Fight: Water Pump vs. Battery - Page 7

arctictraveller · 12-08-2014, 12:06 PM

I agree, nice diagram, and good news on the replacement battery. Now that you will have two, you could hook up a second one for double the off grid fun. After reviewing your diagram, it's clear your battery isolator is the diode type. I think that works in your favor in this case as the diodes have about a 0.6V drop from input to output. (I think this is called the diode forward voltage drop, Vf) This will help prevent overcharging. It slows recharge time a bit, but it probably does not matter.

As for the Linklite, I have the same monitor on my boat, and it is a very powerful tool. With it, you should be able to monitor all the parameters needed to troubleshoot any further problems. It should also monitor very low current draws. Should you see a draw you think is discharging the battery, simply pull fuses or open circuit breakers one at a time until you see the current go to zero. Does your solar regulator have settings for different battery chemistrys? ...........

rallypanam · 12-08-2014, 06:29 PM

Quick look on the Xantrex.. showing -0.1A.. turn on led ceiling light, jumps to -0.5A, so it's working properly.. but I don't reckon 0.1A draw (maybe the Xantrex itself?) is causing any serious issues. Battery shows full, 13.2V.

I'll take a deeper look at the both the Xantrex and the Sun Charger this weekend, if we have some sun.

arctictraveller · 12-08-2014, 07:34 PM

.1A won't kill your battery for weeks, or even months, so you don't seem to have any phantom loads. (At this moment at least) Next time your in full sun, check the voltage when the battery is fully charged after driving a bunch, or being plugged in. Hopefully it's s not too high..........

rallypanam · 12-08-2014, 10:58 PM

My drawing is getting more detailed..

**daveb** · 12-08-2014, 11:10 PM

Guess you know that sometimes driving around with the Starcool on partially pulls from the house battery cause the Ford alternator can't keep up fully with the SC's draw. But I doubt that was the problem if you even had one.

rallypanam · 12-09-2014, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveb

Guess you know that sometimes driving around with the Starcool on partially pulls from the house battery cause the Ford alternator can't keep up fully with the SC's draw. But I doubt that was the problem if you even had one.

I did not know that, but I've only used the Starcool a couple of times for a couple of hours when crossing the valley this summer.. but it's good to know!

arctictraveller · 12-09-2014, 10:44 AM

Wow, even better drawing. Sport mobile should hire you to do theirs. Hopefully the shunt is the very last thing in line as you show,assuring all current passes through it before returning to the battery.

rallypanam · 12-09-2014, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arctictraveller

Wow, even better drawing. Sport mobile should hire you to do theirs. Hopefully the shunt is the very last thing in line as you show,assuring all current passes through it before returning to the battery.

Yes, still some work to do on the drawing.. the Xantrex has 5 wires from the shunt/battery terminals, and I don't remember which. I also want to add ground wires, calling out where things are grounded (i.e. chassis or to the battery, like the winch). And apparently the Starcool is connected to the house battery in there, or maybe it just pulls back through?

And I'm sure I'm still missing some things as well.. But after trying to troubleshoot this based on SMB's drawings, which are one size fits all, I've decided it would be good to have a detailed schematic of my actual situation.

Of course it all changes when I finally get around to installing the Tripplite 1512 I've had sitting in the garage for a year.

rallypanam · 12-13-2014, 10:10 AM

Haven't really had any sun yet this week.. but with overcast sky all is looking well, a slight positive trickle coming in from solar, no drain.

And I got confirmation my new warranty replacement AGM has been shipped!

rallypanam · 01-06-2015, 06:17 PM

UPDATE:: Big kudos to http://www.wholesalebatteriesdirect.com/.. They shipped the battery 12/12, I didn't hear from the shipper, so I finally reached out to them yesterday. The carrier explained they tried to call me (they didn't) and now there were storage charges since the battery was sitting there for weeks. I told them to call the Wholesale Batteries Direct.

They did, called me back 20 minutes later, storage charges were gone, and they could deliver today. Showed up, I immediately checked voltage on the battery that's been sitting in a box for close to a month, 12.95V. Hooray!

So definitely recommend buying batteries from these guys. Warrantied my five month old dead battery with no hassles or problems.. and now I've got a brand new one to go in this weekend.