No idea what’s going on ?

[wp1234]

I’ve no idea what’s going on with my van at the moment and am hoping someone can help.
I have 2 brand new Victron 110ah batteries and a Victron Smart Shunt connected to the system which seems to indicate all is good with the charging side of things ( see pics

mbut after a few hours watching the TV in the van we black out on low voltage and shunt also reads low voltage !

Help !!

 

[DBK]

Taking things one step at a time. Did everything work correctly before the new batteries were installed? Or is this a new installation/van? The first image shows zero current. Do you see a charging current when the engine is running or on EHU?

 

[wp1234]

Taking things one step at a time. Did everything work correctly before the new batteries were installed? Or is this a new installation/van? The first image shows zero current. Do you see a charging current when the engine is running or on EHU?

A fuller explanation and thanks for the assist.

I have 2 brand new replacement 110ah batteries and a CB520battery charger linked to CBE PC770-LK display monitor which controls the van.The PC770 unit has a low voltage protect function which blacks out non essential 12v at 11volts.This is what happened last night and was confirmed by the shunt readings.I replaced my two 3 year old batteries recently as Infound one of the old ones was not retaining charge.

I have been off grid now for just two days with solar panels topping up what I thought were two fully charged batteries ( southern Spain) . As for usage jive real,y just been using a few lights and a TV/ sound bar for a few hours at night.

I will be back on EHU later today but I’m fairly sure the charger was working last time I was plugged in but will double check later when I plug in.

Is it possible for a battery charger to only half charge a battery bank ? Although when fully charge the shunt shows over batteries are at plus 13 v .
Thanks for the offer of assist.

A fuller explanation and thanks for the assist.

I have 2 brand new 110ah batteries and a CB250 battery charger linked to CBE PC770 display monitor which controls the van.The PC770 unit has a low voltage protect function which blacks out non essential 12v at 11volts.This is what happened last night and was confirmed by the shunt readings.

I have been off grid now for just two days with solar panels definitely topping up what I thought were two fully charged batteries ( southern Spain) . As for usage I have just been using a few lights and a TV/sound bar for a few hours at night.

I will be back on EHU later today but I’m fairly sure the charger was working last time I was plugged in but will double check later when I plug in.

Is it possible for a battery charger to only half charge a battery bank but still show 13+volts after charging ??
I attach a snap of the shunt history page if it helps.


Thanks

 

[wp1234]

Taking things one step at a time. Did everything work correctly before the new batteries were installed? Or is this a new installation/van? The first image shows zero current. Do you see a charging current when the engine is running or on EHU?

A fuller explanation and thanks for the assist.

I have 2 brand new replacement 110ah batteries and a CB250 battery charger linked to CBE PC770-LK display monitor which controls the van.The PC770 unit has a low voltage protect function which blacks out non essential 12v at 11volts.This is what happened last night and was confirmed by the shunt readings.I replaced my two 3 year old batteries recently as Infound one of the old ones was not retaining charge.

I have been off grid now for just two days with solar panels topping up what I thought were two fully charged batteries ( southern Spain) . As for usage jive real,y just been using a few lights and a TV/ sound bar for a few hours at night.

I will be back on EHU later today but I’m fairly sure the charger was working last time I was plugged in but will double check later when I plug in.

Is it possible for a battery charger to only half charge a battery bank ? Although when fully charge the shunt shows over batteries are at plus 13 v .
Thanks for the offer of assist.

A fuller explanation and thanks for the assist.

I have 2 brand new 110ah batteries and a CB250 battery charger linked to CBE PC770 display monitor which controls the van.The PC770 unit has a low voltage protect function which blacks out non essential 12v at 11volts.This is what happened last night and was confirmed by the shunt readings.

I have been off grid now for just two days with solar panels definitely topping up what I thought were two fully charged batteries ( southern Spain) . As for usage I have just been using a few lights and a TV/sound bar for a few hours at night.

I will be back on EHU later today but I’m fairly sure the charger was working last time I was plugged in but will double check later when I plug in.

Is it possible for a battery charger to only half charge a battery bank but still show 13+volts after charging ??
I attach a snap of the shunt history page if it helps.


Thanks

 

[Pausim]

Is it possible that some of your load is not registering through the shunt? I had a dealer make some connections to the wrong side of my shunt so that it was registering all the charge currents but not all the load ones. Until I corrected the connections the state of charge readings were meaningless.

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[wp1234]

Is it possible that some of your load is not registering through the shunt? I had a dealer make some connections to the wrong side of my shunt so that it was registering all the charge currents but not all the load ones. Until I corrected the connections the state of charge readings were meaningless.

I conne

Is it possible that some of your load is not registering through the shunt? I had a dealer make some connections to the wrong side of my shunt so that it was registering all the charge currents but not all the load ones. Until I corrected the connections the state of charge readings were meaningless.

I connected it myself and Im pretty sure right , but I will double check thanks . The way I see it an Avtex TV and a few light maybe uses around 6amps per hour so 4 hours of tv on an evening should consume say max of 30ah so my issue is really with the battery or charger.

 

[Pausim]

I would expect the shunt readings to be accurate whether the problem lies with the charging or consumption side. It does seem to point to battery. At one point you say

The PC770 unit has a low voltage protect function which blacks out non essential 12v at 11volts.This is what happened last night and was confirmed by the shunt readings.

what voltage were you showing? Remember that solar panels may be pushing the voltage reading to 13+V but this does not mean there is any meaningful charging going on, what amps are going in from the panels?

 

[Diabalo]

Looking at your last image it shows the last full charge was nearly 2 days ago.

 

[Lenny HB]

Your first image shows zero current being drawn or going into the batteries, which seems a bit odd. If it's daylight I would expect to see some current going into the batteries even if you have everything switched off with no charge I would expect to see a small drain.

Is it possible for a battery charger to only half charge a battery bank but still show 13+volts after charging ??
I attach a snap of the shunt history page if it helps.

Straight after turning off the charger, yes, to get an accurate reading you need to turn off all loads and measure the voltage after 30-60 minutes.

Sound like you are getting no charge from your solar.
When you changed the batteries did you disconnect the solar panels? With a lot of solar regulators you must connect them to the batteries first then connect the panels.

 

[Pausim]

what voltage were you showing? Remember that solar panels may be pushing the voltage reading to 13+V but this does not mean there is any meaningful charging going on, what amps are going in from the panels?

Sorry, hadn’t realised the thumbnail was a different image.

Lenny HB has probably identified the problem and the solution.

I am still suspicious that your shunt is not picking up all the currents. A 92% charge and 20.7Ah consumed do not seem consistent with 10.36V.

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[wp1234]

Is it possible that some of your load is not registering through the shunt? I had a dealer make some connections to the wrong side of my shunt so that it was registering all the charge currents but not all the load ones. Until I corrected the connections the state of charge readings were meaningless.

I conne

Is it possible that some of your load is not registering through the shunt? I had a dealer make some connections to the wrong side of my shunt so that it was registering all the charge currents but not all the load ones. Until I corrected the connections the state of charge readings were meaningless.

I connected it myself and Im pretty sure right , but I will double check thanks . The way I see it an Avtex TV and a few light maybe uses around 6amps per hour so 4 hours of tv on an evening should consume say max of 30ah so my issue is really with the battery or charger.o

 

[wp1234]

Well I’m on a site now, having driven about an hour to get here, and battery charger seems to be doing it’s thing . 1st pic is solar panel charging 2nd is engine running and 3 rd is just plugged in .
So to me the battery charging is working OK, so is the solar, so is engine charging but why do the batteries drain so quickly after only 48 hrs off grid , any thoughts gratefully accepted as I’m totally baffled ?

 

[Lenny HB]

Looks like it's all working

 

[monzer]

Hoping I don't confuse things here but just wanted to check that you have wired it up to monitor starter battery too? I see it's showing a voltage there.

 

[wp1234]

Yes I have connected it to the starter batt to keep an I on it as well

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[wp1234]

Thanks Lenny that’s what I thought as well but how can I ever have gone through 220 Ah in less than two days , very very mysterious . I’m just thinking as I am in Spain at the moment and as you know some of the sites have rather flakey EHU I wonder if that would make a difference ?

 

[Pausim]

Thanks Lenny that’s what I thought as well but how can I ever have gone through 220 Ah in less than two days , very very mysterious . I’m just thinking as I am in Spain at the moment and as you know some of the sites have rather flakey EHU I wonder if that would make a difference ?

Assuming your Victron batteries are AGM not Gel or LiFePO4 then the safe useable capacity is a lot less 220Ah, probably half that.

 

[Lenny HB]

You starter battery voltage was very low at 12.29v, a bit worrying.

 

[mitzimad]

Looking at the starter volatage it maybe worth checking for diconnection of the split charge system however that would increase your capacity rather than decrease

 

[wp1234]

Taking things one step at a time. Did everything work correctly before the new batteries were installed? Or is this a new installation/van? The first image shows zero current. Do you see a charging curr

Assuming your Victron batteries are AGM not Gel or LiFePO4 then the safe useable capacity is a lot less 220Ah, probably half that.

They are two identical Victron Energy Gel Deep Cycle Battery 12V 110Ah . I was told you could take these down to around 25% discharge , assume is that right so around 165Ah?

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[Pausim]

They are two identical Victron Energy Gel Deep Cycle Battery 12V 110Ah . I was told you could take these down to around 25% discharge , assume is that right so around 165Ah?

Sounds about right, which is why the 10.36V seems to me to be so much at odds with the 92% and only 20.7Ah consumed.

 

[wp1234]

Well I remain befuddled .
My van batteries have been charging all day and I’ve unplugged , let the batteries settle down for an hour or so and this is the final reading of the shunt data , all seems good but…… I’m not convinced !
One question is … what is the ‘power reading ’ telling me , is it how many watts I’m using ?

 

[Pausim]

One question is … what is the ‘power reading ’ telling me , is it how many watts I’m using ?

Yes. Power is Volts x Amps = Watts. If you multiply 13.03 by .81 it rounds up to 11 (10.55)

 

[DBK]

Well I remain befuddled .
My van batteries have been charging all day and I’ve unplugged , let the batteries settle down for an hour or so and this is the final reading of the shunt data , all seems good but…… I’m not convinced !
One question is … what is the ‘power reading ’ telling me , is it how many watts I’m using ?

That looks OK but you won't know until you wake up tomorrow. If they have gone flat you either have duff batteries or there is some unknown discharge somewhere.

Sleep tight. A top up of brandy may help.

 

[the1andonly]

Did you sycronize the shunt when battery fully charged?

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[wp1234]

Did you sycronize the shunt when battery fully charged?

Hi,
yes I did a few times after charging.

 

[wp1234]

So the lights went out again last night after just a day and a half off grid .I’m really puzzled as to what could cause my batteries to go from 12.56v to 10.76 v in a matter of 4 minutes as per two shunt screen shoots .As mentioned previously my two 110A batteries are just two months old and charger appears to be doing it’s thing .
Any thought from the experts on here?

 

[Pausim]

So the lights went out again last night after just a day and a half off grid .I’m really puzzled as to what could cause my batteries to go from 12.56v to 10.76 v in a matter of 4 minutes as per two shunt screen shoots .As mentioned previously my two 110A batteries are just two months old and charger appears to be doing it’s thing .
Any thought from the experts on here?

Whatever flattened them does not appear to have registered on the shunt, which has only moved from -22.0Ah to -22.1Ah whilst the voltage has dropped very significantly. Perhaps some pictures of your shunt and battery wiring would help.

 

[Pausim]

Have you been using any heating and if so what type?

 

[Lenny HB]

That's crazy, hope you haven't pulled all your hair out.

Wondering if you have a duff battery, I would seperate the batteries leave one connected in circuit and see what happens if all OK after a few days swap the batteries over.

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