Smitty77_7 Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Yep, confused I am, again:)! Talked with Lifeline batteries today, looking for the Ending Amp value recommendation for my battery. .5 x 100AH We have 800 AH, so Ending Amps would be 4Amps. But, then he said that this is for a 'new/young' battery. That as the battery ages, any battery (Well, not lithium.) the efficacy of the battery degrades. So a 3 year old battery would not be the same as a 'new/young' battery. I get that. So he said I would need to compensate for this in my settings as the battery ages. For example, if I were to have Absorbed at 14.4 for 2 hours when new/young, I may want to extend that to 2.5 hours for a three year old battery bank. I'm trying to figure out what that would mean to the Ending Amps value. Would I go up, say to 6 amps, or down, say to 3 amps? (That is where I got confused again... Understood that an aging, less efficient battery, may need more absorb hours. And also understand that it is important to be sure to put in a 5 to say 10% more then you take out, to ensure the batteries are fully recharged.) But having a brain fade on what that would mean to my Ending Amps value. Ending Amps value? Well I have the MidNite Classic 150 with the WhizBang Jr added. One of the features the WhizBang Jr brings to the package, is the ability to jump the controller to Float mode, whenever Ending Amps value has been reached. Vs going for a full 2 (2.5 for me now) hours of Absorb time, per the clock setting. With us being on Shore Power, and the Magnum charger keeping us fully charged, I liked that feature of the MidNite Whiz Bang Jr, to also jump to Float mode vs pumping 2.5 hours of 14.4V into the battery bank on a daily basis... Question 1 = Suggestions for Ending Amps for this value? (Too much, or too little, can be just as bad:)! --- On health of batteries. I feel this is a variable, in fact, the gent helping me at Lifeline said this can vary between battery banks too. >A boater that is seldom on Shore Power, and frequently is running at lower SOC's with infrequent 100% SOC reached. Will usually be Conditioning (Lifeline's term for Equalizing.) the battery bank more frequently. This kind of usage really degrades the health and life of a battery bank. Vs. >Our battery bank is probably at 100% SOC 95% o the time. Via combo of shore power Magnum charging, and 1200W of MidNite Controller charging. We also very seldom see below 70% SOC, usually between 70-80% SOC in the AM when Boon Docking. And Boon Docking is still the exception vs the norm for us. So our X's 4 L16 800AH Lifeline AGM battery bank, at about three years of age, should be in 'Healthier/Younger' condition then the same age battery bank in the boater's example. Question 2 = Well first, is my thinking correct? And if so, would I not compensate my Absorb Hours increase in time, less the the boater example? (Say 2.25 vs 2.5 hours, with the smaller increase being due to 'healthier/younger' batteries. And since I don't have a clue on how to offset + or - the Ending Amps value, assume that value would also be closer to the 4 amp value. ----- So, if my confused state allowed me to get my questions across - TIA for any input form this Knowledge Bank of Escapees!!! Best to all, Smitty Be safe, have fun, Smitty 04 CC Allure "RooII" - Our "E" ride for life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarome Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Whelp.. ya got the wizbang jr and a mag.. properly shunted and sensors in place.. no action is needed on your part as your batteries age as SOC is automatically calculated/temp/current compensated. Nice hu!? But to answer part of your question.. based on your stated usage (although it wouldn't hurt to "run" them a little more.. say.. at least down to 85% every 3-5 days), then yes. At 3 years your bank would not, typically, have yet reached a capacity degradation that would require current compensation anyway (OLD tech). You should be at or better than a third life. However.. if you are regularly monitoring your in/out meter logs and notice a drop in capacity you might consider equalizing (if it's not already a part of your regularly scheduled maintenance plan). I'm just about in the same boat you are. My lifelines are 3 years 2 months young and still happy little soldiers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty77_7 Posted March 11, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Yes, the compensation is nice. I'm 'assuming' that the automatic calculations, factor the settings I place as parameters. With Battery Efficiency as one variable. I've set my efficiency down to 94%, from where I started at 96% when the bank was new, as the batteries are now 3 years old. (And, while I do try to minimize the minus and plusses of AH's while on Shore Power, I do run things down to 90-95% SOC every 3-4 days to give the battery some cycles. (My other thread covered that, and you helped me increase my frequency of doing this down to every 3-4 days, where as I used to do maybe once or twice a month, especially while in storage...). I felt I had concluded, maybe wrong again, that I should alter the Ending Amps value by some among, similar to the Battery Efficiency, for all of those magic automatic calculations to keep working properly. I want to be sure I'm putting in enough AH's to properly reach 100% SOC. Since I can't just go pull some juice out of a wet cell to get an actual value of charge, I want to be safe on the top side. Versus thinking I'm fully charged reading 100% SOC, which is a 'calculated' value... Probably making much to do about nothing, but also still wanting to add to my knowledge base and correct bad thinking (Sometimes with a glass of vino in her, my beautiful DW calls that 'Smitty thinking!!' instead of 'bad thinking'.) Best, Smitty Be safe, have fun, Smitty 04 CC Allure "RooII" - Our "E" ride for life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarome Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Yes, the compensation is nice. I'm 'assuming' that the automatic calculations, factor the settings I place as parameters. With Battery Efficiency as one variable. Probably making much to do about Yes it is. I would encourage you though to keep your efficiency setting to "auto" rather than entering a value yourself. Let the algorithms do their job unless intervention becomes necessary. One of the main reasons being is that if set incorrectly, the SOC will slowly skew and the gap will grow with each subsequent charge cycle. 96% isn't really that far out of line if you're trying to drive in as much current as your AGM's can possibly hold, but you're also locking it in to a set value and not allowing your mag to adjust as needed. KWIM? Not at all! I think you can never have too much knowledge on tap to really get the most out of your power systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smitty77_7 Posted March 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 I'll go back and search the manual again. I do have the Magnum MS2812 set to Auto. But the MidNite sure seems to want me to set the appropriate values for my application. (And from what I can see on the MidNite Forum, some Dude's (And Dudete's:)!) way above my mere mortal understanding of 'The sun gives power for free.' knowledge level. The majority of the posters are for S&B applications. Both on, and off grid. You know, when I was a child. I was told my efforts of mastering new skills would be better served if I were to avoid both singing and dancing. Now. I do have a great time both singing and dancing, but I've only learned to enjoy doing these, by ignoring the yelling and crying of children, and the laughing of semi adults. This solar stuff, may slot in amongst these:)! Best, and thanks, Smitty Be safe, have fun, Smitty 04 CC Allure "RooII" - Our "E" ride for life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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