Maganum 4024 / battery smell

[Oonrahnjay]

And still put that on/ off switch on the negative cable between the Vanner and the battery because if you don't the Vanner will draw off your starts when parked and charger not on. You will go to go somewhere and it won't start. Trust me on this. 

     My refrigerator runs on 12V.  Will this kill my cool?  Should I have a separate tap for the fridge before the main on/off switch?   Thanks!

[Brett G]

This last weekend I was able to program the remote and do some more testing.  For whatever reason the batteries didn't like being hit with the default volts/amps in the absorb stage so I dialed back the charge rate.  Thanks to everyone that provided their feedback.  Very valuable to first timers like me.

[gumpy]

So, what did you end up with for numbers?

[Brett G]

Probably lower than I needed to go but being the entire system is new I was afraid of frying $800 worth of batteries.  Currently in the Absorb stage it's charging at around 26.5V and 20 amps.

[Jon]

That is a good float voltage, but not for absorb. Overcharging and undercharging are the two best ways to ruin batteries.

[Oonrahnjay]

That is a good float voltage, but not for absorb. Overcharging and undercharging are the two best ways to ruin batteries. 

       Yes, exactly,  If you're overheating and boiling batteries at recommended absorb charging voltage, you have something else wrong -- and that "something else wrong" will continue to kill your batteries and make your electrical system an on-going pain in the neck if you don't fix it.   I'd check spec. gravity on all cells and isolate and charge each battery in your battery bank.  Then I'd check them with a quality load tester.  I'd also check cabling for corrosion and high resistance.  Proper absorbtion voltage should be good for batteries, not damaging to them.

[Brett G]

      Yes, exactly,  If you're overheating and boiling batteries at recommended absorb charging voltage, you have something else wrong -- and that "something else wrong" will continue to kill your batteries and make your electrical system an on-going pain in the neck if you don't fix it.   I'd check spec. gravity on all cells and isolate and charge each battery in your battery bank.  Then I'd check them with a quality load tester.  I'd also check cabling for corrosion and high resistance.  Proper absorbtion voltage should be good for batteries, not damaging to them.

Thanks.

Maybe I should look at this differently.  Everything is new and I've tripled checked the setup.  How would I know if I'm truly boiling the batteries? With normal charging, wet cell batteries will bubble won't they?  When does the sound of bubbling turn into boiling?  

[eagle19952]

Here (again I think) You need to disconnect your batteries entirely
Take an accurate specific gravity reading of each cell.
number the batteries and record each cell.
Know/find the % of difference allowed between cells...new batteries should be 0 %.
charge each battery

The sound of bubbling is boiling.
Normally (in my experience). the only level of charge that boils/bubbles new batteries is equalization.
After cranking a car starter, in cold state, a new battery will see 14.3v....for a very short time and then it should/will level off to maybe 13.8 or.6  and when you shut off the key it will probably be 12.4.
But being a well maintained (by the alternator) a car battery never boils unless it is worn out.

An inverter of the quality that you have (probably temperature controlled (i hope)..the 'software' inherent to it should limit the boiling/bubbling to a minimal amount.
I use Trace and Xantrex inverters and have for 15 years. My experience even with equalization is that the batteries do not boil unless they are or have been abused or are aging out or 1 or more cells are bad.
More often than not equalization will extend the life of that bad cell but will not cure it,
Where your batteries are new I still suspect a bad cell.



http://www.chargingchargers.com/tutorials/charging.html

[Brett G]

Here (again I think) You need to disconnect your batteries entirely
Take an accurate specific gravity reading of each cell.
number the batteries and record each cell.
Know/find the % of difference allowed between cells...new batteries should be 0 %.
charge each battery

The sound of bubbling is boiling.
Normally (in my experience). the only level of charge that boils/bubbles new batteries is equalization.
After cranking a car starter, in cold state, a new battery will see 14.3v....for a very short time and then it should/will level off to maybe 13.8 or.6  and when you shut off the key it will probably be 12.4.
But being a well maintained (by the alternator) a car battery never boils unless it is worn out.

An inverter of the quality that you have (probably temperature controlled (i hope)..the 'software' inherent to it should limit the boiling/bubbling to a minimal amount.
I use Trace and Xantrex inverters and have for 15 years. My experience even with equalization is that the batteries do not boil unless they are or have been abused or are aging out or 1 or more cells are bad.
More often than not equalization will extend the life of that bad cell but will not cure it,
Where your batteries are new I still suspect a bad cell.



http://www.chargingchargers.com/tutorials/charging.html

Thank you Don.  I ended up calling Magnum....which i probably should have done earlier.  The tech said that for brand new batteries that have never been charged, the strong smell and the sound was normal.  The batteries were fully charged since my last post.  I've now changed to the recommended settings and everything looks/sounds/smells better now since they were charged once.  If anyone is interested, I've attached the link to the Maganum remote instructions.  I don't imagine so but just in case others are curious.  Thanks again to everyone.  http://magnumenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/64-0030-Rev-C-ME-ARC_CD_Web.pdf

[Lee Bradley]

I do have a main disconnect on the starter batteries that isn't shown on the diagram.  I also have a disconnect on the 24v line feeding the house bank.  Do you think I still need one?  Thanks

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Us02X_ZduDrJoGBe2yOWzcjrVVp0puUTW0Kp-LTj9J8/edit

Looking at your diagram; the battery ground should be connected to the lower bank.

[Brett G]

Looking at your diagram; the battery ground should be connected to the lower bank.

The issue was with my diagram, so thanks for pointing that out.  In reality I've got the positive inverter cable going to the other battery.  It's the red cable in this picture that is disconnected from the fuse.  3rd from the left.

https://goo.gl/photos/NBogGThhpK7jeT5W6

Updated the diagram to reflect that.

https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1Us02X_ZduDrJoGBe2yOWzcjrVVp0puUTW0Kp-LTj9J8/edit

[Lee Bradley]

You have a better balance for charging the house batteries from the inverter now but it is still not best when charging from the engine alternator. Plus you have an extra cable and connections if you are using the inverter heavily while underway. The engine alternator output is going to the top row and then through the jumper cable to the bottom row and the inverter cable. I had to think about this because I am using the alternator/inverter to run my mini-splits underway. 

[Brett G]

Thanks