Why won’t my Victron charger enter float mode

[TimB]

I can report that the suggestion of the developer was successful! I renamed the downloaded file, and then VC was able to apply it to the IP22. I have run the charger, and this time the variation was much less; specifically, 14.19-14.22v, and the amperage range was much more consistent (there was some fluctuation in the range of 1.0 to 0.3 amps, but even this subsided).

Unfortunately, the charger never left the absorb mode. It showed 0.0 amps and 14.20 volts, and did nothing else for the duration of the test (half an hour after reaching 0.0 amps).

Secondly, the manufacturer of my batteries states that 14.40 volts is needed in order to balance the cells (LiFePO4), and at the Li-ion settings, this will not take place. I therefore went to the user defined settings (which immediately propagated at 14.40 volts absorb, 13.40 float, 13.20 storage, which was exactly what I needed), and immediately noticed two things: first, the voltage fluctuated between 14.60 and 14.64 (the setting was for 14.40) and once again, it would not leave the absorb stage and enter float.

I believe there is something fundamentally wrong with this series of chargers, and I will be pursuing starting the RMA procedure.

Never the less, I wish to express my thanks to you, Matthias, for your persistence in helping me!

[M_Lange (Matthias Lange - DE)]

Thanks for reporting back and good that it worked.

To your other problem:
It could also be that the battery is full and blocks the charging current.

[TimB]

I did go back to the Li-ion setting, and it held at 14.39 volts, 0.0 amps, but still would not go into float or storage. I called another local dealer of Victron (bigger volume than my dealer) and they reported numerous problems with this range. When will Victron address the defective product?

[guystewart (Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager))]

Hi @TimB

Can you please check that your settings are set to a fixed absorption time,

and then take a screenshot of the history section tapping the charge states and showing that time?

[TimB]

Absorption time was set at adaptive; I have set it to fixed and running now. Do you want another screenshot?

[TimB]

Taken after fixed absorption time.

[guystewart (Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager))]

That looks closer to as expected, except you are still seeing 14.60V after setting 14.4V?

Try setting the temperature compensation to 0

[xmd]

@TimB

Unfortunately, the charger never left the absorb mode. It showed 0.0 amps and 14.20 volts, and did nothing else for the duration of the test (half an hour after reaching 0.0 amps).

The IP22 manual (Link) is a little bit vague on this point, but here’s what it says (page 10)

Mode	Absorption	Float	Storage	Recondition
Li-Ion	14.2V	Disabled	13.5V	Disabled

So there is no Float mode at all with Li-Ion mode set.

How long does it stay in Absorption mode before moving to Storage?

Adaptive absorption stage duration can vary between a minimum of 30 minutes, up to a maximum limit of 8 hours (or as configured) for a deeply discharged battery.

Alternatively, fixed absorption duration can be selected; fixed absorption duration is the automatic default when Li-ion mode is selected.

(page 8, emphasis mine)

There is also a mention of Absorption stage duration of 0.5 hours (page 16) but this was calculated for a 100Ah battery, and I’m not sure if this is just an example, or if the charger actually uses this algorithm?

I also have an IP22 with a 314Ah battery, and I noticed that Absorption stage lasts longer than 30 minutes, but less than 2 hours. I did not notice the actual time.

Bottom line: I think you would be fine with the Li-Ion preset, as long as you are patient and wait longer than 30 minutes for Storage mode.

[xmd]

@TimB

the manufacturer of my batteries states that 14.40 volts is needed in order to balance the cells (LiFePO4)

Are you sure about this? Many batteries recommend 14.4V +/- 0.2 (which means a range of 14.2 though 14.6 is acceptable).

They don’t always specify the voltage at which balancing starts, but when they do, 14.1V is a common start point.

The disadvantage with 14.6 charge voltage is that if your cells are out of balance, one of them will hit the high voltage shutoff sooner. 14.2 allows a more gradual approach. I suspect this is why 14.2 was chosen by the Victron engineers.

[TimB]

Thank you, xmd, for your comments. Yes, I have read the documentation carefully, and my batteries (BattleBorn) use 14.40 as the target for re-balancing. The point is, when my IP22 has 14.20 set, that is the voltage delivered (14.19-14.21 after firmware v3.67 was applied). However, when I attempt to use User Defined at 14.40, I get 14.60-14.64 volts, which seems to me to indicate something wrong with my particular charger.

[xmd]

How are you measuring the voltage? Do you have a BMV 712 or any other Victron devices in this system? Are the Victron devices set up with VE.Smart networking?

[TimB]

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me; I have returned the charger to the dealer, and started the return process.

Thank you to Gus, Matthias and xmd for your attempts to help! I appreciate it!

[xmd]

Too bad you’ve sent the unit back, but I do understand.

I think we are in a pretty similar situation: I had the Li-Ion setting (at 14.2V) went to Custom and set 14.4V, but was seeing higher voltages (14.6, even at one point I logged a 15.1 V!).

I’m also seeing some issues where Victron Connect seems to lose time and the graph has blank spots in it, so I’m not really sure what’s happening. Are there actually voltage spikes? Or is just some bad data processing or UI bugs?

I’m in the process of doing a capacity test which will take 12 hours, but once that’s done I’ll try recharging and see if I can recreate these anomalies, and will report back.

[TimB]

It does appear that your unit is displaying the same situation as my “old” one; when I took it back, I picked up another IP22 (HQ24__) at 20 amps, and it does not have the problems. Programed at 14.40 amps, it displays 14.40 amps (on Victron Connect - note, I did notice a slight difference when I tested at the battery with my multimeter; I was seeing 14.43V. This is within safe range, while the 14.64V was beyond safe tolerance, as the manufacturer states).
In reply to your earlier, post, I did most of my observing through Victron Connect, but did check with a multimeter, and confirmed the high states. I did see 14.60 on my multimeter when VC reported 14.60. I do not have a smart shunt, and my testing was done with both battery and charger outside the vehicle, which made testing easier (no voltage drop to deal with, as test wires are about 1 foot (.3 meters) in length).
Good luck on your testing. I was in contact with a high volume Victron dealer in my part of the country; he reported that he had three customers having problems with their IP22’s, and he had five more on the shelf, which he tested, to discover that one of the five showed the behaviors noticed my many here. This doesn’t appear to affect all IP22’s, but it is not an isolated event either.

[xmd]

First, my IP22 is a 30A 3-circuit model purchased in 2019. I see there are discussions of recent models having a possible hardware issue (see Blue Smart Chargers IP22 pulsing voltage and current - #98 by M_Lange ) but presumably that wouldn’t affect my 2019 or possibly 2018 model.

However, I ran another test and confirmed some of the voltages are definitely out of spec.

I programmed the IP22 with a Custom profile with 14.2V bulk, 13.8 absorption, 13.8 float, with temperature compensation Off, Recondition Off.

During the charge cycle I noticed that while my house battery never got above 14.2V (as reported by my BMV712), the IP22 itself was reporting output voltages above 14.6, and for a brief period I saw 14.7V on a voltmeter on that same circuit.

I’ve had this IP22 for 5+ years and never noticed problems like this before.

I’m wondering: could the recent firmware changes that are supposed to fix in the 2025 models actually be causing a problem in older models?

[chrigu]

@xmd

14.2V bulk, 13.8 absorption, 13.8 float

Theres no voltage setting for bulk since bulk is constant-current phase. You most likely set 14.2V absorption and 13.8V float.

Have you joined a VE.smart network between the shunt and the charger? If so, then this behavior would be normal, since the charger no longer uses its own voltage measurement, but the one from the shunt. The higher voltage you see is the charger compensating for voltage drop.

[xmd]

@chrigu

Theres no voltage setting for bulk since bulk is constant-current phase. You most likely set 14.2V absorption and 13.8V float.

My mistake: you are correct, the 14.2 was absorption

@chrigu

Have you joined a VE.smart network between the shunt and the charger? If so, then this behavior would be normal, since the charger no longer uses its own voltage measurement, but the one from the shunt. The higher voltage you see is the charger compensating for voltage drop.

Yes, there’s a BMV712 in the system and these are networked.

If the IP22 is actually using the VE.smart voltage measured from the battery terminal, I can see the wisdom of doing this.

But I also see a danger - if any sort of high resistance connection were to develop between the IP22 and the battery, the IP22 might have to drive the voltage to infinity volts (which is a lot) in order to get the BMV voltage to the right level.

Does the IP22 do this, and is “+infinity” the logic it uses? One would hope there is some sort of voltage-max failsafe.

[chrigu]

Compensation stops at +1.6V if im not mistaken.

Ideally the voltage drop is kept below 3% and any source of high resistance like a bad crimp, loose clamp or cheap MCB would be redone/replaced

[xmd]

@chrigu

Compensation stops at +1.6V if im not mistaken.

I can’t find anything in the IP22 manual about that 1.6V max - here’s what I see:

4.4.1. Voltage sense

Voltage Sense uses battery voltage data that is accurately measured directly at the battery terminals (or very close) and provides it to the charger, the charger then uses this voltage data to dynamically increase the output voltage and precisely compensate for voltage drop in the cabling and connections between the charger and battery.

This enables the battery to be charged with the exact voltage as configured in the charger, instead of a lower voltage due to voltage drop in the cabling and connections.

Voltage drop is proportional to the charge current and cabling/connection resistance (V=IxR), so voltage drop will vary during a charge cycle and can be quite significant when charging at higher charge currents through cabling and connections with higher than optimal resistance; in this scenario voltage sense will be particularly beneficial.

Note that voltage sense does not allow inadequately rated cabling/connections to be used or compensate for excessively high voltage drop; for reliable and safe operation cabling and connections must all be suitably rated and appropriately sized for the application; refer to the ‘Installation > Wiring’ section for more information.

[gofast (robert a schneider)]

The Li preloaded setting is not for the typical/normal other LFP batteries like I have. Went through all of this 3 years ago and just created a User Defined Setting for my 200 AH, LFP battery. 14.6 Bulk, 13.8 float, and 13.0 storage. No problems since!