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Iterations are fine, we don't have to be perfect
My 2nd Location:Florida HardinessZone:10 AHS:10 GDD:8500 Rainfall:2in/mth winter, 8in/mth summer, Soil:Sand pH8 Flat
Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
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Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
dragontechrmh.com
Gerry Parent wrote:I think I have it figured out why the BMK never gets (or ever will get) to 100%.
The only settings that can manually be entered in to program the BMK is charge efficiency (which I set to "auto" position) and Ah size of the battery bank which I set to 430ah.
When I went to look at the inverter controller (ARC) under the "meters" heading it gives all kinds of info about what the BMK is reporting. The 2 listed below are the ones that are very wonky (and that I think are the cause of the problem)
5D DC amps BMK +1011.6 ADC
5E AH In/Out +32767 Ah
5D is supposed to report the real-time amps coming and going from the battery (and has a range of 0.1 - 999 amps) . Where is it getting this crazy high number coming from? (Interesting that it actually goes over the range of the unit !?!)
5E is supposed to report the total of incoming and outgoing amps (The range is ±32,768 AH) . If we only had this unit up and running for only less than a month now with very little use of power, again, where is it getting this crazy high number from? (Interesting how it matches the maximum range of the unit !?!)
So either the unit is defective and needs to be replaced or something is hooked up incorrectly (highly unlikely since its a pretty simple setup)
Any thoughts?
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Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
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Gerry Parent wrote:One update so far. When I reset the BMK by pulling the power then plugging back in, that 5E AH In/Out resets to 0, then almost immediately starts counting in +1 amp increments very quickly. I now see this is so because its thinking that there are 1011.6 amps coming in (no way) x 120V = Ah. So in about a day or so, it reaches the maximum amount of (32767 Ah) that it can record then just sits there. So the question remains....why is it reporting all those incoming amps when they don't exist? Perhaps the shunt is bad? Any way to test it? Still trying to get a hold of Magnum....
5D DC amps BMK +1011.6 ADC
5E AH In/Out +32767 Ah
Eric Hammond wrote:
Double check the shunts mV rating!!! You need a specific mV rating for your battery monitor! The shunt should be stamped. Double check that it's right with the battery monitor literature. Otherwise I would suspect a bad battery monitor
frank li wrote:
Eric Hammond wrote:
Double check the shunts mV rating!!! You need a specific mV rating for your battery monitor! The shunt should be stamped. Double check that it's right with the battery monitor literature. Otherwise I would suspect a bad battery monitor
I think this is more likely than a defective shunt or a defective monitor. The shunts are one of the highest quality and most stable and trouble free parts in the system. True it takes creativity to test a shunt without lab equipment set up to do so or a swap check..... didnt think about that until you said it, never had to test one!
Silence is Golden
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Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
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Gerry Parent wrote:Double checked that all loads ARE connected to the side leaving the shunt.
This was the only day where we turned off the inverter and the BMK amp reading was not at +1011.6 ADC but crept down about 5 amps. Then when we unplugged the power from the BMK for about a minute then plugged back in it was down to around 980amps. Thought I was onto something but then when I tried it again, it went back up to +1010 ADC.
Also, "5G Total AH OUT" has been at 0 ever since all this started and never moves. Even when the inverter and charge controller was off it still didn't move.
Got a hold of Magnum on the phone today and they said to check the milliamp reading between the orange and blue wires. We checked them on the shunt (0mV), where they attach to the BMK (2.3mV) and then disconnecting the harness from the BMK and checking again (0 mV). To me they should have all been the same but weren't.
Eric Hammond wrote:
Hey Gerry, sorry it wasn't something simple! I'm a little confused by some of the readings you said, mostly because without pictures its not clear what your referring to. Also, not to second guess you in any way, but I would like a picture of the meter screen when your make your measurements. We are dealing with REALLY small amounts of voltage here and the measurements are critical.
First, you did install the shunt in the NEGATIVE battery cable correct? Were the fasteners torqued with a torque wrench?
You need to set your voltmeter up to read mV. I highly recommend this specific meter for ease of operation and accurate results/ with cost in mind.
You'll notice on my shunt, all the terminals were coated with a conductive electrical grease (NOT di-electric)
Does that make sense? That should be enough info to pinpoint the culprit. It's worth noting, Voltage drop only works with the circuit intact and functioning. We cannot unplug anything to make measurements.
Silence is Golden
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Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
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Gerry Parent wrote:
Eric Hammond wrote:
Hey Gerry, sorry it wasn't something simple! I'm a little confused by some of the readings you said, mostly because without pictures its not clear what your referring to. Also, not to second guess you in any way, but I would like a picture of the meter screen when your make your measurements. We are dealing with REALLY small amounts of voltage here and the measurements are critical.
I'll snap some photos today
First, you did install the shunt in the NEGATIVE battery cable correct? Were the fasteners torqued with a torque wrench?
Yes, Shunt is on the negative cable but not secured with a torque wrench. Couldn't find any info in the setup about what torque to use....any suggestions?
You need to set your voltmeter up to read mV. I highly recommend this specific meter for ease of operation and accurate results/ with cost in mind.
For now I'm using a cheap Home Depot special volt meter but will order one of those your using as I need a better one anyways.
You'll notice on my shunt, all the terminals were coated with a conductive electrical grease (NOT di-electric)
Could you include a brand name as I do have di-electric but not what your suggesting.
Does that make sense? That should be enough info to pinpoint the culprit. It's worth noting, Voltage drop only works with the circuit intact and functioning. We cannot unplug anything to make measurements.
Yes it does make sense to me. I'll get back to you once I get more readings.
Eric Hammond wrote:The picture testing at the shunt, is that with the battery monitor plugged in?
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Eric Hammond wrote:In the simplest terms, judging from what I see, the battery monitor is bad.
(using Paul's numbering system)
145) The battery monitor being plugged in to the circuit should not increase the voltage in the circuit, making me think there is a voltage leak internally to it.
198r) The very last picture tells me the monitor thinks amperage is always coming in to the battery all the time, and never leaving the battery at night, still charging through some miracle X
23b) The amperage of 1000 amps at 48v = 48,000 watts from the panels at night seems excessive (this one was slightly a joke)
I also at this point would like to razz you about the wire nuts, and that you should get rid of them, we aren't building a house ;)
Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
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Silence is Golden
For all your RMH needs:
dragontechrmh.com
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