A question about the van battery charger. I have a Electro BC 1230 charger and at the moment it doesent seem to be charging the batteries properly. The solar panel ,130W, seems to be doing it as its suppose to be. the last couple of days we are in a very shady site and last night the batteries were only at 12.8 at start of night when usually at 13.1. Looking at the manual it can be set at battery charger or power supply mode. currently on charger mode.
it says it can be used in either. Manual says by having it on power supply it will still charge battery and supply power to 12v system bypassing the batteries. Float voltage is set on 13.5v. should it be either 13.2 or 13.8 or leave it on 13.5.
Ross
T1 Terry said
02:40 PM Oct 21, 2019
Should be 13.8v float. The lower float settings are for using the charger in maintain mode when not being used but the charger plugged into a power point to keep the batteries from going flat and destroying themselves.
The difference between power supply mode and charger mode is the charger in power supply mode will supply a constant 13.8v where in charger mode it will go to boost voltage, then absorption voltage/stage, then drop into float mode/voltage. We generally recommend customers with a power supply mode on their charger to select that when using lithium batteries so the battery does not get over charged when plugged in at a caravan park etc if they are parked up under a shade tree. If they have good sun on the panels I recommend they turn the charger off to allow the battery to cycle using the solar to recharge it each day.
T1 Terry
wombat50 said
04:27 PM Oct 21, 2019
Thanks Terry, I forgot to put question on and it was is it fine to use charger on power supply and does that mean the 12V system draws power straight from the charger and not the batteries on this setting.
T1 Terry said
04:45 PM Oct 21, 2019
The system will draw from which ever source has the higher voltage. If the system draws less than the maximum output of the charger in power supply mode, ( I believe you mentioned it was 30 amp unit) then anything still available will go towards charging or maintaining the battery state of charge. If the system draw is greater than the charger can supply, then the battery will make up the difference until the high demand drops, then the charger will top the battery back up again with what ever output it has spare.
T1 Terry
Brenda and Alan said
10:42 PM Oct 21, 2019
I have an electro 1220, pretty much the same gear and a very well made piece of kit. Set it to charge, not power supply, float as Terry said at 13.8V and battery to gel or flooded. If you have an AGM battery set it to Gel which will give an adsorption voltage of 14.6 V.
Alan
-- Edited by Brenda and Alan on Tuesday 22nd of October 2019 08:13:16 PM
T1 Terry said
12:04 PM Oct 22, 2019
Brenda and Alan wrote:
I have an electro 1220, pretty much the same gear and a very well made piece of kit. Set it to charge, not power supply, float as Terry said at 12.8V and battery to gel or flooded. If you have an AGM battery set it to Gel which will give an adsorption voltage of 14.6 V.
Alan
Float should be 13.8v for an active system, 12.8v will just result in stratified electrolyte where nothing but water is at the top and very concentrated acid mix is at the bottom. The electrolyte needs to be stirred by the lightly bubbling action of the electrolysis to keep it mixed. Genuine Gel electrolyte batteries are the exception and in all honesty, are not suitable for RV cyclic use where solar recharging is the go to option rather than all mains charging that can be at a much slower charge rate over a long period.
T1 Terry
Brenda and Alan said
08:12 PM Oct 22, 2019
Sorry Terry it was a typo, will correct it.
Alan
Aus-Kiwi said
08:30 PM Oct 22, 2019
Have a 40 amp charger . Hell good . When working !! Complete c r a p when they dont work !! Its when you depend on them
Most !!
wombat50 said
01:06 PM Oct 25, 2019
Hi, Thanks for the replies. Im pretty sure I have fixed the problem, just had to slide a switch over on the wall mounted remote control.
In the attached photo, right hand side where it says ,output I had the switch on 'off' that way it showed the power left in the batteries, but it seems that it wont charge when in that mode and for the last who knows how long it was the solar that was charging the batteries and not the charger. After reading the instructions 6-7 times I learnt abit about the Bulk, Absorption and float on the charger and what they do. Then I moved the switch over to on and it went to bulk then absorption then by morning it was on Float mode. So far all has been good. Thanks for the replies.
A question about the van battery charger. I have a Electro BC 1230 charger and at the moment it doesent seem to be charging the batteries properly. The solar panel ,130W, seems to be doing it as its suppose to be. the last couple of days we are in a very shady site and last night the batteries were only at 12.8 at start of night when usually at 13.1. Looking at the manual it can be set at battery charger or power supply mode. currently on charger mode.
it says it can be used in either. Manual says by having it on power supply it will still charge battery and supply power to 12v system bypassing the batteries. Float voltage is set on 13.5v. should it be either 13.2 or 13.8 or leave it on 13.5.
Ross
The difference between power supply mode and charger mode is the charger in power supply mode will supply a constant 13.8v where in charger mode it will go to boost voltage, then absorption voltage/stage, then drop into float mode/voltage. We generally recommend customers with a power supply mode on their charger to select that when using lithium batteries so the battery does not get over charged when plugged in at a caravan park etc if they are parked up under a shade tree. If they have good sun on the panels I recommend they turn the charger off to allow the battery to cycle using the solar to recharge it each day.
T1 Terry
T1 Terry
I have an electro 1220, pretty much the same gear and a very well made piece of kit. Set it to charge, not power supply, float as Terry said at 13.8V and battery to gel or flooded. If you have an AGM battery set it to Gel which will give an adsorption voltage of 14.6 V.
Alan
-- Edited by Brenda and Alan on Tuesday 22nd of October 2019 08:13:16 PM
Float should be 13.8v for an active system, 12.8v will just result in stratified electrolyte where nothing but water is at the top and very concentrated acid mix is at the bottom. The electrolyte needs to be stirred by the lightly bubbling action of the electrolysis to keep it mixed. Genuine Gel electrolyte batteries are the exception and in all honesty, are not suitable for RV cyclic use where solar recharging is the go to option rather than all mains charging that can be at a much slower charge rate over a long period.
T1 Terry
Sorry Terry it was a typo, will correct it.
Alan
Hi, Thanks for the replies. Im pretty sure I have fixed the problem, just had to slide a switch over on the wall mounted remote control.
In the attached photo, right hand side where it says ,output I had the switch on 'off' that way it showed the power left in the batteries, but it seems that it wont charge when in that mode and for the last who knows how long it was the solar that was charging the batteries and not the charger. After reading the instructions 6-7 times I learnt abit about the Bulk, Absorption and float on the charger and what they do. Then I moved the switch over to on and it went to bulk then absorption then by morning it was on Float mode. So far all has been good. Thanks for the replies.