Hi all, I’ve been reading the manual for the MPPT 75/10 and can’t really understand what the BatteryLife preset does. It sounds as though it limits the discharge if the battery is not fully charged that day.
I’m using MPPT 75/10 controllers with LiFePO4 batteries and small PV modules to power low powered monitoring equipment. These are at sites that are only routinely visited every 6 months or so. Some don’t have good PV because of shading and so sometimes need batteries to be swapped reactively in winter if the voltage drops too low (the voltage is telemetered).
Basically, is BatteryLife the best mode for this use case? I need the controller to carry on powering the equipment for as long as possible (without damaging the battery) even if that means the battery goes flat.
Are you powering your loads from the controller’s load-out ports? Since BatteryLife is algorithmic based on history, it can lead to unexpected behavior like shutdown of the load output before you’d expect it, so I don’t think that’s your best choice. I’d suggest using a custom selection instead, or just connecting your loads direct to the battery rather than the load-out ports, which would ensure that the loads stay powered as long as possible.
Yes they’re powered from the load contacts on the controller. The battery enclosures we use only have one connector. Can you suggest what custom settings to use? I noticed that there is an “always on” preset.
Not knowing your system or what your needs are, I can’t provide any recommendations for settings; Always On works, or set up your own custom settings based on what you want your low voltage cutoff and restart to be, etc.
Hi, we’re using commercially available LiFePO4 batteries such as Eco Worthy 12V 30Ah and there aren’t any special requirements other than keeping the equipment running as long as possible (provided no battery damage) even if solar charging is insufficient. IE we’ll go out and change the battery for a freshly charged one if we have to, but don’t want to be doing that unnecessarily because the BatteryLife algorithithm has disconnected the load.
My own response to you brings another question: if you set BatteryLife on, but you have a BMS, who is responsible to keep the battery health? Is it the BMS or the charger?
My usual approach is that the settings on the charge and load devices are the first line of defense for keeping the battery from hitting high/low voltage disconnects. The BMS on the battery is the last line of defense.
None of my solar charge controllers (that are used all day every day) have Load Output ports, so I can’t comment on that.
I haven’t looked at the BatteryLife settings to know what you end up with. My preference is to set the parameters for what will work best for my system, which is in an RV. That said, the Victron default parameters are usually quite safe.