question

bobj avatar image
bobj asked

Status lights and settings meaning

I have a MPPT 150/45 tr charge controller

LiFePO 424v EG4 200 amp battery

The charge voltages are set to Absorption voltage 28.00v and Float voltage 27.00

Now my questions

should the status light go from Bulk to Absorption when it his 27.00v and onto Float when it hits 28.00v? The status light changed to Absorption sometime after 27.00v and is now sitting at 28.00v with the Absorption status light still on. The battery says it is not charging and all the power my panels are producing is being used. If I increase my usage the Victron app show the production goes up to match.

It looks like my system is doing what I want. It is just the status lights don't make sense and don't match the labels in the app.



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kevgermany answered ·

Should go into absorption when it reaches absorption voltage, not before.

Should only go into float once current drops enough for long enough in absorption mode. Defaults are current 4% of battery capacity, detection time 3 mins. For solar often necessary to lower the current and increase charge detection time to account for local conditions if charging is affected by cloud cover. From memory I'm on 15 minutes/2%.

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bobj avatar image bobj commented ·

In the victron app my float is set to 27.00v and the absorption is set to 28.00v. Are the labels backward. I thought absorption was the last part of the charge when you want to go slower and float is once you hit the maximum charge you want and it holds it there. Shouldn't the absorption be lower than the float value in the app. The default setting in the victron app for LiFePO4 batteries is float 27.00 and absorption 28.40.

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bobj avatar image bobj bobj commented ·
Now I have new questions on how it works.

Does the absorption start because of the 4% of battery capacity and detection time of 3 mins you were talking about? Then it will charge up to the absorption setting of 28.00v. After setting there for some predetermined length of time it will drop back to the float setting of 27v.

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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ bobj commented ·

Nope, your starting point is a partly charged battery where voltage is below absorption. The sequence is bulk (charge at full power until absorption voltage reached), absorption(charge at fixed absorption voltage), float(don't charge).

Float is triggered after absorption by current and time.

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bobj avatar image bobj kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·

Thanks for answering my question. I had a misconception on what the two settings did. I think I understand them now.

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