Battery Questions

Wallowa said:
Good question...I believe it does, but my old memory is fuzzy on that..

What I gather is that yes a better monitor will give real time accurate system evaluations but the issue, if indeed I face this issue, is that the controller doesn't "know when to quit" and may over-charge the batteries [two 12v in my case]...

I will roll the beast out into the sun tomorrow and report back on whether or not I still get the "13.6" floating charge indication on solar power alone.

Phil
Click to expand...

As promised.

#1 On 110v long term storage in shop...two ..12v FWC AGM OEM '16 batteries...steady "13.6v" on Zamp controller screen.

#2 Disconnect 110v...let sit without any load 4 hours...."12.9v" on Zamp controller screen...

#3 Take out into the direct sunlight 0915 hrs, no clouds, all solar w/160 Zamp roof panel...jumped to "14.4v" for about 5 mins+ and then display changed to "Full" and "12.7-9v".

#4 Back into shop on 110v..."13.6v"

What say ye pundits of electrons? Pretty much as it should be?

Thanks,

Phil

Addendum: Checking the monitor on 110v after hour+ in shop and it shows "14.7v"....?????

From IOTA web site:

[https://www.iotaengineering.com/pplib/IQ4manual.pdf]


"PREDETERMINED VARIABLES FOR OPERATION"

Battery Voltage 12V

BULK 14.8V
ABSORPTION 14.2V
FLOAT 13.6V
LOW TRIGGER 12.8V
HIGH TRIGGER 14.6V
OVER VOLTAGE FAULT 15.2V
 
Continuing saga...I give the values for solar and 110/120v recharging and maintenance on my twin 75 Ah Exide AGM '16 FWC batteries in post #41 above..

New wrinkle...after returning the Hawk to the shop the monitor shows "14.7v" 'charging' on 110/120 after over 5 hours AND, perhaps unrelated, my propane/gas alarm is beeping..


No odor in battery box or camper and batteries/terminals are cool to the touch...WTHeck!

Separator in battery box is warm to the touch, but it always is...

Anyone have an idea of what the IOTA Q4 is doing?

Thanks!...Phil
 
Wallowa said:
Continuing saga...I give the values for solar and 110/120v recharging and maintenance on my twin 75 Ah Exide AGM '16 FWC batteries in post #41 above..

New wrinkle...after returning the Hawk to the shop the monitor shows "14.7v" 'charging' on 110/120 after over 5 hours AND, perhaps unrelated, my propane/gas alarm is beeping..


No odor in battery box or camper and batteries/terminals are cool to the touch...WTHeck!

Separator in battery box is warm to the touch, but it always is...

Anyone have an idea of what the IOTA Q4 is doing?

Thanks!...Phil
Click to expand...
Welcome to the party. Although, my propane alarm was going off while on solar (ZAMP) only (and with propane valves closed), and I recall it occurred at least one instance while camping in the early overcast AM, so I’m not convinced my batteries were being cooked by the solar controller, but rather just an early failure of the alarm... maybe related, maybe not.
 
Can someone fill me in on the IOTA? Is that a standard piece of hardware or something you guys are installing aftermarket?
 
I believe It’s the standard converter for both ATC and FWC. Some of the older units did not have the IQ4 module that places the converter into float mode, but it can be added. I’m not sure when they started putting the IOTAs in the campers.
 
My 2002 Hawk had an IOTA without the IQ4, $25 to add the IQ4 plug into it. I have an IOTA with built-in IOTA that I added to my 2013 Hawk build. I only plug in the day before a trip when I have the DC fridge running. Camper is parked outside and the 250w of solar keep everything topped off. My Exide batteries are now 5 years old. How long are batteries lasting for those on WTW?
 
I’ve had my 2018 Hawk FD for two weeks now. Where would my IOTA be located and how do I know if I have the IQ4 “Smart” plug? Am I missing something?
 
The IQ4 smarts is built into the newer IOTA converters (which you would have in a 2018) - so no need for the plug. Your converter is a shoe box sized metal box, probably somewhere near the rest of your electrical stuff.
 
Checked monitor just now [see post #42]....after roughly 14 hours the display still shows "14.7v" and icon is '3/4' full but without any LED lights..

Anybody venture an opinion on what this denotes?

Phil
 
If your 2018 Hawk FD is like my 2014 Hawk FD, the Iota is located in the battery cabinet on the shelf to the upper right. It is the rectangular metal box with the fan grill.


I’ve had my 2018 Hawk FD for two weeks now. Where would my IOTA be located and how do I know if I have the IQ4 “Smart” plug? Am I missing something?


Your Iota likely has a built in IQ4 rather than separate like mine.

Paul

gallery_5568_906_66122.jpg
 
'16 Hawk,side dinette, IOTA with integral IQ4 is in open area under the forward corner of the Isotherm 110 frig.

Dumb me...to read the "flashes" of the IOTA that correspond to the type of charge [bulk...etc] you need to view the IOTA, which in my case means on my hands and knees looking up into the space holding it..

I confused the "flashes" on the Zamp Solar Controller with the flashes on the IOTA...Grrrrrr...different messages..

Anyway...again I appreciate the sharing of information on this and other topics on this forum..

Here is the Zamp Solar Controller Manual...

https://www.zampsolar.com/manuals-and-instructions

Phil
 
My feeling is that if you are planning on cutting a hole in a cabinet, invest in a name brand monitor. It would suck to install one of these and then have it die or just never work right, leaving you with an odd shaped hole. Or get one of these:
https://www.thornwave.com/products-btdcpm/
Which doesn't require a hole to be cut.
 
Wallowa said:
Checked monitor just now [see post #42]....after roughly 14 hours the display still shows "14.7v" and icon is '3/4' full but without any LED lights..

Anybody venture an opinion on what this denotes?

Phil
Click to expand...
if it is showing 14.7 and 3/4 after many hours, I would think the batteries are being over charged. Or they are dead and so the charger stays on forever.
 
bike4mee,

I have Victron in the camper and bought one of those Bayite units to put on the truck battery. I have not installed it yet as I have been working on putting sound damping material in the cab of the truck.

My truck battery is not as expensive as my deep cycle house batteries and it is also easier to access.

Once I see it working I will try to remember to post a follow-up. However, I would be reluctant to use this with the camper batteries just because the consequences of a problem with it potentially involves a lot more $$$.

I have the Victron BVM 702 with dongle on my camper batteries and I really like it. The newer BVM-712 is the way to go since the bluetooth wifi function is built in. You can load the specific parameters for your battery for charging and float as well as the temperature coefficient in the Victron.

BTW: If you read the Q&A on Amazon on the Bayite one commentator said he has two of the units and they differ by 5 volts using the same DC source. That is not good. I have a DC power supply and will be testing mine before I install it.
 
Wallowa said:
As promised.

#1 On 110v long term storage in shop...two ..12v FWC AGM OEM '16 batteries...steady "13.6v" on Zamp controller screen.

#2 Disconnect 110v...let sit without any load 4 hours...."12.9v" on Zamp controller screen...

#3 Take out into the direct sunlight 0915 hrs, no clouds, all solar w/160 Zamp roof panel...jumped to "14.4v" for about 5 mins+ and then display changed to "Full" and "12.7-9v".

#4 Back into shop on 110v..."13.6v"

What say ye pundits of electrons? Pretty much as it should be?

Thanks,

Phil

Addendum: Checking the monitor on 110v after hour+ in shop and it shows "14.7v"....?????

From IOTA web site:

[https://www.iotaengineering.com/pplib/IQ4manual.pdf]


"PREDETERMINED VARIABLES FOR OPERATION"

Battery Voltage 12V

BULK 14.8V
ABSORPTION 14.2V
FLOAT 13.6V
LOW TRIGGER 12.8V
HIGH TRIGGER 14.6V
OVER VOLTAGE FAULT 15.2V
Click to expand...
I think most of this, as far as #1 thru #4, looks OK (though #3 has me puzzled a little, because when your controller is saying FUL, the charge is below 13V...that's a little low for a float charge), but then your addendum has me thinking that your IOTA is overcharging the batteries once you plug them back in to shore power. Pretty confusing, though, because initially, when you first went to unplug it, it was reading float I believe (steady green light), and you said the voltage on the controller read 13.6V, perfect. Of course, we don't know what happened BEFORE you saw that....maybe the IOTA was over-bulk or -absorption charging for 5+ hours again, like it was when you plugged it in the last time. I think the IOTA is possibly faulty, but like many others have said here, a battery monitor would tell you when and where that voltage is going.
 
I just finished installing the Victron BMV-700 in our FWC. Easy install, and wow, what an eye opener. I suppose seeing is believing. It's amazing how you can turn something on and immediately see the amperage draw. Earlier I said that we do not use that much electricity. While this may be true, the honest reality is I had NO IDEA what we were using.

Part of me is surprised that FWC does not install a battery monitor from the factory. Part of me gets it though, for most consumers they may not want to know. Personally I went with the BMW-700 over the new blue tooth model because I'm connected enough in life, and when camping, I enjoy not looking at my phone.

Thanks again everyone! Now, what is the census on how low is OK/safe to get your battery?
 
Glad the monitor is working out for you!

How low to take your battery can be a 'controversial' question in these parts.

I personally don't subscribe to the 50% 'rule' that is often quoted (particularly now that I have lithium, but even before when I had AGM). My limit was to take the battery down to ~20% SOC (ie use 80% of the rated capacity). Yes it may shorten the battery life some to do this, but it still should provide ~500 cycles at this limit, and most of the cycles will use much less than 80%. Finally, batteries in camper service seem to last much less than the rated cycle life, so it is likely other abuse that is killing them such as under charging, over charging etc.
 
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