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  • Batter over-discharged, what does this mean?

    Hello,

    I've recently installed a motorized gate and am using a solar panel and battery to power it. The controller has two leds one which means batter over-discharged. Any idea what this means? When I bought the battery I charged it with the accompanying charger. It sat for about 2 weeks before I connected it to the solar panel.

    The panel I'm using is
    12V/20W Solar Panel
    Rated Max Power: 20 Watts
    Current at Power Max: 0.57 Amps
    Open Current Voltage: 21.5 Volts

    The controller is
    ALEKO® LM118 24-Volt Charge Controller for Solar Panel

    The batter is
    Humminbird 7700281 GCBK CSB GP1272 Portable AGM Battery

  • #2
    Well let's se if we have a clue or not. You have a 12 volt battery and a 24 volt controller.

    What is wrong with this picture?
    MSEE, PE

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Sunking View Post
      Well let's se if we have a clue or not. You have a 12 volt battery and a 24 volt controller.

      What is wrong with this picture?
      Don't forget the nominal 12 volt panel either!
      SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Sunking View Post
        Well let's se if we have a clue or not. You have a 12 volt battery and a 24 volt controller.

        What is wrong with this picture?
        Yes, but the manufacturer says to use a 12v battery. They did have 2 pictured but I didn't think it would matter.

        Comment


        • #5
          I see a few things that may be your problem.

          First as Sunking stated you have a 24 volt charger and a 12 volt battery which won't work together.

          Second as inetdog states your 20 watt 12 volt solar panel does not match up to your 24 volt charger.

          Next possible issue is with the Humminbird battery. I can't find exactly how many Amp Hours it is rated but it may be too small to run your motorized gate.

          You need to start at the beginning and determine what voltage and battery size will run that gate. Then get a charger to match up to the battery voltage. And finally size your solar panel so you have enough wattage to charge your battery.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by SunEagle View Post
            You need to start at the beginning and determine what voltage and battery size will run that gate. Then get a charger to match up to the battery voltage. And finally size your solar panel so you have enough wattage to charge your battery.
            If the picture (and hopefully more detailed wiring diagram) shows the two batteries in series (+ of one connected to - of the other and the two remaining terminals connected to the gate wiring) then two 12 volt batteries will produce a total of 24 volts, and you MUST use two, and you need at least two solar panels or one panel that has a 36 volt output.

            If the picture shows the two batteries in parallel (+ to + and - to -) then you will be getting 12 volts but with more current available for the motor. In that case you might get by with just one battery, but it will not last as long or open the gate as many times without recharging. Then you just have the wrong model charger.
            SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

            Comment


            • #7
              Thanks guys, I'll see what the motor requires and updraft my power.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by inetdog View Post
                If the picture (and hopefully more detailed wiring diagram) shows the two batteries in series (+ of one connected to - of the other and the two remaining terminals connected to the gate wiring) then two 12 volt batteries will produce a total of 24 volts, and you MUST use two, and you need at least two solar panels or one panel that has a 36 volt output.

                If the picture shows the two batteries in parallel (+ to + and - to -) then you will be getting 12 volts but with more current available for the motor. In that case you might get by with just one battery, but it will not last as long or open the gate as many times without recharging. Then you just have the wrong model charger.
                I guess some guys (me) will never learn to read the directions first. The diagram does show 2 batteries producing 24V. Will one more solar panel like the one I have be enough? Does the wattage of the panel have anything to do with the wattage of the motor? Thanks for y'all's help.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by cyras21 View Post
                  I guess some guys (me) will never learn to read the directions first. The diagram does show 2 batteries producing 24V. Will one more solar panel like the one I have be enough? Does the wattage of the panel have anything to do with the wattage of the motor? Thanks for y'all's help.
                  Glad to be of service.
                  Yes, one more identical panel in series with the first should be fine for feeding the controller.

                  As for the wattage, there are three separate rules:
                  1. The battery must be able to provide enough current to start and run the motor. If using FLA battery, that means that the battery AH number should be about half as large as the motor wattage (since 24 volt).
                  2. The watt-hour (=amp-hour (AH) times 24v) rating of the battery should be at least the motor wattage times the number of times the gate is opened or closed per day times 5 times the length of time the motor runs per open or close cycle.
                  3. The panel wattage should be about equal to twice the battery AH rating number.
                  SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Thanks again!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by cyras21 View Post
                      I guess some guys (me) will never learn to read the directions first. The diagram does show 2 batteries producing 24V. Will one more solar panel like the one I have be enough? Does the wattage of the panel have anything to do with the wattage of the motor? Thanks for y'all's help.
                      The panel wattage is sized based on your batteries AH rating and the amount of good sunlight you get in a day for your area. More usable sunlight hours could mean less wattage.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by SunEagle View Post
                        The panel wattage is sized based on your batteries AH rating and the amount of good sunlight you get in a day for your area. More usable sunlight hours could mean less wattage.
                        But the place to start is to know how many times per day the gate will be opened. It may be that the batteries are larger than necessary and so not a lot of panel will be needed even for a small number of charging hours per day.
                        There is a minimum panel size to charge the batteries properly, but that will not be dependent on the number of hours per day, just the maximum current that will be supplied at some point in the charging cycle.
                        SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by inetdog View Post
                          But the place to start is to know how many times per day the gate will be opened. It may be that the batteries are larger than necessary and so not a lot of panel will be needed even for a small number of charging hours per day.
                          There is a minimum panel size to charge the batteries properly, but that will not be dependent on the number of hours per day, just the maximum current that will be supplied at some point in the charging cycle.
                          Good point.

                          I guess I was being a little over simplistic with my statement. I was trying to get cyras21 to understand that without the proper amount of "usable" sunlight they wouldn't be able to charge their batteries and will need more panel wattage but it really comes down to the amount of amperage from the panels that counts.

                          Thanks for clearing that up.

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                          • #14
                            Figured it out... need the panels wired similar to batteries to generate the 24v needed
                            Last edited by cyras21; 02-28-2014, 09:08 PM. Reason: found the answer

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by cyras21 View Post
                              I'm having issues with the batteries charging.

                              Fist issue, when I test each panel the voltage reads about 22v each, however when I test both together I'm getting the same voltage readings. Shouldn't this reading be around 44v? At the controller it's about 13v but I'm assuming a larger wire would fix this but the previous issue confuses me.

                              The second issue is the batteries themselves, are they big enough. This setup is running two gate motors 24v, 80w.

                              Do I need a battery with 40Ah or 80Ah? The watt hour should be 800 correct?
                              Hooboy, how many ways is this messed up?

                              1. There are two ways of interconnecting two power sources, whether they are batteries or solar panels.
                              A. You can wire them in parallel (+ to + and - to -) with one of the power wires connected to each joined pair of terminals. When you do this, the voltage stays the same as two individual sources by themselves, but you can supply or draw twice the current. This is NOT what you want to do based on the information you have given about the gate. Not for the panels and not for the batteries.
                              B. You can wire them in series (one wire connects to - of first battery, the + of first battery connects to the - of the second battery and the other external wire connects to the + of the second battery). When you do this, you get twice the voltage, but the same current capability.

                              2. If you need to feed 24 volts to the gate, you need to put the two batteries in series. If you read 13 volts, you have put them in parallel instead.

                              3. Once the controller is properly connected to the battery bank (before you attach the panels to it!), you will read more like 24-26 volts at the controller output.

                              4. You need to put the two panels in series also. The open circuit output will then be 44 volts instead of 22 volts. And when you attach the panels to the controller the voltage will drop closer to 36 volts if you have an MPPT charge controller or 28 volts if you have a PWM charge controller.

                              5. Things will then start to work properly.
                              SunnyBoy 3000 US, 18 BP Solar 175B panels.

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