54 replies to this topic

[ri-f]

I'll let you know.  We've used it on a few 3-4 days trips and no issues.  Still dialing in the charging, etc. but no issues so far.  This trip will be longer and taking my solar panels w/ LifePO4 controller as we'll be off the grid the whole time and not moving much.

[buckland]

Just a question on having two Battleborn batteries in parallel. Will the Victrom 100-20 see them as a single battery? Is there any adjustments needed to the Victron set up ?

[ri-f]

Just a question on having two Battleborn batteries in parallel. Will the Victrom 100-20 see them as a single battery? Is there any adjustments needed to the Victron set up ?

Buckland - If you have two 12v batteries in parallel, your single meter (probably your Victron 712) will read those two batteries as one battery bank. The Victron 100/20 is an MPPT solar controller, not a meter, it will feed the parallel bank. If you want to know the health status of each individual battery you'd need to troubleshoot each battery separately by disconnecting the two batteries and putting a multi-meter on one battery at a time. But generally, one meter for monitoring your parallel set up will work fine - I'm assuming your two BB batteries are the same and purchased at the same time and are healthy to start with. The only adjustment to the Victron setup that will be different than the settings for only one 100 AH 12v battery is that you'll need to set the AH rating to 200 AH instead of 100 AH in your VictronConnect app, assuming you are talking about two BB 12v 100 AH batteries.

 

Rich

Edited by ri-f, 14 March 2021 - 06:16 PM.

[buckland]

Thanks Rich,

BB 12V 100AH batteries.... but bought a year apart. is Ok?

[ri-f]

Thanks Rich,

BB 12V 100AH batteries.... but bought a year apart. is Ok?

Should be just fine. A 1-year-old BB isn't going to be significantly different than the new BB in terms of remaining battery capacity and health. It will most likely still rest at ~13.4v when full. If your 1st battery was, say, 5 years old it might drag down your new battery a bit and you wouldn't see the full benefit when combining the two batteries. But at 1 year this is highly unlikely if your battery was healthy to start with and you maintaned it properly. At least in my opinion, I wouldn't worry about it at all.

 

Rich

[buckland]

Yes battery barely used... (stuck at home..camper in barn)... but not for long!!!!!

[kmcintyre]

Ok, I said I'd give a report when we got back from our 2 weeks trip w/ our fairly new LifePO4 120ah battery pack I built.  I'd say it was a complete success.  We moved around about every 2-3 days and not super far but the battery always stayed charged.  We don't have huge draws but did have to use the furnace a few nights.  The only "issue" was that the victron Dc-to-DC charger had to be switched between user profile and their lifepo4 profiles to get it to start up.  I'm in conversation w/ Victron to see what's happening and why that was/is.

[buckland]

I'll will await the results ...I have a similar setup... an interesting "issue"

huh

[buckland]

One more question for Battleborn gurus.... I have my new 2nd Battle born I will be installing this month in parallel. So 200 Amp/hours 12V.  I have 160W roof/100W flex portable panels = 260W .  But right now just my 10 month old single 12v Battleborn in Camper.

 

My question is.....as I store my camper in a barn the battery (with main breaker off) just sits there at 13 V through the winter and actually drifted down to 12.8V. I checked on it the other day and thought I had better plug in shore power to bump it up. I have my 100/20 Victron set to the LiFePo4 setting that has 14.2 V  with float at 13.3 V..... I have the dongle attached to the inverter for LiFePo4 battery charge profile.... but after 24 hours on shore power.... nothing on but the smoke detector .... it was still at 13.3 V.

Am I missing something ....isn't it supposed to charge up to 14.2 ? 

[ri-f]

One more question for Battleborn gurus.... I have my new 2nd Battle born I will be installing this month in parallel. So 200 Amp/hours 12V.  I have 160W roof/100W flex portable panels = 260W .  But right now just my 10 month old single 12v Battleborn in Camper.

 

My question is.....as I store my camper in a barn the battery (with main breaker off) just sits there at 13 V through the winter and actually drifted down to 12.8V. I checked on it the other day and thought I had better plug in shore power to bump it up. I have my 100/20 Victron set to the LiFePo4 setting that has 14.2 V  with float at 13.3 V..... I have the dongle attached to the inverter for LiFePo4 battery charge profile.... but after 24 hours on shore power.... nothing on but the smoke detector .... it was still at 13.3 V.

Am I missing something ....isn't it supposed to charge up to 14.2 ? 

It might have gone to 14.2 for a period of time while you weren't monitoring it, and then dropped down to 13.3 after it was fully topped off. You can either let it float, plugged in, or disconnect it and let it very slowly drop back down, over time, back to 12.8 or whatever it was at before you decided to top it off. A Battle Born sitting at 13.3 for a long period of time is healthy. Doesn't sound like you have an issue.

 

Rich

 

Rich