Kawaman Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 Hi Everyone, I have just bought a new set of 8 Deltec 105ah Deep Cycle batteries replacing my old PowerSafe 120Ah battery banks after 4 years ( the were reconditioned) My setup is a Mecer SOL-I-AX-5M 48v Rated power 5000VA/4000W Firmware update to KKS5K74.40 which now has Battery Equalization set at 120min and 1 day. Batteries are connected in Series of 4 with 9 Yingly 255W Solar Panels My question to the Forum is: To set at UPS or Appliance? In the past I watched a Justin Case solar video back in 2014/15 (Aussie) on YouTube and his setting was UPS which I duly followed in the belief that is what it should be however, up until a friend of mine monitored my Inverter over a week (when I still had the PowerSafe batteries) he mentioned that I am hardly using my batteries and he suggested I set the Inverter to Appliance which I have discovered is really great as at night (not using any heating appliances other than fridges etc my Ellies monitor is zero and showning the odd battery charge of grid usage. During the day it gets even better with solar. My battery settings on WatchPower were given to me by the Deltec Battery Solar expert and the settings are: a) Solar First b) SBU c) AC Input Range (Appliance) d) Battery type (User) e) Output Mode (Single) f) Bulk charging voltage 57.6v g) Float charging voltage 54.4v Battery Equalization setting: a) Battery equalization (Enable) b) Equalization time (120min) c) Equalization period (1 day) Real-time active battery equalization (Cancel) Max Charging current (40A) Max AC Charging current (40A) Back to Discharge Voltage (56v) Back to grid (46v) questionable? Battery cut-off voltage (46v) Should I leave it on Appliance and forget about it? or only change to UPS when I go away on weekends Tried looking on the Forum for a satisfactory answer Quote
Coulomb Posted October 18, 2019 Posted October 18, 2019 On 2019/10/16 at 4:35 PM, Kawaman said: My question to the Forum is: To set at UPS or Appliance? It seems that the South African grid can be a bit jumpy, so probably appliance is best. Quote My battery settings on WatchPower were given to me by the Deltec Battery Solar expert and the settings are: ... f) Bulk charging voltage 57.6v That seems a bit high for sealed batteries, as it's the start of the gassing voltage (depending on temperature). I'd consider 56.4 to 56.8, maybe up to 57.2 V. Check your equalisation voltage; it should be the same as the bulk voltage, or a little lower if it will allow that. Because you'll be subjecting your battery to this voltage for 2 hours every day now (with equalisation). Quote Back to grid (46v) questionable? It will use the maximum of this setting, and 2.0 V higher than the battery cut-off voltage. So at present, it will be switching at 48.0 V. Quote Should I leave it on Appliance and forget about it? or only change to UPS when I go away on weekends Why do you distinguish between normal times and when away on weekends? Quote
Kawaman Posted October 18, 2019 Author Posted October 18, 2019 Hi Coulomb, Thank you for you advice much appreciated. To answer your question "Distinguish between normal times weekends away". To be honest, I don't know Trying to figure out the difference between choosing Appliance or UPS. If I choose "UPS" for instance, at night, the grid would supply power to fridges and rogues etc. Should I choose "Appliance", at night, the batteries will supply power to fridges and rogues etc and the grid will only charge the batteries when required. So...to save on the electricity bill Appliance would be the preference. If I may Coulomb, I would like to ask, on the "Battery Equalization setting" where the setting is set at "Enable" with the Equalization Time setting at 120min Equalization period 1 Day (This info given to me from Deltec) I noticed this morning a flashing (E) on the Mecer Inverter and the cooling fans activated, it was still dark outside and was on battery power and the manual does not show the meaning of flashing (E), by chance I disabled the Battery Equalization, the error (E) disappeared immediately. I have left it off now. Your thoughts on that issue ( I am learning all the time) Quote
Coulomb Posted October 18, 2019 Posted October 18, 2019 6 hours ago, Kawaman said: I noticed this morning a flashing (E) on the Mecer Inverter and the cooling fans activated, it was still dark outside and was on battery power and the manual does not show the meaning of flashing (E), by chance I disabled the Battery Equalization, the error (E) disappeared immediately. It looks like when it's the day for equalisation (enough days have passed), then equalisation is deemed "active" and there will be a sort of "EQ" warning, even if equalisation isn't happening at the moment (e.g. because it's dark, still charging the battery, etc). So with your settings, I believe that this will be quite normal. This is the equalisation "warning": So: no need to panic, it's not an actual error. Quote
Kawaman Posted October 18, 2019 Author Posted October 18, 2019 @Coulomb Aaaaah Thank you very much. So it means Equalization in progress. I will re-activate when I am home. Besides Victron BMV 702 is there a cheaper version? Or should I just purchase Victron. There are many on Aliexpress (Chinese see link below) that vary from R300 shipping inclusive. Or perhaps the makers of Axpert/Mecer have a BMV? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000199021849.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.426a187ciPLEJ1&algo_pvid=baeb05a7-f3e0-4fb2-affd-83b3544bd0f7&algo_expid=baeb05a7-f3e0-4fb2-affd-83b3544bd0f7-34&btsid=940ac583-b2df-4a39-9fe7-7f2177837a2f&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_7,searchweb201603_55 Much Appreciated Quote
DeepBass9 Posted October 18, 2019 Posted October 18, 2019 1 hour ago, Kawaman said: @Coulomb Aaaaah Thank you very much. So it means Equalization in progress. I will re-activate when I am home. Besides Victron BMV 702 is there a cheaper version? Or should I just purchase Victron. There are many on Aliexpress (Chinese see link below) that vary from R300 shipping inclusive. Or perhaps the makers of Axpert/Mecer have a BMV? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000199021849.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.426a187ciPLEJ1&algo_pvid=baeb05a7-f3e0-4fb2-affd-83b3544bd0f7&algo_expid=baeb05a7-f3e0-4fb2-affd-83b3544bd0f7-34&btsid=940ac583-b2df-4a39-9fe7-7f2177837a2f&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_7,searchweb201603_55 Much Appreciated That looks good, I could use something like that on my electric quad project. Quote
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