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Charger and Inverter Setup for Shore Power

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3 hours ago, wolfe10 said:

Ray,

What were your battery voltages at each stage of charging and then after the inverter/charger showed zero amps?

And, there should be absolutely zero difference in charging algorithms between powering the inverter/charger on generator or shore power.

What I found there is no difference between shore power and generator.  The charger is supposed  to be 100 amps I seen up to 14 volts 80 amps bulk then 13.8-13.6 absorb 40-20 amps then battery voltage of 12.6 volts and 0 amps with no load.  When the basement heat kicks on I see 25+ amps but could be a draw instead of a charge.  The house batteries were installed 12/18 and have a date sticker of 9/18.  I'm unable to babysit it but after  overnight the readout for the batteries is still 12.6 and zero amp draw.  

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Ray,

I agree- float mode is NOT working.  Voltage in float mode should be in the low 13's.

You can try resetting it-- disconnect battery leads from the inverter/charger and turn off 120 VAC for 15 minutes or so and reconnect.

Let us know what happens.

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6 minutes ago, wolfe10 said:

Ray,

I agree- float mode is NOT working.  Voltage in float mode should be in the low 13's.

You can try resetting it-- disconnect battery leads from the inverter/charger and turn off 120 VAC for 15 minutes or so and reconnect.

Let us know what happens.

Yes I remember float mode being in low 13's before this concern.  I did a reset before like you said but only for a few minutes as per online manual needs 30 seconds.  I try 30 minutes and go from there.  

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10 hours ago, wolfe10 said:

Ray,

I agree- float mode is NOT working.  Voltage in float mode should be in the low 13's.

You can try resetting it-- disconnect battery leads from the inverter/charger and turn off 120 VAC for 15 minutes or so and reconnect.

Let us know what happens.

No luck with the longer reset   When 12 volts was restored the remote read 12.5 volts.  When I plugged to shore power the charge went to straight to absorb this time at 13.9 volts and 25 amps.  That lasted a couple of hours then it went the float battery voltage and 0 amps.  I believe the problem is internal.  Tomorrow I'm going to disconnect everything and check connection inside and out.  

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Ray,

I have a spare circuit board for a inverter/charger, I believe yours is the same model as mine, I will check tomorrow.

I purchased the option that provided display of battery charge level and my circuit board wouldn't support the option, so I upgraded the circuit board. I also needed to new circuit board to support the generator auto start. Still have purchased the auto start, new tires and batteries were higher priority.

Jim

You are welcome to try it if you don't find your problem, I even give you a smoking deal on it.

 

 

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Thanks Jim but I need to find what's wrong with it first.  I was fooling with the remote and was able to get temperatures this pushing the tech button and rotating a knob.  The temperature for the transformer is 17C , the temperature for the FET is 15C and the batteries temperature is stuck on 151C.  There is no way the batteries is 300+ F as it is cool to the touch so I'm thinking the battery sensor is bad.  What I need to do is unplug the sensor from the inverter and see if the temperature changes and or I get a fault light.  I don't know why I don't get the fault light at 151C or why the the batteries don't go dead  at such a low charge.   This morning the batteries were at 12.7 volts

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Ray,

Quite possible that a bad battery temperature sensor (reading extremely high) could shut down charging. 

Ceasing charging with extremely high battery temperatures is a built in safety feature.

No first hand experience with your model inverter/charger, but a quick check with them/your inverter/charger owners manual would tell you if the inverter/charger will function without the battery temperature sensor.

Hopefully, your troubleshooting is leading you to the root cause of the "no float charge" condition.

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2 hours ago, wolfe10 said:

Ray,

Quite possible that a bad battery temperature sensor (reading extremely high) could shut down charging. 

Ceasing charging with extremely high battery temperatures is a built in safety feature.

No first hand experience with your model inverter/charger, but a quick check with them/your inverter/charger owners manual would tell you if the inverter/charger will function without the battery temperature sensor.

Hopefully, your troubleshooting is leading you to the root cause of the "no float charge" condition.

BINGO, I unplug the r11 BTS terminal at the inverter and the remote said it defaulted to 25C and the float charge went to 13.2 volts and 27 amps.  The manual states the temperature sensor is used for absorb and float  charge rate.  I will be ordering a new battery temperature sensor as the inventor thought the batteries were hot.  

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Be aware that "proper" float voltage is dependent on both battery TECHNOLOGY (wet-cell, gel, AGM) and TEMPERATURE.

That is why higher end converters and inverter/chargers offer programming to better match charging profiles with ideal for exactly what you have.

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41 minutes ago, f433921 said:

Ray,

Checked my float charge voltage this AM, 13.6 V , 1 amp 

Jim

My inverter is working off default temp of 25C so the charge rate will be different than your inverter.  Right now it's 13.4 volts 0 amps but kicked up to 27 amps when the basement heat turned on.  

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I am much less concerned with amps than float voltage.  If no 12 VDC electrical loads, 0 amps is exactly correct-- as long as voltage is correct for your battery technology and temperature.

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23 minutes ago, wolfe10 said:

Be aware that "proper" float voltage is dependent on both battery TECHNOLOGY (wet-cell, gel, AGM) and TEMPERATURE.

That is why higher end converters and inverter/chargers offer programming to better match charging profiles with ideal for exactly what you have.

Yes, I just learned to get into the tech part of the remote to check the temperatures.  I ordered the BTS to properly regulate charge rate and should have in a week.  I don't think there''s and danger to overcharge as the weather is cold/cool here.  

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4 minutes ago, wolfe10 said:

I am much less concerned with amps than float voltage.  If no 12 VDC electrical loads, 0 amps is exactly correct-- as long as voltage is correct for your battery technology and temperature.

Thanks for your feedback. I'm glad I didn't send to a repair center only to find out that's nothing wrong.  I would of felt stupid for all the expense and labor I wasted.  

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I got the part today and sure looks different than the old one.  It is the one called for the Magnum inverter charger in my coach so it must be an updated one.  The temperature I got from the new one is 6C and is about the same as the air temperature when I install it.  Temperature_sensor.thumb.jpg.37f03d746ec2f4fde72a115073b13d97.jpg

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