Another small newb project.

[SunEagle]

If I'm reading the CC manual correctly, the equalization is automatic. I also failed to mention I have a Battery Life Saver on the bank as well. So my batteries seem to be fine, so is the problem I'm simply not getting enough juice from the panels coupled with trying to draw to heavy of a load..?

While it looks like you have both good batteries and what seems to be enough panel wattage there is something else not right with that TV not running. Maybe that TV has a startup cycle that draws way more then what your system can provide.

At this point I am just guessing at the reasons for it not working for you.

[uscgsapper1]

Ok so ran some test and this is what I got;
with bank fully charged, I'm getting 18a @13.2v input to CC from panels and they don't even have full sun yet.
I turned on 500w PSW inverter and V dropped 0.01, turned on tv and got a max draw of 248w and it took approx 1 minute to drop V to 12.00 before I turned it all off. I think the batteries are no good, pissed cuz they are supposed to be new. Fully charged I put the load tester on them and now they are dropping into the yellow (weak) when load tester is activated.

[littleharbor]

One indicator you have sulfated batteries is the appearance of getting fully charged in an abnormally short amount of time. Not saying that is your problem but if you see that happening your batteries are shot. Your Hydrometer will answer this question though.

Did you buy these batteries from a reputable dealer?

[Sunking]

Ok so ran some test and this is what I got;
with bank fully charged, I'm getting 18a @13.2v input to CC from panels and they don't even have full sun yet.
I turned on 500w PSW inverter and V dropped 0.01, turned on tv and got a max draw of 248w and it took approx 1 minute to drop V to 12.00 before I turned it all off. I think the batteries are no good, pissed cuz they are supposed to be new. Fully charged I put the load tester on them and now they are dropping into the yellow (weak) when load tester is activated.

Are those voltage measurements taken on the battery term post? If so the batteries are toast or not charged up. If you measured 12.7 after resting over night does indicated the batteries are charged up, but that does not mean they are good

OK 250 watts is a hell of a lot of power for a TV. This must be a very old TV with a CRT display or plasma screen. If you had new Trojan T-105's with a 250 watt load only gives you 5 to 6 hours run time. No real problem on a set of Trojan T-105, just a hell of a lot of power for a TV to consume today.

Answer me this. When you connect the battery to the charger does the voltage go up immediately in a short period of time.?

The classic symptom of a dead battery is you put the battery on a charger and in no time the charger indicates the battery is fully charged up. In other words it use to take hours instead of minutes. Then when you try to run something the voltage collapses very quickly and the battery appears dead. If that is what you are seeing, the battery is toast. .

[uscgsapper1]

Tv is a 65" curved 4K Ultra, so yea its a lot of juice.
Non the less, 250w on "Good" T-105 should still get some run time, even if I'm not getting enough from panels.
Yes as soon as I attach charger within a minute says they are fully charged, but as soon as I put the 250w load within a minute the volts are down to 12.0 and I shut it off. I'm really starting to think the batteries are no good. The place I got them from is a local golf cart dealer, so I assumed they were reputable but now I'm not so sure.

[Sunking]

Non the less, 250w on "Good" T-105 should still get some run time, even if I'm not getting enough from panels.

Correct.

Yes as soon as I attach charger within a minute says they are fully charged, but as soon as I put the 250w load within a minute the volts are down to 12.0 and I shut it off. I'm really starting to think the batteries are no good.

Correct. Now try it again except this time do not turn anything off, just let it run until voltage drops to 10.5 volts on the battery term post and time it.

Off to play golf

[Logan5]

This is the wrong TV set for off grid or even UPS use. I have the exact same TV in our media area. when the power fails and we are running on battery, We watch local antenna TV on a 15" TV that uses only 14 watts. if we add cable, assuming it even works, requires another 20 watts just to run the box. If you are running on batteries, Less is More.

[uscgsapper1]

I understand this is not the tv for offgrid, I am not offgrid. I am simply starting to learn about solar and stand alone battery bank systems. Practicing and building my skill set for when I finally get my property out in the woods, that being said my goal for now is simply being able to run my tv and cable box off my system that I have put together right now.
New development, I unwired everything and just wired the batteries back up and inverter and now it's been running for 45min just off battery and voltage hasn't dropped below 12.10
Is it just my wiring is screwed up?! And while it's still running with a 250w load, I tested the input from panels to CC. Something isn't adding up, I'm getting 19.96v from panels and 28.2a. If my math is correct that's 562.8 watts! How can that be when I only have 4x100w panels?!

[SunEagle]

I understand this is not the tv for offgrid, I am not offgrid. I am simply starting to learn about solar and stand alone battery bank systems. Practicing and building my skill set for when I finally get my property out in the woods, that being said my goal for now is simply being able to run my tv and cable box off my system that I have put together right now.
New development, I unwired everything and just wired the batteries back up and inverter and now it's been running for 45min just off battery and voltage hasn't dropped below 12.10
Is it just my wiring is screwed up?! And while it's still running with a 250w load, I tested the input from panels to CC. Something isn't adding up, I'm getting 19.96v from panels and 28.2a. If my math is correct that's 562.8 watts! How can that be when I only have 4x100w panels?!

Well that 28.2amps is really being used at 14volts not 19.96v. So you are getting about 100% output from those 400watts (28.2a x 14.1v = 398watts).

Remember that the voltage from the panels is being changed to the voltage needed to charge your batteries by the CC. As long as the panel voltage is about 6volts above what the battery needs you are ok.

[littleharbor]

19.96 volts is the open circuit voltage. Your panels are probably warm because when cool it would be a tad higher. How are you monitoring amperage? If that is short circuit amperage this will explain your numbers. When connected and under load is where you test your panels output.

[uscgsapper1]

Also the 28.2a is pushing my CC to its limits of 30a, so realistically I can't add anymore panels, which I was planning on adding 2 more. And now I'm up to an hour just on batteries and it's at 12.08, so was the problem the whole time in the wiring?
Ok, after an hour of running the bank didn't drop below 12.08 I hook my CC back up and it's holding at 12.14 with an overcast sky. So does that seem right and there was just an issue with my connections the first go around?
#2- Under load it's showing 12.3v and 16.9a. From panels, as the sun peaks out occasionally those numbers jump up a bit.

[littleharbor]

What conditions are you getting 28.2 amps from? You just said 16.9 under load. Short circuit amperage will never be seen if connected to a load.

[uscgsapper1]

With the CC not connected to the battery bank I was reading 28.2a, as soon as I hook cables from CC to bank and apply the load I'm seeing 16.9a from panels. Measured at input from panels to CC.

[littleharbor]

Yes, that's open circuit voltage Voc. and Short circuit amperage Isc.. Get the Isc rating off of a panel and multiply it by 4. should be close. Frankly, 28.2 seems a little high for 4 100 watt panels. What are the specs? You can rest assured your controller wont see that high of amperage when connected. I doubt your controller (30 amp?) is rated for much more than 400 watts. That may already be too much at 12 volts.

[uscgsapper1]

Per panel;
Voc-21.6v
Isc-6.32a
Vpm-17.4v
Imp-5.75a
Max V-1000VDC

CC is max 25vdc input.