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Not giving up
Hey Johndow,
I was about to ask the same question, ‘where has everybody gone’? To a private group, perhaps?
But then I realized that if I’m pouring effort into it, you can bet that the sharper experienced folks are still working on it.
The last time I posted results, I had used AGM SLA batteries. I found that when I changed to true flooded cell lead acid batteries, my little 4 batt configuration responded better and the rate of discharging of the lower batteries was less. As Matt and Carroll have said, it’s all in finding the sweet spot for your particular setup. If I change the capacity of the batteries or alter the load in any manner, then I have to hunt for the best pulse value again. I’m hoping that later I’ll discover the formula to make this happen automatically.
And when I replaced the batts, I exchanged them for new ‘lawn & garden tractor’ batteries from Walmart. They are EverStart U-1 (made by Johnson Controls) 12v, 300 cranking amps. Perhaps it made a big difference because they are brand new. Maybe new AGM type batteries might work just as well. At this time, I don’t have enough accumulated hours with each type to have an informed opinion.
So, how far have I progressed? Take a look at the drawing of my proposed setup. I’m going to do perf board soldering to tie all the connectors and relays together. After that, program a PIC 16F877A to do analog input monitoring of the discharge bus voltage, so as to cause the relays to unlatch and then latch into the next operational configuration when the battery voltage gets too low.
Basically what happens is the charging batteries move into a resting state, the discharging batteries move into the charging position, and the batteries that were resting are switched into to the discharging position. Each time the discharging battery reaches a predetermined value; the relays unlatch and shift to the next operational state. This continues automatically to maintain the load indefinitely. At any rate, that’s the plan. --Dennis
Comments? Suggestions?
Hey Johndow,
I was about to ask the same question, ‘where has everybody gone’? To a private group, perhaps?
But then I realized that if I’m pouring effort into it, you can bet that the sharper experienced folks are still working on it.
The last time I posted results, I had used AGM SLA batteries. I found that when I changed to true flooded cell lead acid batteries, my little 4 batt configuration responded better and the rate of discharging of the lower batteries was less. As Matt and Carroll have said, it’s all in finding the sweet spot for your particular setup. If I change the capacity of the batteries or alter the load in any manner, then I have to hunt for the best pulse value again. I’m hoping that later I’ll discover the formula to make this happen automatically.
And when I replaced the batts, I exchanged them for new ‘lawn & garden tractor’ batteries from Walmart. They are EverStart U-1 (made by Johnson Controls) 12v, 300 cranking amps. Perhaps it made a big difference because they are brand new. Maybe new AGM type batteries might work just as well. At this time, I don’t have enough accumulated hours with each type to have an informed opinion.
So, how far have I progressed? Take a look at the drawing of my proposed setup. I’m going to do perf board soldering to tie all the connectors and relays together. After that, program a PIC 16F877A to do analog input monitoring of the discharge bus voltage, so as to cause the relays to unlatch and then latch into the next operational configuration when the battery voltage gets too low.
Basically what happens is the charging batteries move into a resting state, the discharging batteries move into the charging position, and the batteries that were resting are switched into to the discharging position. Each time the discharging battery reaches a predetermined value; the relays unlatch and shift to the next operational state. This continues automatically to maintain the load indefinitely. At any rate, that’s the plan. --Dennis
Comments? Suggestions?
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