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Post by captainstone on Jul 25, 2018 2:34:10 GMT
To whom it may concern: I have the Renogy 60 Amp Commander MPPT Solar Charge Controller and it's set up on my four 6v deep cycle "wet cell" batteries which are wired as two sets of series and then in parallel. My concern is the battery icon on the LED display which seems to imply the battery has a low charge. I've done some looking into this and it seems this battery icon does not represent the current charge of the actual batteries but instead is something about the amount the panels are generating into the batteries. Can anyone clear this up for me?
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Post by tattoo on Jul 25, 2018 3:04:31 GMT
I have the same CC that you have... Don't worry about the battery icon it's the same thing as the percentage of charge, It means nothing forget it's even there other than it's cute to look at....
All you need to worry about is the voltage in your batteries...
I had a 40a CC before I got the 60a and the 60 is so much better it isn't funny... It does so much more it's awesome...
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Post by captainstone on Jul 25, 2018 3:06:48 GMT
I have the same CC that you have... Don't worry about the battery icon it's the same thing as the percentage of charge, It means nothing forget it's even there other than it's being cute to look at.... All you need to worry about is the voltage in your batteries... I had a 40a CC before I got the 60a and the 60 is so much better it isn't funny... It does so much more it's awesome... Thank you! I much appreciate your response. I am still very new to batteries, solar, etc so when you say I should pay attention to the voltage I wonder what you mean by this. I have four 6V batteries wired as I previously described. The voltage seems to be hovering around 12.6-12.8 but in the middle of the day it's up to 14 and change. What is "full", what is low, and what is bad?
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Post by tattoo on Jul 25, 2018 3:11:48 GMT
How long have you had the system up and running?? Have you seen it go to float mode yet? On the 28th day of each month it should equalize and that's around 15.2 for 2 hours. 12.7 is 100%... With no load... You don't really want to drop it below 12.1 if you can help it at night... Now sag is another story...
Oh yea I have 6 6v batteries set up as you to 12v...
Also my system has been running for a year and a half...
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Post by tattoo on Jul 25, 2018 3:17:00 GMT
Do you have the battery AH settings set correctly on your CC....
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Post by captainstone on Jul 25, 2018 3:25:51 GMT
Do you have the battery AH settings set correctly on your CC.... I just set it all up today. 450AH, 12V.
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Post by tattoo on Jul 25, 2018 3:33:02 GMT
Do you have the battery AH settings set correctly on your CC.... I just set it all up today. 450AH, 12V. Awesome, That's right...... So your 6v batteries are 225ah ea.....
You set it up today??? Yes, I think your good to go......
The thing you need to watch is don't put any load on it until you see it in float mode and even then don't put to much of a load on it all at one time... Just a little at a time and watch what your lowest voltage is on the CC each day..... That's what I really like about the 60a CC.......
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Post by captainstone on Jul 25, 2018 3:51:18 GMT
I just set it all up today. 450AH, 12V. Awesome, That's right...... So your 6v batteries are 225ah ea.....
You set it up today??? Yes, I think your good to go......
The thing you need to watch is don't put any load on it until you see it in float mode and even then don't put to much of a load on it all at one time... Just a little at a time and watch what your lowest voltage is on the CC each day..... That's what I really like about the 60a CC.......
These are the four batteries I am using: Interstate GC2-ECL-UTL 6v 115mins @ 75 amps 225Ah @ 20hr www.interstatebatteries.com/products/gc2-ecl-utl?productLine=rv&subcategoryKey=&ignorecategoryid=trueI installed the CC with three 100W 12VDC panels yesterday (4 more on the way) and let them run all day today. I didn't know about inputting the AH and voltage until this afternoon so I did it then. I don't have any load on the batteries at all. I'm considering adding up to 4 more of the same batteries (for a total of 8) as I will be pulling big loads through the inverter but I'll make sure to do this all slowly and properly.
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Post by tattoo on Jul 25, 2018 12:46:49 GMT
I have a total of 8 panels... I wouldn't go more that 6 batteries total unless you add more panels... You don't want to have more batteries than your panels can charge.... Believe me you can do that.... What are you planning on running off of your system??? Do you have a Killawatt meter? If not buy one.... Also you will need a Hydrometer to check your battery charge level...
Also what size inverter do you have?
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Post by captainstone on Jul 25, 2018 14:46:38 GMT
I have a total of 8 panels... I wouldn't go more that 6 batteries total unless you add more panels... You don't want to have more batteries than your panels can charge.... Believe me you can do that.... What are you planning on running off of your system??? Do you have a Killawatt meter? If not buy one.... Also you will need a Hydrometer to check your battery charge level...
Also what size inverter do you have?
That's a very good point to not have more batteries then the panels can keep charged. I was under the impression that with the 60a controller and 12v panels I can have a maximum of 720W of panels so I am intentionally keeping it to seven 100w panels. Your thoughts?
I will get a hyrdrometer as I understand that is the only way to really know if the cells of the battery are good or not. It's on order from amazon and will be here soon. I have a Killawatt meter and will monitor things closely.
I have this inverter, 3000w pure sine wave with a 6000w surge. It is my sincere hope to run my this ductless minisplit heat pump for my air conditioning and heating off the inverter and have the batteries supply the power. I've created a custom steel frame and it's all hooked up and currently generating lots of nice AC.
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Post by tattoo on Jul 25, 2018 16:29:31 GMT
Like I said I have 8 panels set up 4 and 4 with no problem what so ever, I believe I can go up to 6 and 6 but I haven't checked into that yet... Now if I was set up for 24v I know I could...
I really doubt that you will be able to run the small heat pump but it's worth a shot just keep an eye on it so you won't kill your batteries...
Also you need to remember that the inverter is using power all the time when it's on.... I started with a 2000w inverter and added a 500w later because the 2000w was using to much power.... I only use the 2000w when I'm using my table saw, vacuum etc...
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Post by captainstone on Jul 26, 2018 1:55:16 GMT
Like I said I have 8 panels set up 4 and 4 with no problem what so ever, I believe I can go up to 6 and 6 but I haven't checked into that yet... Now if I was set up for 24v I know I could... I really doubt that you will be able to run the small heat pump but it's worth a shot just keep an eye on it so you won't kill your batteries... Also you need to remember that the inverter is using power all the time when it's on.... I started with a 2000w inverter and added a 500w later because the 2000w was using to much power.... I only use the 2000w when I'm using my table saw, vacuum etc... I always understood that I couldn't go above 700w of panels (60A x 12VDC). Is the real limit higher?
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Post by tattoo on Jul 26, 2018 12:54:13 GMT
I always understood that I couldn't go above 700w of panels (60A x 12VDC). Is the real limit higher? Sure it's higher, I'm running 8 panels right now with the same CC that you have.... But they are 4 and 4 then tied together...
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Post by tattoo on Jul 26, 2018 12:57:10 GMT
I sure wish the Admin would chime in I would like to hear there answer....
But sadly it looks like they care just as much about this forum as they did the other one.... I really don't understand the change....
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Post by Jim on Jul 26, 2018 16:44:57 GMT
are there not any specs on input voltage or max wattage for the controller?
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