Dual Battery Volt Issue

I find an 80 watt panel permanently mounted to the roof rack and connected to the starting battery through a PWM regulator eliminates all these problems.
A Defender alternator should sit on a constant 14 volts, I find.

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Originally Posted by Robmacca

Hi Drivesafe...

Just curious here but I did use to have a 10w panel permenantly connected to the 10w solar panel when not driving and I found that it was not enough and the battery failed in the end. My dual battery setup uses dual 140amp VSR as my isolator.

I'm now using a 70W panel with a cheap Solar Regulator and I position the solar panel in a way that it gets on average probably 6hrs of full sunlight before the panel falls into shade. To date I've found this works well in 1st charging the AUX battery (panel is plugged to the Aux battery via an Anderson plug on the rear of vehicle) then once Aux Battery Volts has risen to the right level the VSR parallels up the MAIN battery and then charges that too...

So far this is working well but I'm unsure if this will/is overcharging the batteries and therefore shortening their life?

Is this method ok or not? I can minimise the sunlight hitting the panel more if required...

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Hi Rob, and you had a situation that is similar to those using my isolators.

I recommend a solar panel no bigger than 10w for a single battery, but when the setup includes one of my isolators, I then recommend a 20w solar panel.

The bigger panel is to cater for both keeping the batteries topped up, but also replacing the battery energy used, at night, by my isolator.

In your case, even a 20w panel would probably failed short of requirements.

Over the years, I have conducted quite a few tests and as most of my isolators now have a IGNITION/STORAGE mode, where the isolator turns off when battery voltage drops to 127v/12.5v, if this mode is selected, a 20w panel may start to drive the batteries a bit too high.

If you are using one of my isolators, or any other brand, I strongly suggest using a solar panel greater than 20W and using a solar regulator.

This then makes the system fully functional and totally safe.

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Originally Posted by Scotty85

So I had an update. I emailed Exide and explained the situation. They were going to replace them under warranty even thought it was just out of warranty (1 and a bit months). They only have a 1 yr warranty.... Due to COVID19, there was a delay in getting them checked sooner, however the battery issue wasn't detected until my recent trip to Moreton Island (1 week before COVID restrictions).

So Exide stated they would replace them no worries. After I sent a reply email back, Exide then said they didn't look at me email correctly and noticed the batteries were out of warranty and didn't want to know me. I asked them several times if they were aware of a possible bad batch of batteries made and they wouldn't reply to that direct question and continued to say it was out of warranty.

I do understand that out of warranty is out of warranty, even though it was only by just over 1 month. But their attitude in their email completely changed when they said the warranty was over.

I find it stupid how products tend to fail when they fall just outside of their warranty time..... I would have hoped that they might offer good will on the batteries due to movement restrictions and closure of businesses for the last 6 or so weeks.

It is safe to say when I do replace these batteries, I won't be buying Exide ones ever again!

Looks like Yellow Top will be the next 2 bought. Shame about the price of them though [emoji20]

In the mean time, I will just do my best to try to increase the life of the Exide ones.

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I’d get back onto exide and tell them you’ve spoken to fair trading and they believe you have a claim
Mention that when you bought the batteries that the cheaper batteries also had a 12 month warranty and when you paid the extra money for their product you would expect that you would get more than 13 months from a premium product

https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files...20business.pdf

Take a look at page 10(as numbered on pages)

It’s worked for me on more than one occasion
Also, as I run an electrical contracting business, I offer 12 months warranty on installation, if a customer rings me in regard to a problem caused by me or a product “within a reasonable amount of time”, I will warrant the equipment and workmanship
It may have cost me a few dollars but at least I’ll have a return customer who will usually recommend my company to others

Gav

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Originally Posted by drivesafe

Hi Rob, and you had a situation that is similar to those using my isolators.

I recommend a solar panel no bigger than 10w for a single battery, but when the setup includes one of my isolators, I then recommend a 20w solar panel.

The bigger panel is to cater for both keeping the batteries topped up, but also replacing the battery energy used, at night, by my isolator.

In your case, even a 20w panel would probably failed short of requirements.

Over the years, I have conducted quite a few tests and as most of my isolators now have a IGNITION/STORAGE mode, where the isolator turns off when battery voltage drops to 127v/12.5v, if this mode is selected, a 20w panel may start to drive the batteries a bit too high.

If you are using one of my isolators, or any other brand, I strongly suggest using a solar panel greater than 20W and using a solar regulator.

This then makes the system fully functional and totally safe.

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Yes, I agree but I've only got a 70w panel and my current thinking is if I place the panel in such a manner that the panel only gets a 4-6hrs per day of sunlight before it falls into shade, I feel that this should be ok for keeping the batteries in good order long term (I'm hoping ;) )

I do adjust the "sun" time depending on the season as well

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Robmacca

Yes, I agree but I've only got a 70w panel and my current thinking is if I place the panel in such a manner that the panel only gets a 4-6hrs per day of sunlight before it falls into shade, I feel that this should be ok for keeping the batteries in good order long term (I'm hoping ;) )

I do adjust the "sun" time depending on the season as well

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Hi again Rob, with a 70w panel, just 1 or 2 hours of full sunlight a day would be more than adequate.

Folks, I have suggested this device many times in many threads, and once again, the use of a BM2, a bluetooth battery monitor, would be idea for anyone wanting to see just how effective the solar charging is.

As long as the voltage does not go over 14.7v during sunny periods, you will get a very good idea of just how effective an UNREGULATED small solar panel can be.

With a REGULATED larger solar panel, you can see how long the panel keeps a constant SAFE charge voltage applied to your batteries.

I have some screen-grabs of graph of solar charging tests, carried out on my Range Rover.

I will need some spare time to dig them out, but I will post them up so people can get a better idea of what happens with solar charging.