Controller fix

Well, I have been silent on the blog site lately because we had to cancel our upcoming trip on the Great Loop. I replaced the batteries, and am waiting for an expensive 240 volt 100 amp fuse to get here from the U.K. My main solar controller had issues with being under water for some reason? It is amazing how electronics  have such an aversion to being submerged or even wet! Who would of thought!!

We are getting ready to move the boat possibly tomorrow. It will be sitting until maybe October, or until the heat index is conducive to human existence. I am so amazed at how many countless years I worked out in the hot summer sun here in Florida and even in the Arizona desert. Now when I go outside in the heat all my energy is sapped out in minutes!

I was able to charge up my 24 volt new bank of batteries in a New York minute by hooking up the 122 volt 16+ amp solar bank directly to the batteries. As soon as the voltage got close to 25.88 volts I unhooked the solar panels. The batteries float charge around 27 volts, but I saw no reason to wait for it to charge up that high at the moment.

When we relocate the boat I am going to see how well the batteries respond to a direct shot from the solar panels while underway. I can stay in the back to monitor the bank while Lynda or Sara drives the boat. I am interested in seeing if the 30 amp draw at 24 volts will be able to be overcome by the 122 volts at 16+ amps of solar charge. Theoretically the solar panels should be able to not only overcome the motor draw, but continue past compensating for the depleted power by adding more power to the battery bank. We will see.

The nominal running wattage of the solar bank is 1680 watts, but can go above that under certain conditions. If the panels put 1680 watts into a 24 volt system at float voltage I get 1680 / 27 = 62.22 amps. But, since idea conditions never arise, and I am only running a 40 amp solar MPPT controller into the motor bank, which only has a charge limit at 1000 watts, I can only add approximately 37 amps to the bank. Consequently, with the obvious depletion for wasted energy I should be close enough to run the controller continuously without overcharging the 24 volt battery bank, or creating a diminished capacity in the bank itself. Again, we will see.

If I run the uncontrolled power from the solar array I should overpower the motor depletion enough to avail me to unhook the solar panels on a systematic basis to avoid any overcharge of the battery bank. How long will the bank take the solar array before I will have to unhook it can be analyzed, but since I will be constantly monitoring it the need to calculate that optimal peak moment will not be worth the time to figure it out. I do suspect that once the motor initial amp grab is regained it will be probably less than fifteen minute before I will have an unrestricted run of voltage streaming into the battery bank.

I will have approximately a thirteen mile run to test these theories out. In the mean time I will be enjoying a nice ride. I’ll post my findings on the next blog entry.