Inverter Over Charging

[waterskier_1]

22 hours ago, Tom Cherry said:

One comment….and a suggestion.

you need to let the inverter run for a while….without the remote plugged in.  So….try this.

temp sensor UNPLUGGED.  Remote unplugged. AGS Unplugged…. NOW….do the SOFT reset.  Check the voltage.   If it is STILL in the 15.X, do the HARD…..then test or measure the voltage.

if you did not unplug the remote or the temp sensor, then you MAY have them as an issue.  By resetting the inverter, it loads up the “resident” defaults.  That is as good as it is gonna get.

NOW….if the voltage is normal, then recharge or let them recharge.   Then run them down and let them recharge.  Then check on it.

if you let the batteries run down and then you can watch the voltage.

otherwise, the remote or temp sensor can be the issue.  That is exactly what Magnum says.

If the voltage is high when there is no remote, temp sensor and no AGS….IT IS THE INVERTER.

you cannot isolate the inverter with those plugged in….

Do THIS….and you will know….

 

I pretty much concur with what Tom has said. 

There is still something that doesn't make sense.  How can you have a higher voltage at the battery than you have at the charger?  You say you have 15.1 volts at the charger, but are showing 15.5 volts at the battery.  This is physically not possible.  You either have another charging source not identified, or you are not using the same exact (acknowledge the redundancy - but inserter for emphasis) meter at both points.  Or, you don't have a good connection from the meter probes to the point of measurement.  Personally, I think this discrepancy should be sorted first, as the solution may lead to the overall fix of this problem. 

I do agree that disconnecting all inputs/outputs to/from the inverter, and letting it run, under very close supervision, may yield valuable information.  But closely watch your battery voltage, because charging for extended times (any time IMHO - but I don't Equalize) is not good for any lead acid battery.    

I would suggest getting a second and possibly a third voltmeter to compare the voltage.  If you have a defective meter, reading higher than it should, you will be chasing your tail.

  -Rick N.

 

[Tom Cherry]

1 hour ago, waterskier_1 said:

I pretty much concur with what Tom has said. 

There is still something that doesn't make sense.  How can you have a higher voltage at the battery than you have at the charger?  You say you have 15.1 volts at the charger, but are showing 15.5 volts at the battery.  This is physically not possible.  You either have another charging source not identified, or you are not using the same exact (acknowledge the redundancy - but inserter for emphasis) meter at both points.  Or, you don't have a good connection from the meter probes to the point of measurement.  Personally, I think this discrepancy should be sorted first, as the solution may lead to the overall fix of this problem. 

I do agree that disconnecting all inputs/outputs to/from the inverter, and letting it run, under very close supervision, may yield valuable information.  But closely watch your battery voltage, because charging for extended times (any time IMHO - but I don't Equalize) is not good for any lead acid battery.    

I would suggest getting a second and possibly a third voltmeter to compare the voltage.  If you have a defective meter, reading higher than it should, you will be chasing your tail.

  -Rick N.

 

Rick,

Thanks for the vote of confidence.  It I hadn't had the issue, I would NOT have believed my "trouble shooting".  What I read was this...

Remote says 12.7 VDC or so.  Batteries say 14.9.  Nothing in his system can increase the voltage.  What he did NOT measure....and I decided NOT to go that route was the OUTPUT of the Charger....at the terminals.  I'll wager a few things that if you put the VOM on the TERMINALS of the charger....it WAS putting out almost 15 VDC and the inverter was in the EQUALIZATION mode.

My point in the final post was that you have to remove all the "Potential Sources of MUCKING up the Inverter".  I did all the resets and such.....and then I would find that my remote, with a mind of its own....called a BAD or intermittent fault, would change things.  So, i set the bank to 450 Amp Hours.  A day or a week or even an hour later....it was set up for 1000 again.....and that is what the REMOTE was telling me.  You could set it for ONE parameter and something like unplugging the shore and it going into INVERTING....and then back to charging when you were on power would CHANGE THE PARAMETERS.  

Therefore, since he reported that this had happened once before....it HAS to be that the Inverter/Charger is in EQUILIZATION.  BUT, he never set it for that or did that.  The bad remote did it.  NOW, there COULD, per Magnum be an issue with any of the OTHER TWO INPUTS to the NETWORK.  So, you have to unplug the Temp Sensor and the AGS....then do the reset.  If the Inverter delivers the expected voltage (in the high 12's and low 13's) and you run down the battery and the batteries are in the low 12's, then you it SHOULD start to recharge, based on the NON REMOTE or other plug in devices, charge them at Bulk, then Absorb and finally FLOAT or FULL.

Unless you do that, you do NOT know if the inverter, in a stand alone DEFAULT setup is working...

I hope this helps....but a bad remote or some other :NETWORK " input that has a bad board can scramble the inverter's brain and you never know what will happen.

 

[63Hotrod]

Powered it back up tonight after three days of charger stand by It went into absorb mode at 14.6 45 amp Two hours later shifted to float at 13.3 As this seemed normal I did not run any of the suggested test  As there is no fault not sure what to do next

I think it kicks it self into Equalization mode staying stuck there  But I do trust the system to leave the charger on

In hindsight I think it may have done this before but not stayed in EM  But we were away and didn't notice anything. 
is it normal to use 1/2 gal of Distilled water every 6 weeks or so

[63Hotrod]

I should note that now the remote is reading close to what I see at the battery