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kat-astrophe avatar image
kat-astrophe asked

IP22 mains charger going into storage mode

I have a Fogstar lithium battery, when I charge it via mains with the IP22 when it is full it goes onto storage mode (the smartsolar follows suit). While still on mains power the battery level depletes but the charger doesn’t change, stays in storage and doesn’t charge the battery. If I unplug it from the mains charger for a few minutes and plug it back in, it changes to bulk and charges the battery again.

Is there a way to turn off storage mode as it isn’t required for lithium batteries?

The victron chargers are set to the lithium presets.

Thank you

bluesmart ip22
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3 Answers
regman54 avatar image
regman54 answered ·

Knowing what model of charger you are using would help. IP22 only refers to the devices ingress protection rating.

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kat-astrophe avatar image kat-astrophe commented ·

Apologies, this is it: Victron Energy Blue Smart IP22 Charger 12/30(1) 230V UK BPC123047022

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Justin Cook avatar image
Justin Cook answered ·

To be clear, Float isn't generally required for LFP batteries, but Storage is a different thing. The default Li-ion preset in the IP22 Blue Smart Charger turns off Float, so the charger goes straight to Storage after completion of the Bulk and Absorb cycles.

Your SmartSolar doesn't have a Storage mode, so it's going to Float after completion of its Bulk/Absorb cycles.

You can change the settings of your IP22, including changing the Storage voltage and the Rebulk voltage offset, by going into the charger settings in VictronConnect, turning on "Advanced settings", clicking in and turning on "Expert mode", and can then change the advanced config as you'd prefer.

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kat-astrophe avatar image kat-astrophe commented ·
The solar definitely says storage mode once the mains charger says the same.

The annoying thing is that it doesn’t revert to bulk (or anything) and stays at storage even though the battery isn’t charged.

I was plugged into mains over a few days and assumed my battery would be kept topped up. But when I looked it was at 80%. If I unplug it for 5 mins it then charges again.

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pwfarnell avatar image pwfarnell kat-astrophe commented ·
With lithium batteries you need to adopt a slightly different mindset once they have charged. It is not ideal to keep a lithium battery on float like a lead acid battery, the lead acid needs to be kept at 100% to avoid damage, the lithium does not need to be kept at 100%. In fact keeping a lithium permanently on float at 100% can result in slowly overcharging it. Therefore, the term storage is often used at a slightly lower voltage that allows the battery to deplete to between 50% and 70% at which point it will recharge to 100%.
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kat-astrophe answered ·

That makes sense, however I would like my battery to be at 100% when I leave so that I can get maximum usage from it (less time on sites) - this is impossible to achieve. The fact that the battery drains and it doesn’t recharge can’t be right?

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