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elewis33 avatar image
elewis33 asked

IP67 outputting zero amps

I have an IP67 12/25 that I've been using regularly to charge my SOK 12volt/206ah battery. This past weekend when I hooked it up (I have an anderson connector on both the charger and battery and disconnect the battery from my power panel when charging) to charge the Victron Connect app was showing that the charger went immediately into absorption mode at 14.4 volts and 0.0 amps.

Given the reputation anid quality of the Victron products, and the fact that there's virtually no serviceable parts of the IP67 I thought there must be something wrong with the battery. After speaking with SOK about the problem, and doing some troubleshooting steps they agreed and sent me a replacement BMS, I got the BMS today and installed it and the charger is still showing 14.4v/0.0 amps.

Is there some kind of troubleshooting I can do with the IP67 to see if there's something wrong with the charger, or the settings?

Also note, I tried all of the different modes on the IP67, including putting it in power supply mode at various voltage settings. I'm at a loss for other things to try with this so any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

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elewis33 avatar image
elewis33 answered ·

Well gang, guess what? After blaming the BMS and messing around with customer support and a FB group for weeks, it's come down to this. The IP67 charger is faulty!! I got access to another IP67 and put my battery on it and it went right into bulk charge mode, 13.8 volts at 13.1 amps.

Luckily the bad IP67 was bought recently and looks like it will be replaced under warranty.

The lesson learned: don't assume any one piece of equipment is functioning as expected!!

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klim8skeptic avatar image
klim8skeptic answered ·

You dont mention checking the fuse or fuse holder?

Are your batteries warm enough to accept charge?

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elewis33 avatar image elewis33 commented ·
There is no fuse/fuseholder on the IP67, and yeah, it's 80+ degrees so temps are fine for charging.
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Trevor Bird avatar image
Trevor Bird answered ·

Hello @elewis33 . You mentioned the BMS has been replaced. I'm not sure about the configuration of those batteries but why would the assumption be that the BMS is faulty and not the batttery?

If you have 14.4 volts on the output of the charger and no current is flowing either the battery is completely full or the circuit to the terminals of the battery is open circuit. That could be a fuse blown or a wiring break or the battery is open circuit.

If 14.4 volts is delivered by the IP67 and no current is flowing it is not a problem with the IP67.

Regards,

Trevor

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elewis33 avatar image elewis33 commented ·

"why would the assumption be that the BMS is faulty and not the batttery?"

Great question. This battery is LiFePo serviceable unit, so I did several things. First, the battery shows 13.1 volts at the terminals. I also took the lid off and checked the volatage of each cell, all reporting 3.32-3.33 volts separately. And then a voltage check across the main positive and main negative inside the case confirms the 13.1/13.2 overall voltage.

And the battery is definitely not "full". I used it for 2 days before trying to charge it and took it down to about 18% state of charge, based on the shunt-based meter I have on the battery.

Another thing to keep in mind is that both the charger and the battery worked fine before this past event. And if you think about it, with the voltage being where it's at, and discharging just fine before I tried to charge it, the BMS is the only thing between the cells and the charger, so that's where I suspect the "open circuit" lies. I was just pinging this group to see if there was some kind of diagnostic for the IP 67 that I should try to rule it out 100%.

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elewis33 avatar image elewis33 commented ·
This is not correct, in my case. The IP67 is faulty. Verified by putting the battery on another charger I was able to get access to and it charged just fine.



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seb71 avatar image
seb71 answered ·

I also took the lid off and checked the volatage of each cell, all reporting 3.32-3.33 volts separately. And then a voltage check across the main positive and main negative inside the case confirms the 13.1/13.2 overall voltage.

If you have access to the cells, couldn't you try charging the battery directly (without the BMS)?

Just to see if the BMS is the cause or not.

If charging works without the BMS, do not fully charge the battery. Monitor the cells manually and stop the charge at about 3.45V cell voltage (so at about 13.8V battery voltage) or if any cell reaches 3.6V.

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elewis33 avatar image elewis33 commented ·
I suppose that's true, although I didn't want to do that because it bypasses the BMS, but yeah, I guess that's a good test of the IP67, to make sure it's working. Thanks for the suggestion.
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