Battery discharging problems - any advise? (1 Viewer)

[berni109]

Been doing a bit more reading up on this. Electrickery is a bit of a black art to me.
But it says that calcium batteries need a higher charge rate to cause some gassing to mix the electrolyte and this can be 0.4v to 1.4v more than standard chargers output so thats 2% or 10% which is not a great deal but does it make any difference in real life?

 

[Techno]

Been doing a bit more reading up on this. Electrickery is a bit of a black art to me.
But it says that calcium batteries need a higher charge rate to cause some gassing to mix the electrolyte and this can be 0.4v to 1.4v more than standard chargers output so thats 2% or 10% which is not a great deal but does it make any difference in real life?

No mine are still fine after 3yrs and hammered by 2k inverter

 

[tick59]

I have a stand alone panel that stands outside the van on a good day my voltage meter in the van shows my battery at 16 volts while charging from the panel when i disconnect panel it falls back to 14 volts is this right??? fun!!! fun!!! fun!!!

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[pappajohn]

I have a stand alone panel that stands outside the van on a good day my voltage meter in the van shows my battery at 16 volts while charging from the panel when i disconnect panel it falls back to 14 volts is this right??? fun!!! fun!!! fun!!!

I reckon your meter is inaccurate.....but control panel meters always are.

16v will boil your battery in no time.

The voltages should be around 14.4v maximum while solar charging falling to 13.7v off charge and 100% charged, then falling to 12.7v at rest after 1/2jr or so.

 

[shawn&emma]

More thread hijack I'm afraid but if I understand that correctly you have a pretty inefficient setup. Solar panels work best when allowed to run at their optimum voltage, which for a typical MH panel is around 18 volts. Coupling them across a battery drags the voltage down with negligible increase in current to compensate. A good MPPT controller is what you need.

For the wind turbine I guess coupling across the batteries would be correct, assuming it is a 12 volt generator, but this does not apply to solar although it can certainly be done if you accept the reduction in output.

Hi @DBK sorry I'm a little slow on the reply. Actualy had 2 yes 2 sunny warm days here in Portugal and just had to make the most of them.
Im a little confused as to what you mean when you say
'Coupling them across a battery drags the voltage down with negligible increase in current to compensate'
During the day when I'm just using the solar its charging to 14.4v and then floats at 13.4v

The turbine is 12v

Thanks Shawn