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abrgrg avatar image
abrgrg asked

Charge Controller Settings for Multiple Victron 220ah Batteries

Hi There,

I have a Victron SmartSolar MPPT 150/100 Tr VE.Can connected to 4 x 435 Watt Canadian Solar Panels(in parallel) , charging 6 x 12v 220ah Victron AGM Batteries(SKU:BAT412201084) connected in parallel.(running a 12v system with 2 x 12v Inverters.)

The batteries show 50amp max charge current but I read somewhere(and cannot find this article anymore) that the 50amp charge setting is per battery i.e i can set my charging amps to 100(max of the controller) and this won't overcharge the batteries.

Is this correct? Is it 50amp per battery max charge current or would i need to leave it at 50amp maximum for the 6 batteries?

The way i have wired the batteries is 3 in parallel x 2 banks connected in parallel to the charge controller - effectively these run to a bus bar that gets charge (+ and - ) from the charge controller.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank You

G


MPPT Controllersbattery charging
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2 Answers
Matthias Lange - DE avatar image
Matthias Lange - DE answered ·

A lead battery should be changed with 0.1-0.15C (10-15A for a 100Ah battery).

> 22-33A for one of your 220Ah batteries.

> 132-198A for all 6 batteries

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abrgrg avatar image abrgrg commented ·

Hi Matthias,


Thank you for answering - Really appreciated the help.

Are you saying that i can change my setting on my app under ''max charge current'' to max(100amps is max of charge controller) and that is still safe for the batteries?

I'm worried about damaging the batteries. I changed to 60amp for now and will update once you confirm :) - Thanks again for your help!!

Vic Connect Screenshot.jpg

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JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

Hi @abrgrg

The diffficulty you have here is that you have 6x batteries in parallel, and you can never be certain whether one (or more) is taking the lion's share away from the laggers. Usually fine when they're new, but as they age you'll see this, nothing surer. And it's usually fatal..

You can't control this, but you may be able to minimise it. What I'd do is not concentrate so much on the total Amps, even open up to the 100A max. But I'd drop the Absorb V way lower than the recommended max. They'll still charge, but take longer. How far you go with this may well depend on a typical day, like whether you have enough time to complete a full charge.

The harder you push them the higher the likelihood of imbalance. This can normally be detected by a rise in temperature of the batt(s) doing all the work, and if you can detect a difference with a touch test, you have a problem. It will happen one day..

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abrgrg avatar image abrgrg commented ·

Hi JohnC - Thanks for responding.

This is what my setup is currently. My Final Setup.png

I effectively have 2 banks of 3 batteries connected in parallel/parallel if that makes sense. They are all new batteries - Currently my Absorption voltage is set to 14,4 which i believe is the minimum.

Batteries are all the same temperature at the moment. Would you suggest dropping(Current Settings - Screenshot_20210906-153649.jpg) that to 14.2 volts maybe which would mean that the Absorption voltage kicks in at 14.2 rather than 14.4v?

Thanks for your help!


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JohnC avatar image JohnC ♦ abrgrg commented ·
@abrgrg

Your first link 404's, but it doesn't matter, you must have 6x parallel.

14.2V is better, a good start point to see if you can live with it. Even lower.. I still have 3x lucky survivors of a 6x parallel setup relegated to light duties, charged with a periodic flat 13.5V. They should be long dead, but still survive. Like an old-folks-home, hey.

Check too your Temp Compensation settings are by the batt maker, and ideally they're real-time (if not, then make allowance).

The main thing is to stay aware. You may well want/need that full 100A, but at a lower Abs V it's not quite so bad.


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abrgrg avatar image abrgrg JohnC ♦ commented ·
OK Thanks for the advice - really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I will change settings then monitor. Start saving for more batteries hahahha. Thanks again
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