1. You can get an approximation of SOC from the ZampEverybody, thanks for all the great info. I’m currently reading through the links you sent, which will probably result in more questions. Until I get through them all, I've responded to everyone below.
@PaulT
All this is great. I’m pretty sure I get what you’re saying. Bear with me, and let me summarize in my own words to see if I’ve got it right:
- Besides the Zamp’s main functionality as a charge controller, I can roughly use it to gauge the current state of the battery but without the exact specs a true Trimetric would provide.
- Got it. Basically, Amp Hours is how much energy I have to use in my batteries. From what I’ve read as well, you never want to drain more than 50% of the batteries. Correct?
- Instantaneous Voltage is the reading of the batteries is at the current state. Instantaneous Amps is how much current is being generated by the solar panels at that moment. I understand that Amp/hrs is how much energy is stored in my batteries, but does the Amp/hrs reading on the Zamp controller indicate how much energy is being put back into the batteries?
- If Voltage is a poor approximation of the SOC, should I pay much attention to the Voltage reading on the controller?
- Is there a do not dip below this number? I think I read if you dip below 12.2 Volts, that’s no bueno.
2. Essentially correct but that is 50% of amp hrs, not 50% of voltage. Here is where the Trimetric has an advantage.
3. As near as I can tell, the Zamp amp hrs indicates how much solar generated energy has been sent to batteries but does not include energy from truck or shore power nor does it track power consumed from battery.
4. Voltage does give some indication of SOC but be aware that indicated voltage will drop when a power draw like fridge is happening & rise after the power draw stops. This makes judging SOC from voltage iffy.
5. If the charge gets too low, you may have to turn off the loads to allow the solar to bring the voltage up enough to allow the battery separator to connect to and charge from the truck. And, yes, you can shorten battery life by too deep discharge.
Paul