I just towed my solar electric boat home after leaving it in the water for the last month during which time it has been completely self sufficient. During use I noticed a few things about my 75/15 charge controllers.
First and foremost is the issue about parallel chargers. I don’t know where things stand with the Firmware update to include this feature, but at the moment my two chargers are wired in parallel to a 24V bank, and when in full sun with each fed 60V+ of solar, and a load on the system with the chargers in Bulk, the most I can get is 15A total out of them, split mostly equally between the two, with each providing 7.5A or so. Is this the issue that the Firmware update will address? Shouldn’t each charger be putting out 15A? My motors are pulling far more than that from the system, so I would think each charger should be operating at Max output.
Second, is there a way to avoid having to do Firmware updates? I understand the update is in the App and that WiFi is not needed, however I don’t like the fact that I can not use the App to monitor my system without first updating the hardware. What if something goes wrong during the update? I would rather do it at the end of an outing rather than just before. Is there a way to avoid this? The App seems to require an update before you can be allowed to fully pair with a device.
Lastly, one of my Blue LED’s had stopped working completely yet the unit continued to work otherwise normally. For almost a month it was like that, then suddenly (without any updates or changes) it started working again. I guess it just needed a vacation? Kinda disconcerting, but at least it is once again blinking in offbeat harmony with the other.
Ohh and one more, does the battery bar on a BMV712 indicate the current level of 50% of the bank capacity while the SOC percentage relates to 100% of the banks capacity?
