Strange B2B behaviour/ power drain

[StillGoing]

Sorry Lenny I don't know what that means

Which B2B have you got?

 

[Lenny HB]

Sorry Lenny I don't know what that means

How are you turning on the B2B?
Do you just have the battery cables going to the B2B with a link on the L&H terminals. Or is there no link and a wire going to the H terminal?

 

[ChrisL]

I'm not sure if you have a TR smart or XS but both manuals are attached, they may help you understand the questions people are asking you.

 

[Hymerboy]

I dont really know what I'm looking at but these photos seam odd

 

[ChrisL]

I dont really know what I'm looking at but these photos seam odd

Why do they seem odd? the B2B is putting out 47 amps, the shunt is telling you that 36 amps are going into the battery, the difference is being consumed by something else, most likely the fridge I would think? Depending on how your system is wired.

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[Speve]

I’m just in the process of changing my victron TR for the XS as I was not getting a very high charge rate from the TR

 

[ChrisL]

I’m just in the process of changing my victron TR for the XS as I was not getting a very high charge rate from the TR

Assuming that your TR is a 30 amp version, if you are not getting close to 30 amps into a partially charged lithium check that the start voltage under engine shut down detection is not set at 14 volts which is the default value, for some reason this throttles the output of the device, change it to 13.25 volts and the delayed start voltage to 13.2 and test it again, you should see a significant increase in charge current.

 

[Hymerboy]

Take a look at images 4 + 5 seems high watts or is that ok ?
also while I'm on I have just fitted a Victron solar controller the battery terminals show 22 v and the solar show 13 v with no sun how can that be ?

 

[ChrisL]

Take a look at images 4 + 5 seems high watts or is that ok ?
also while I'm on I have just fitted a Victron solar controller the battery terminals show 22 v and the solar show 13 v with no sun how can that be ?

The solar controller should be connected to the battery before the solar panels are connected to the solar controller if not the solar controller may think it is connected to a 24v battery.

Re watts, volts x amps = watts 14 x 47 = 659 watts so it looks correct to me.

 

[CAB96]

Take a look at images 4 + 5 seems high watts or is that ok ?
also while I'm on I have just fitted a Victron solar controller the battery terminals show 22 v and the solar show 13 v with no sun how can that be ?

22v from the panel converted into 13v to charge the battery?

It will probably still register those voltages in daylight, it's just the current that will be virtually nothing.

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[Hymerboy]

The solar controller should be connected to the battery before the solar panels are connected to the solar controller if not the solar controller may think it is connected to a 24v battery.

should I disconnect and start again or is it too late ?
Also I disconnected both negatives from the batteries and still got a reading of 22v which I don't understand.

 

[Hymerboy]

Why do they seem odd? the B2B is putting out 47 amps, the shunt is telling you that 36 amps are going into the battery, the difference is being consumed by something else, most likely the fridge I would think? Depending on how your system is wired.

Images 4+5 show 501 and 659 watts, is that likely

 

[ChrisL]

should I disconnect and start again or is it too late ?
Also I disconnected both negatives from the batteries and still got a reading of 22v which I don't understand.

I would cover the panels or wait until it's dark, disconnect the positive from the panels to the solar controller or pull the fuse if you've included one, disconnect the positive to the battery from the solar controller reconnect the battery negatives and any other battery connections then reconnect the positive from the battery to the solar controller, then reconnect the positive from the panels to the controller or replace the fuse. You will need to wait until the sun comes up to check if it's working OK, I would expect to see between 18 and 22 volts from the panels and around 13 volts output from the controller but very few amps also you may need to do a firmware update from the app.

 

[ChrisL]

Images 4+5 show 501 and 659 watts, is that likely

As explained in post #69 volts x amps = watts so yes the wattage looks correct.

 

[ChrisL]

Not sure if this will help or not but in this photo my panels are still outputting ½ volt which you can see under the solar section top right, it is not outputting any current but in the lower section you can see the battery voltage, if the panels were producing sufficient energy to charge the battery we would see a positive figure against current in both the solar section and the battery section but the battery section would show a higher current then the solar section.

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[Hymerboy]

So it seems that I have been panicking over nothing ?

 

[ChrisL]

So it seems that I have been panicking over nothing ?

we all do that if we are unsure about something, especially if we paid a lot of money for components and worried we may have broken something. Don't be afraid to ask questions on here as most people are willing to share their experience, ask away if you are unsure about anything you are observing and i'm sure someone will be able to help.

 

[Hymerboy]

Back to the B2B, the other day I went for a short test drive and the reading went up to float however the next morning I started the van and the reading was down to the beginning so went for another short run and it went back to float, does this suggest a drain of some sort ?

 

[ChrisL]

Back to the B2B, the other day I went for a short test drive and the reading went up to float however the next morning I started the van and the reading was down to the beginning so went for another short run and it went back to float, does this suggest a drain of some sort ?

Without seeing before and after figures and seeing what your setting are it's difficult to say, but certainly if you've left something switched on overnight then some battery charge will have been used and a short trip would return the battery to full again and the charger status to float.

 

[Hymerboy]

I just want to say thanks to everybody that has helped me through this, as you can guess, my knowledge about electricity is limited to repairing a cable that I cut through in my time as a carpet fitter.

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[Hymerboy]

Still confused with the B2B readings. Yesterday went for a 1 hour run see photo 0941 @ 14.23. then this morning at start up photo 0943 @ 0942 (time) then photo 0944 @10.04,

 

[Lenny HB]

Still confused with the B2B readings. Yesterday went for a 1 hour run see photo 0941 @ 14.23. then this morning at start up photo 0943 @ 0942 (time) then photo 0944 @10.04,

Can you post them as jpeg or png files please. Can't make out what's what from those.

 

[Hymerboy]

Maybe I havnt run the engine for long enough ?

 

[ChrisL]

It would help a lot if you post a screenshot of your battery settings for both your B2B and your shunt.

 

[Hymerboy]

settings I think

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[ChrisL]

Battery settings, not engine shutdown detection.
These are mine.

 

[Lenny HB]

Battery settings, not engine shutdown detection.
These are mine.
View attachment 1000537View attachment 1000538

I assume you have Lithium, your B2B voltages look too high unless you have Super B batteries.

 

[Lenny HB]

Maybe I havnt run the engine for long enough ?



View attachment 1000489

View attachment 1000499

View attachment 1000500

View attachment 1000501

Your B2B looks OK to me.

 

[ChrisL]

I assume you have Lithium, your B2B voltages look too high unless you have Super B batteries.

I have a Fogstar Drift and the voltages are between the recommended settings as per Fogstar's q&a, the voltages i'm using are as a result of some experimentation and work well for me.

Fogstar's recommendation.
The recommended voltage for charging a lithium leisure battery is between 13.5V - 13.8V Float to 14.2v - 14.4V Bulk.

 

[Lenny HB]

I have a Fogstar Drift and the voltages are between the recommended settings as per Fogstar's q&a, the voltages i'm using are as a result of some experimentation and work well for me.

Fogstar's recommendation.
The recommended voltage for charging a lithium leisure battery is between 13.5V - 13.8V Float to 14.2v - 14.4V Bulk.

Fogstar recommend 14.2v for charging with Victron equipment (used to be 14.1).
I have mine set at 14.25 as some people have had problems with them not getting to 100% at 14.2v.
Float voltage should be 13.5v as the battery won't take a charge at that voltage and you shouldn't float Lithium's.

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