Thanks Mike, Good information.
Mark
--- In electricboats@
>
> Mark:
> Â
> First I try and sail as much as possible. But, when cruising I try to charge things up after the bank has dropped 20 to 30% from a full charge. I use the Honda to just charge through the bulk charge (high current) mode. I don't usually use the generator to fully charge the battery bank. It can be done but, it takes a long time with very little charging current (after the bulk charge) and a lot of fuel use and noise. The bulk charge takes anywhere from a twenty minutes to an hour depending how much I have drained the bank. Once the charger goes into the the next step I then let the solar panels and wind generator finish the remaining charging. If I dock at a marina with electric availible I'll only use the charger to completely charge the battery. When cruising if I know I'll be doing some extended motoring I'll fire up the generator and use it to help propel the boat without any battery drain or at least minimal drain if I want more speed. If I
> am just sailing out of the harbor IÂ use battery only. Though I tend to raise sail much sooner than when I had a diesel too.
>
> Capt. Mike
> http://biankablog.
>
> --- On Wed, 3/24/10, acsarfkram <acsarfkram@
>
>
> From: acsarfkram <acsarfkram@
> Subject: Re: [Electric Boats] Do I have a battery issue?
> To: electricboats@
> Date: Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 8:16 AM
>
>
> Â
>
>
>
> Hi Mike,
>
> The chargers I have are connected to separate battery banks so they never "work" together. I can and usually do charge both banks at the same time using shore power.
>
> I have not connected a generator to the chargers yet. My plan for extended range using my Honda 2000i is to run down one bank, connect the generator to the shore power plug on the boat, start charging the depleted bank and run the motor off of the fresh bank. One bank has given me 7 hrs run time at 4 knots. I figure I can get a lot of charging done in 7 hrs.
>
> Do you use the Honda to charge your batteries from a run down state? If so how long does it take to charge the bank back to full?
>
> The PakTrakr does work well, I don't think I would have noticed the battery failing so quickly without it.
>
> Mark
>
> --- In electricboats@ yahoogroups. com, Mike <biankablog@ ...> wrote:
> >
> > Mark:
> > ÂÂ
> > Thanks for that info.  I'll be setting up my bank the same way.  I will be adding a quad battery charger probably a Dual Pro (unless others have any other suggestions)  into the charging mix. The interesting thing is if I did not have the Paktrkr installed I might never have noticed the low B1 battery since the bank was charging normally.
> > ÂÂ
> > I was wondering have you ever operated under electric propulsion with both chargers operating? My 48 volt  Zivan NG-1 draws 900 watts and a Dual Pro quad unit should draw about 720 watts. My Honda 2000 generator should be able to power power both chargers with some wattage to spare and give me a little more speed when operating in "hybrid mode" without drawing down the battery bank. But, I think I would have to operate both chargers flat out so that they don't fight each other like they would when charging with less current draw from the batteries. But, the plus side is they would be providing the max amount of current and that would hopefully translate into more speed than the 2.8 knots I can get with the Zivan alone. In theory I think it should work. But theory does not always translate the reality and I certainly don't want to smoke the chargers. If this idea does not work out at least I'll always have a backup battery
> charger on board.
> > ÂÂ
> > Capt. Mike
> > http://biankablog. blogspot. com
> > ÂÂ
> > ÂÂ
> > ÂÂ
> > Tue, 3/23/10, acsarfkram <acsarfkram@ ...> wrote:
> >
> >
> > From: acsarfkram <acsarfkram@ ...>
> > Subject: Re: [Electric Boats] Do I have a battery issue?
> > To: electricboats@ yahoogroups. com
> > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 3:24 PM
> >
> >
> > ÂÂ
> >
> >
> >
> > Hi Mike,
> >
> > I had an issue with a battery failing. The charger was a 48 volt two wire - positive and negative deal. I replaced the failing battery and had trouble with the old charger balancing the pack. I bought a reconditioned Pro Charging Systems Four Bank Pro http://www.dualpro. com/store/ items/9/25/
> > (great price)for that bank (I have two separate banks). It balanced the batteries and is working great. I kept the old charger (Kipoint) connected to the bank without the bad battery and it is also performing well.
> >
> > Mark
> > --- In electricboats@ yahoogroups. com, Mike <biankablog@ ...> wrote:
> > >
> > > Denny:
> > > ÂÂÂ
> > > Since the Paktraker gets it's power off the B1 battery it certainly does seem to point in that direction. But, I would have thought the draw would not be that dramatic when charging.  But, that is the only thing that is different in the bank from the other batteries in the bank.  Though it's interesting the battery pack does seem to balance out pretty good after resting. But, I agree my next move will be to add a Quad charger to the battery bank to help keep things in balance and give me piece of mind. What brands of chargers are people using for their 48 volt banks?
> > >
> > > ÂÂÂ
> > > Capt. Mike
> > > http://biankablog. blogspot. com
> > >
> > > --- On Tue, 3/23/10, dennis wolfe <dwolfe@> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > From: dennis wolfe <dwolfe@>
> > > Subject: Re: [Electric Boats] Do I have a battery issue?
> > > To: electricboats@ yahoogroups. com
> > > Date: Tuesday, March 23, 2010, 1:36 AM
> > >
> > >
> > > ÂÂÂ
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Mike, That .008 amp difference amounts to 70 ah per year - I'll be that is the root of your unbalance problem. Independent charging will fix the problem.
> > > ÂÂÂ
> > > Denny
> > > ÂÂÂ
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: Steve Dolan
> > > To: electricboats@ yahoogroups. com
> > > Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 2:16 PM
> > > Subject: RE: [Electric Boats] Do I have a battery issue?
> > >
> > > ÂÂÂ
> > >
> > > Mark and Mike,
> > > Disconnect the PT only if the batteries are NOT on a charger for over a week. I assume it's because of the draw of the PakTrakr (I'm soon to be installing 12 of the little buggers along with the PowerChek Equilizers) which is around 9mamps on the first battery and 1mamp on each of the remainder of the pack.
> > >
> > > Steve in Solomons MD
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: electricboats@ yahoogroups. com [mailto:electricboa ts@ yahoogroups. com] On Behalf Of acsarfkram
> > > Sent: Monday, March 22, 2010 2:06 PM
> > > To: electricboats@ yahoogroups. com
> > > Subject: Re: [Electric Boats] Do I have a battery issue?
> > >
> > > Hi Mike,
> > >
> > > Do the wind generator and solar panels keep the bank at a constant 56.1 volts? That seems high.
> > >
> > > The PakTrakr web site has some info about leaving the PakTrakr hooked up unattended for long periods; Hi Mike,
> > >
> > > Do the wind generator and solar panels keep the bank at a constant 56.1 volts? That seems high.
> > >
> > > The PakTrakr web site has some info about leaving the PakTrakr hooked up unattended for long periods (page 2); http://www.paktrakr .com/files/ PakTrakr_ Remote_Installat ion_Guide_ 2-6-08.pdf
> > >
> > > Mark
> > >
> > > --- In electricboats@ yahoogroups. com, "dennis wolfe" <dwolfe@> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > A few thoughts:
> > > >
> > > > Were the batteries balanced last fall?
> > > >
> > > > All connections 100% solid?
> > > >
> > > > Manually confirm the individual battery voltages with a DVM?
> > > >
> > > > Solar and wind chargers 48v or (4) independent 12v?
> > > >
> > > > The pack tracker has to be connected to individual batteries. Is there anything about it that would pull a little more current from battery B1 than the others? A tiny draw, spread over several months of winter storage can add up to a lot of amp-hours. Maybe the meter electronics run on 12v? If so, that could explain your situation. A Link 10 monitor, wired per the factory instructions, will create this same problem. Tapping one of the batteries for a 12v supply (lights, etc) would create this problem quickly.
> > > >
> > > > Denny
> > > > www.wolfEboats. com
> > > >
> > > > PS: If you have Concorde batteries, they have excellent phone tech support.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: Mike
> > > > To: ELECTRIC BOATS
> > > > Sent: Sunday, March 21, 2010 10:00 PM
> > > > Subject: [Electric Boats] Do I have a battery issue?
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Well the snow has finally melted and I am beginning to think about the upcoming boating season. But, I am wondering if I have an issue with one of my batteries. Here is the background and some of the tests I have done:
> > > >
> > > > The batteries are 8A4D 12 volt 210 amp AGM's that were first installed in June of 2008. There are four of them in series making up the 48 volt bank. All were purchased at the same time from the same Mfg.
> > > >
> > > > Battery Lineup
> > > > B1 is the most negative connected battery i.e. it's NEG post goes to the negative wire of the controller.
> > > > B2 is the second most negative
> > > > B3 is the third
> > > > B4 is the most positive of the batteries i.e. it's positve post goes to the positive wire of the controller.
> > > >
> > > > So I go on board the other day and have had the solar panel and wind generator doing the charging over the winter. These are the readings
> > > > BATTERY PACK VOLTAGE = 56.1 VOLTS (so far so good)
> > > > B1=13.1 volts
> > > > B2=14.1
> > > > B3=14.1
> > > > B4=14.9
> > > >
> > > > I am a little concerned about battery B1 as it seems to be reading constantly lower than the other batteries. So I put on the ZIVAN NG-1 48 volt charger that immediately goes into the second stage (pulsing) charge mode until it finishes the charging about an hour or two later. I notice that battery B1 does not go over 13 volts but, the Paktrakr is showing the other batteries being charged at up to 16 volts in this mode. Readings taken after the full charge are:
> > > > B1=12.9 volts
> > > > B2= 14
> > > > B3= 14.1
> > > > B4= 14.4
> > > >
> > > > I then let the battery bank rest overnight with no charging from either the wind generator or solar panels. The reading after 12 hours of rest are:
> > > > Pack voltage 50.9 volts
> > > > B1= 12.7 volts
> > > > B2= 12.6
> > > > B3= 12.9
> > > > B4= 13.0
> > > >
> > > > Should I be concerned about battery B1? The batteries do seem to be close after resting and the Zivan does charge the bank ok but, I am concerned that the other three batteries do show charging voltages as high as 16 volts while B1 does not seem to go over 13 volts. I am considering buying another charger that will charge each battery individually rather than always using the Zivan which is charging the whole bank. I welcome comments as to what is going on here and how concerned should I be about battery B1.
> > > >
> > > > Capt. Mike
> > > > http://biankablog. blogspot. com
> > > >
> > >
> > > ------------ --------- --------- ------
> > >
> > > Yahoo! Groups Links
> > >
> >
>
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