Last weekend that we went away 3 weeks ago our portable Solar Panel was playing up
got more than 15.3 volt's going into my battery
As soon I noticed it I took my plug of the panel out and when we've got home
the next day we returned the panel to Battery World
Owner of the shop started testing the panel but we had not much sun that monday morning
told me leave it with me and I will contact you
so after one and a half week still nothing so we did visit the shop
Owner not in shop bla bla bla will contact us by phone
being a bit p.... off we left the shop
And indeed a few hrs later we had a call
we were just coming back from Maryborough so we popped into the shop
Owner was waiting for answer from factory he told us and that we maybe getting it repaired or a new one
This Morning at 8.15 the phone went and there was David from Battery World
He told to come around and pick up a brand new panel
That's what we call service
I asked Him you want the old bag back ,and told us If you've got it with you so I grabbed out of the car
than he told me I still got something from you what was an wooden T handle what I fitted on the lead of the pannel
so he changed that for us to over
we were Lucky I think got all the extra trimmings with it as well extra 5 meter lead with 2 anderson plugs One anderson to connect to battery
and one with the big alligator clips
All with all don't know if it was worth the waiting ,
But for sure exceptional service is what we received
Cheers John
Happywanderer said
08:05 PM Sep 20, 2013
John, how much was supposed to be going into the battery? Still trying to understand these things.
Sounds like they sorted it all out good for you. Marj
Cruising Cruze said
08:23 PM Sep 20, 2013
all depending of what type of battery Marj
normal AGM 14.4 volts it tells me in the booklet
and when full 13.3
Hope this will help you
John
dorian said
09:51 PM Sep 20, 2013
Measure the charging voltage of your engine's alternator. It's typically around 14.1V to 14.4V or so, with temperature compensation. Your solar panel regulator should be smarter than that, ie it should trickle charge when the battery is full.
Happywanderer said
10:20 PM Sep 20, 2013
Oh I see. It was reading higher than it should.
GaryKelly said
12:02 AM Sep 21, 2013
Speaking of regulators, mine shows about 14.5 volts. When I'm on the road and using the AGM on a daily basis, how do I tell when it's "half full". If it were like a petrol gauge it would show 7.25 volts but that's not the case is it. I've heard that when the regulator shows about 12 volts, the battery is down to about 50% capacity, and needs charging without further use. Is that right?
Loki said
12:48 AM Sep 21, 2013
GaryKelly asked:-
"I've heard that when the regulator shows about 12 volts, the battery is down to about 50% capacity, and needs charging without further use. Is that right? "
Yes, that is what I understand. I try not to let my AGM's get below 12V, which is about 1/2 charge, even tho the indicator on my regulator still show Green (rather than yellow for part discharge). While AGM's can take a hefty discharge without major damage, to get the maximum life out of them it is best to keep them above half charge.
hako said
01:26 AM Sep 21, 2013
Slightly off-topic but I bought an 80watt folding panel off Ebay for $155 delivered - when I went to use it I found that the regulator was not working properly and cutting out at 13.2 volts instead of 14.4.
So I rang the supplier and he said straight off it sounds like a dud regulator and said he'd mail a new heavy duty regulator up that day. Two days later we had the new regulator that normally retail for over $50. Didn't want the old one back either. I thought that was pretty good as he believed what I said with no arguement and rectified the problem in a flash.
Page 26 has a graph which shows how voltage varies with electrolyte concentration.
Page 12 states that the voltages in the fully charged and completely discharged states are 12.7V and 11.7V, respectively.
Page 23 shows how depth of discharge influences battery life. At 10% discharge the battery survives 5000 cycles, while at 50% it lasts for 1000. At 100% discharge it lasts about 350 cycles. In terms of Ah delivered, ISTM that there is no difference between 10% and 50% -- both result in a figure which is equivalent to 500 complete discharges. At 100% it reduces to 350. Or am I misreading the data?
Page 26 has a graph of charge and float voltages versus temperature for an AGM battery. Higher temperatures require reduced voltages.
At 0C the charge voltage is 15.0V, at 20C it is 14.4V, and at 50C it is 13.8V. Between 20C and 50C the voltage drops by 0.2V per 10degC.
The float voltage is 13.2V at 25C and about 12.7V at 50C. At 0C it is about 14.0V.
-- Edited by dorian on Saturday 21st of September 2013 05:38:54 AM
bloomoon said
12:19 AM Sep 22, 2013
I won,t go into details, but I had terrible service from battery world Maroochydore. Wrote a complaint and no reply. Maybe it wasn,t my week !!
Last weekend that we went away 3 weeks ago our portable Solar Panel was playing up
got more than 15.3 volt's going into my battery
As soon I noticed it I took my plug of the panel out and when we've got home
the next day we returned the panel to Battery World
Owner of the shop started testing the panel but we had not much sun that monday morning
told me leave it with me and I will contact you
so after one and a half week still nothing so we did visit the shop
Owner not in shop bla bla bla will contact us by phone
being a bit p.... off we left the shop
And indeed a few hrs later we had a call
we were just coming back from Maryborough so we popped into the shop
Owner was waiting for answer from factory he told us and that we maybe getting it repaired or a new one
This Morning at 8.15 the phone went and there was David from Battery World
He told to come around and pick up a brand new panel
That's what we call service
I asked Him you want the old bag back ,and told us If you've got it with you so I grabbed out of the car
than he told me I still got something from you what was an wooden T handle what I fitted on the lead of the pannel
so he changed that for us to over
we were Lucky I think got all the extra trimmings with it as well extra 5 meter lead with 2 anderson plugs One anderson to connect to battery
and one with the big alligator clips
All with all don't know if it was worth the waiting ,
But for sure exceptional service is what we received
Cheers John
Sounds like they sorted it all out good for you. Marj
all depending of what type of battery Marj
normal AGM 14.4 volts it tells me in the booklet
and when full 13.3
Hope this will help you
John
"I've heard that when the regulator shows about 12 volts, the battery is down to about 50% capacity, and needs charging without further use. Is that right? "
Yes, that is what I understand. I try not to let my AGM's get below 12V, which is about 1/2 charge, even tho the indicator on my regulator still show Green (rather than yellow for part discharge). While AGM's can take a hefty discharge without major damage, to get the maximum life out of them it is best to keep them above half charge.
So I rang the supplier and he said straight off it sounds like a dud regulator and said he'd mail a new heavy duty regulator up that day. Two days later we had the new regulator that normally retail for over $50. Didn't want the old one back either. I thought that was pretty good as he believed what I said with no arguement and rectified the problem in a flash.
I found this lecture on lead-acid batteries:
http://ecee.colorado.edu/~ecen4517/materials/Battery.pdf
Page 26 has a graph which shows how voltage varies with electrolyte concentration.
Page 12 states that the voltages in the fully charged and completely discharged states are 12.7V and 11.7V, respectively.
Page 23 shows how depth of discharge influences battery life. At 10% discharge the battery survives 5000 cycles, while at 50% it lasts for 1000. At 100% discharge it lasts about 350 cycles. In terms of Ah delivered, ISTM that there is no difference between 10% and 50% -- both result in a figure which is equivalent to 500 complete discharges. At 100% it reduces to 350. Or am I misreading the data?
Page 26 has a graph of charge and float voltages versus temperature for an AGM battery. Higher temperatures require reduced voltages.
At 0C the charge voltage is 15.0V, at 20C it is 14.4V, and at 50C it is 13.8V. Between 20C and 50C the voltage drops by 0.2V per 10degC.
The float voltage is 13.2V at 25C and about 12.7V at 50C. At 0C it is about 14.0V.
-- Edited by dorian on Saturday 21st of September 2013 05:38:54 AM
I won,t go into details, but I had terrible service from battery world Maroochydore. Wrote a complaint and no reply. Maybe it wasn,t my week !!