boat for over a year and the fan has come on a periodically but now it seems to be on all the time! Making a right racket!! 

 

Any clues?

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Just now, Chrisgriff said:

I check them to see if fully charged and it seems so....

Specific gravity reading? Or some other method?

 

1 minute ago, Chrisgriff said:

Any clues?

Dirty vents/internals ?

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Sterling stuff appears to be over generous with its use of fans and CS likes to keep 'his' kit cool - not unreasonable as it makes the device last longer. I suggest there's a component inside that runs hot, but not obvious to you - it's quite a big box!

Be grateful.   

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11 hours ago, Chrisgriff said:

With a digital multimeter..... I just checked the volts.... Is this not correct?

Not really. You have to wait for the surface charge to dissipate and also have no loads connected when measuring in order to get close to an accurate reading. Even if you do this the reading is dependant upon the accuracy of the DMM. 0.2V inaccuracy makes a HUGE difference, and that’s not outside the realms of possibility for a cheap DMM. 

 

Have a read of this:

 

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Your first post says " I have 4 X 6v batteries and I check them to see if fully charged and it seems so.... They are reading at close to 6v when I checked them."

 

The state of charge table, below, suggests that your batteries are not fully charged which may well explain why the Combi is permanently showing charger on fast mode. There is the chance that, if the batteries have not been fully charged for a long period, their capacity has been permanently, severely reduced, through a process known as sulphation.

 

The only heavy load you talk about is the domestic, not 12v, fridge. When you are on shore-power, this will be powered from the shore-power, via the Combi, as long as the Combi has pass-through functionality built in. When not on shore-power, you will need the inverter function of the Combi switched on, to convert the 12v from the batteries to the 240v the fridge requires. The inverter is another load, and is not 100% efficient so will get hotter the longer that it has to work. Given that the fan is now on almost permanently, it's reasonable to say that the Combi thinks it's working pretty hard pretty much permanently - this may not be good for the life expectancy of the Combi.

 

There is a chance that your little trip to Bath and back has taken a set on batteries that were dubious to start with and finished them off.

 

I'm no expert in this electrical stuff, so hopefully the thoughts above will prompt someone who knows what they are talking about to intervene and educate us both!

 

 

 

battery-state-of-charge.jpg

Hope this helps.

 

There you are - Wotever and Old Goat beat me to it, and both know far more than I. Rejoice.

Edited by Col_T
Typed too slowly!
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Cheers everyone..... Great and helpful responses as always!!

 

so I did a little experiment to see if the trip to bath did knacker the batteries...... And thus why the inverter is working a lot harder at present.

 

i unplugged the domestic fridge..... And took shore power off too see how long the batteries would last with not a lot of load on them. At this time we charged a phone, charged a laptop, and on obviously all water/bilge pumps are in use at times. The batteries last for 12 hours until the alarm on the inverter started to sound.....

 

hoping this is narrowing down the problem!

 

cheers

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I would add/repeat that, if your batteries are at less than 6 volts, they are more than 50% discharged, thus nowhere near full. To be considered full, they need to be reading close to 6.4 volts, a while after stopping charging, (an hour or so?), and with no significant load.

 

The chances are that your batteries have rarely been fully charged, have sulphated badly, and their capacity is significantly depleted.

 

I have 4 x Trojan T105 6v batteries, so a nominal 450Ah capacity. They are 3 years old, badly looked after, (with hindsight), so now only have a capacity of about 200-250Ah.

 

I also have a Sterling Pro Combi S 2500w inverter charger.

 

If the inverter runs continuously for any length of time, the fan runs continuously and the area around the unit gets very warm. It also uses 4A even when powering nothing. I only turn on the inverter when needed, which is rare - charging my shaver and Dyson vacuum, and 240v tools occasionally.

 

The charger facility goes into float long before my batteries are fully charged - so needed resetting every 50 minutes. I now have a Pro Combi Ultra with a custom setting for Absorption and Float, so it does what I tell it to.

 

So it looks like you need new batteries, and to understand how to look after them, and how your charger works. I’d also suggest a 12V fridge, or a better inverter facility....... and so on....

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14 hours ago, Chrisgriff said:

 I have 4 X 6v batteries and I check them to see if fully charged and it seems so.... They are reading at close to 6v when I checked them.

 

2 hours ago, Chrisgriff said:

i unplugged the domestic fridge..... And took shore power off too see how long the batteries would last with not a lot of load on them. At this time we charged a phone, charged a laptop, and on obviously all water/bilge pumps are in use at times. The batteries last for 12 hours until the alarm on the inverter started to sound.....

 

 

I really dont think we need any more info now. Your batteries are goosed.

As Col T says, your "close to 6V" says they are less than 50% charged and that is optimistic if you didnt leave them to rest. The 12 hour use suggests with limited load - say average 4A - the max you got out of them was likely 50Ahrs, so the batteries are totally shot. You need new ones. Before you get new ones though, you need to undestand how to charge them properly. Your quote of 'I check them to see if they are fully charged and it seems so..." suggests you dont know how to charge them. The confusion over voltages and where and what was used to measure in the previous thread. suggests to me that measuring voltages is not really going to get you far. To make best use of your next set of batteries, buy a battery monitor. It will save you this same hassle in 12 months time. At worst, buy yourself a decent DC clamp meter and try and calibrate your voltmeter against a multimeter so you know what you are seeing on the volt meters.

  • Greenie 1
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Are your batteries getting hot?

My original prestone 30 amp charger fan ran continuously and the cause was a shorted cell in one battery. Removed hot battery and the charger after an hour went into float and fan off!

Did this a second time after 4 more months and second of 4 dud. Ended up with 2, then had boat 2 years and ended up installing 2 Trojan T105's used on shore charger but thought old charger would keep them healthy. Wrong, needed a regular equalisation charge and a higher bulk charge than regular batteries.

I managed with help of this forum to do several equalisation charges over 2 days and took regular measurements using a refractometer to get rid of some sulphation on my existing batteries to add 2 more. The original 2 T105'S are 3 years old now.  

 

 I did a electrical upgrade recently. New victron multiplus inverter charger, Voltage Sensing relay, NASA BM2. Tracer MPPT 40A controller and a 12 volt freezer to go with the 12 volt fridge. 

 

I plan to get out cruising at some point to try it all out.

 

I quite like my NASA BM2 battery monitor.

 

I have a victron inverter charger and when on only see 0.4-2amp going into the batteries at night, being charged by the victron. I have 380 watts of solar. The nice thing with the NASA battery monitor you can see what power items take and I never go below 12.2 volts. As my charger is on it's generally reads anything from 12.9-13.2 volts at night and anything up to 15-16 volts in sunny weather.

Don't rely on the state of charge display on the BM2 as you really need to see low AH being shown on the monitor to see that the batteries are fully charged. Think its 4% of battery total capacity. It will be confirmed or denied on here. 

 

Earlier today around mid-day I unplugged my shore lead and the solar is running my 12 volt under counter fridge and freezer, floor mounted fan and my Toshiba laptop and charging my phone. voltage on my MT 50 meter is 12.7 volts and currently 3.7a discharge depending if fridge or freezer cuts in.

 

The solar in spring/summer is a great way to get the extra charge into your batteries.

I'm mostly Marina based and can't understand why more boats don't get solar energy.

 

James:)

 

Edited by canals are us?
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