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Victron 48/3000 Easysolar MPPT150/70 Off Grid SOC declining & generator not charging batteries?

Hi guys, I have a Victron 48/3000 Easysolar MPPT 150/70 installed with 12 x 300w solar PV panels facing due north at 26degree pitch as an Off-grid unit for a shed a few months ago and the support from supplier non-existent so I've come here to ask for help. I currently have only an inverter fridge and internet & light connected so load is usually sub 100w as shed is still under construction but when complete I had planned to run tools etc and low level domestic usage. At this stage the SOC is consistently declining despite constant warm sunny days and when I plug in a 3600w generator it supplies the load (useful for when I'm using power tools for construction) but does not charge the batteries? In the morning on full sun the colour panel says it's supplying sometimes up to 900w but this always declines despite the batteries lowering their SOC during the day. I may have the wrong expectation but I thought in full sun a system like this should deliver plenty of power? How much power should go into the batteries in full sun? How much power can I expect out of the system in full sun? I was hoping to run all my workshop equipment off it in full sun. I have zero experience in electronics and despite several attempts to contact the supplier I am getting no joy...any advice on perhaps something simple I'm not doing? No instructions were offered on installation and I can't find a user manual online for this system either. I have once in my frustration connected the generator and switched the Inverter to Charge Only and this seemed to kickstart it all back to life but I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to do this? Just a female...so go easy ;)

battery charging
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tenterfield answered ·

For example...today is a bright sun filled day and I've an image of the colour display without 3600w generator attached first...


Then I attached the generator and this is what I get...with no charge going to batteries at all, it just supplies the load?


and the LED display is as below...with inverter light off, mains light & float light on


img-1839.jpg (2.7 MiB)
img-1842.jpg (4.0 MiB)
img-1841.jpg (5.1 MiB)
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tenterfield answered ·

When if at all should the "Charger Only" button be utilised on the Victron unit?

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JohnC avatar image JohnC ♦ commented ·

When you don't want ac power from the batts. Never?

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JohnC answered ·

Hi T. Female eh? Ok, I won't swear. :)

Firstly, ignore the SOC reading. It's a calculated figure and needs setting up correctly. Your Multiplus section may even need a firmware update for it to work at all.

I note your batts show 'Float' at 56.3V. That's quite high but understandable if it's very cold there before sunup. The mppt will do that, applying temp compensation for the day. So now you'll work on batt V, and good if you could check that against actual batt V with a multimeter. For confidence.

Default V's for your system are likely 57.6 Absorb and 55.2 Float. +/- temp compensation.

I am surprised though at how little charge your batts are accepting at Float. Are they Pb's or exotics? Another reason to check the V reading. If that's ok your system is likely working well. And there's no point running your genny while the solar mppt is being limited like that. Like putting 2 hoses into a full bucket..

Your learning curve may just be beginning, so please ask if you need more help/links.

And oh, if you can give that CCGX some www, the VRM portal graphs are excellent for seeing what's going on.



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JohnC avatar image JohnC ♦ commented ·

For manuals: Either of..

https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Manual-MultiPlus-3k-230V-16A--50A-(firmware-xxxx1xx)a-EN-NL-FR-DE-ES-SE.pdf

or

https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Manual-MultiPlus-3k-230V-16A-50A-(firmware-xxxx4xx)-EN-NL-FR-DE-ES-SE.pdf

Depends on firmware loaded there.

https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Manual-BlueSolar-charge-controller-MPPT-150-45-up-to-150-100-EN-NL-FR-DE-ES-SE.pdf

https://www.victronenergy.com/live/ccgx:start

There's no specific manual for the Easy - just it's parts. Just check those are the right parts..

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tenterfield avatar image tenterfield commented ·

Thank you so much for such an easy to understand reply! And thank you for all your help...very much appreciated! I have 4 lead carbon batteries and that image was taken in full sun at around early afternoon so it was a balmy 19 degrees :)

By the way there was some swearing here on occasions as I attempt to figure this stuff out ;)

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JohnC avatar image JohnC ♦ tenterfield commented ·

Yeh, lead-carbons I'm not familiar with, but all should be ok if the V at the batts matches the kit's. A $20 multimeter is useful for things like that.

Note in my first post I said 'before sunup'. That's because your mppt will determine it's programme for the day then, by looking at Vbat and it's own internal temp sensor. It won't change that as the day warms, because it's own sensor may suffer misread of temp under load. Extra kit is required to do that, but most (me too) will find it adequate. It will also lock in an Absorb time depending on the Vbat before dawn.

A word of warning. Admire your blue box, bow your head in worship, talk to it even. But never curse it - it's likely to invoke Murphy's Law via some secret internal function. :)

Bit like a marital relationship - understanding goes a long way..

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