Battery issue

[trumpetguy]

Dry camping for 10 days now and having a problem with the invertor shutting off due to low battery voltage. The amp hours we are using are not even close to the capacity. of the batteries. Wake up each morning after running twp Cpaps overnight with about 88% battery available yet the voltage is at 10.8 which shuts down the inverter. There seems to be a disconnect between the amp hours and the voltage monitor...as in we have plenty of hours available, but the inverter does not think we do because of the voltage. Any ideas as to why this is happening. I do not like running the generator to make coffee when I have so much capacity.

 

4 trojan t105s

2000 watt samlex invertor

320 panels.

All Oliver installed.

[trumpetguy]

Seriously guys. No one has any information to share? My Blue sky remote says only 30 amps are used yet the voltage is 10.8 causing the inverter to shut down. I should have about 190 amps left before the batts get down to 11 volts.

[GaryJona]

David I am no expert on this at all I have only relied on the solar for 2 or 3 days at a time but will this winter in Quartzite. Did you check all the connections to see if there are any loose so as to not get a full charge or draw, also the water level in your batteries are they able to charge fully or did you lose one for a total draw charge. Have you shut the power to the inverter and see if it will reset possibly I am only guessing here as mine is in Florida and I'm in North Carolina now. I will follow this post so I have the future info should we or others need this remedy. Good Luck and hope someone more knowledgeable replies. Thanks Gary

[ScubaRx]

Where are you, David? I've tried to call you every night for the past three.

[bugeyedriver]

Do you have any secondary confirmation of the 10.8V reading, such as a 12v plug-in in reader or such? If the voltage really is that low it is NOT good and may have hurt your batteries. . Normal operation should not take them below 12.2v, which is about 50 percent. With my single 160w panel, I never need plug ins if I don't require A/C running. Sounds like the batteries are not charging. Scubrx has a similar system to you and should be able to help you troubleshoot the system. Good luck.

 

Let us know what your final outcome is . . .

[routlaw]

David,

 

Have you checked to see if one of your circuit breakers below the driver side bed has been turned off or tripped for what ever reason. There are 3 there, well actually two circuit breakers and an on/off switch for the solar panels. I would start there.

[trumpetguy]

The mystery continues. Unplugged from shore power last night to run a test. Overnight we ran two cpap machines, plus the furnace was on when we woke up. Chilly in Asheville. Voltage was at 12...not 10.8 as it has been. Was able to run two electric coffee pots plus the microwave...all on inverter. I did follow Scuba rx advice to check the batteries. They all read greater than six volts. I also reset the solar controller. Time will tell, but more than likely I did not have a full charge when we were off grid.