Electrical System - won't charge my battery bank above 13.0v

kschiff

New member
I bought a nearly new conversion on a Ford Transit Cargo van that includes the optional 2nd alternator. We have 5x 100amp Battleborn batteries hooked up in parallel. We have a Renegy 60amp MPT solar charger. We have a Sterling 60 amp DC to DC charger. We have an Aims 5000w inverter. We have 2 solar panels 175 watts each hooked up in parallel. We have a Dometic Penguin 2 air conditioner. For the first year, the original owner did not have the DC to DC charger hooked up. There is no shore power connection. The original owner solely relied on the solar to charge the battery bank. We suspect he never got it fully charged. He did not use the air conditioning because he said he did not need it. We have not been able to use the air con. We believe it is because we have an inadequate charge. Before we hooked up the DC to DC the highest voltage we could get from the solar was 12.5 to 12.6. After hooking up the DC to DC charger and driving for 6 hours, the highest we could get was 13.0v. It is insufficient to run the air con. What am I missing? Why can't I get the battery bank up to 13.6-13.7v?

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iggi

Ian
Sounds like the DC to DC charger is set to Lead Acid instead of LiFePO4. Probably the same issue with the Renogy Solar Charge Controller.
You should refer to the manuals for proper configuration or see someone with appropriate experience.

Good luck!
 

dstefan

Well-known member
Battleborns need to be charged to above 14.2 v regularly to top balance the cells. You should call BB to ask what you need to do, but at very least I think you need to do a good shore charge with the correct LiFePo profile. I’m using the Victron Blue Smart IP 65 with my BB and its great, but maybe not enough amps for you. Ask BB, they’re really helpful.
 

kschiff

New member
Sounds like the DC to DC charger is set to Lead Acid instead of LiFePO4. Probably the same issue with the Renogy Solar Charge Controller.
You should refer to the manuals for proper configuration or see someone with appropriate experience.

Good luck!
Thank you for responding! The DC to DC charger is set to LiFePO4, as is the Renogy, so it is not that. Also want to add that our 2020 Food Transit has a second 250 amp alternator charging a dual 12v starter battery system. We are using 2/0 gauge wire running to the DC to DC.

We are trying to get help locally, but everyone is really busy!!

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kschiff

New member
Battleborns need to be charged to above 14.2 v regularly to top balance the cells. You should call BB to ask what you need to do, but at very least I think you need to do a good shore charge with the correct LiFePo profile. I’m using the Victron Blue Smart IP 65 with my BB and its great, but maybe not enough amps for you. Ask BB, they’re really helpful.
Thank you for your response. We did talk to BB. They thought the 60amp sterling DC to DC charger would do the trick. We would love to do a shore charge but the van was not set up for shore charging. The builder only planned on charging the bank using the solar. Totally inadequate. We added the DC to DC charger.

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iggi

Ian
Very strange. Have you confirmed the voltages going into the batteries from the DC to DC charger? Same on the solar?

Thank you for responding! The DC to DC charger is set to LiFePO4, as is the Renogy, so it is not that. Also want to add that our 2020 Food Transit has a second 250 amp alternator charging a dual 12v starter battery system. We are using 2/0 gauge wire running to the DC to DC.

We are trying to get help locally, but everyone is really busy!!

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NatersXJ6

Explorer
This sounds like an interesting puzzle. There are a few questions that come immediately to mind:

1) Where are you right now? (how much sun?)
2) What diagnostic tools and skills do you have?
3) Have you measured the MPPT output while charging only off peak solar? How much voltage is it putting out? or… are you measuring battery voltage only at rest after charging?
4) Have you measured the amperage output from the second alternator while driving? Do you have a wiring diagram for that alternator?
5) Have you measured the output of the Dc-DC charger (both volts and amps) while driving?
6) Have you reduced the number of batteries, IE, if you Isolate to 1 battery, does it charge?

Those answers will help guide more questions, although at the outset, it feels like a lot of battery to charge with not enough solar and if your Alternator isn’t being engaged properly, you’re probably running a constant deficit on power usage.
 

NatersXJ6

Explorer
A little bit more research makes me think that you simply don’t have enough charger for that much battery. 60 amps DC-DC, is about 12% of capacity, or 8 hours to full charge. Maybe 25-30 amps from your solar? You can keep up with basic use, but not get to full charge. An article on the Powersonic web site about LiFePO charging recommends charging at 30-100% of battery bank capacity, so 150-500
Amps. Internet advice is worth what you pay for it, so seek widely and filter wisely, but I’m guessing you need more charger or less battery. I recently ran into this at work when we tried to switch our forklift fleet over to Lithium. Good sales guys who push the fast charging and opportunity charging, nobody ever asked what that takes…. Our old 30 amp (ac draw) lead acid chargers had to be replaced with 120 amp or larger units. In my facility that means over a million dollars in substation upgrades because we were already maxed out in circuit capacity. Oops.
 

kschiff

New member
I bought a nearly new conversion on a Ford Transit Cargo van that includes the optional 2nd alternator. We have 5x 100amp Battleborn batteries hooked up in parallel. We have a Renegy 60amp MPT solar charger. We have a Sterling 60 amp DC to DC charger. We have an Aims 5000w inverter. We have 2 solar panels 175 watts each hooked up in parallel. We have a Dometic Penguin 2 air conditioner. For the first year, the original owner did not have the DC to DC charger hooked up. There is no shore power connection. The original owner solely relied on the solar to charge the battery bank. We suspect he never got it fully charged. He did not use the air conditioning because he said he did not need it. We have not been able to use the air con. We believe it is because we have an inadequate charge. Before we hooked up the DC to DC the highest voltage we could get from the solar was 12.5 to 12.6. After hooking up the DC to DC charger and driving for 6 hours, the highest we could get was 13.0v. It is insufficient to run the air con. What am I missing? Why can't I get the battery bank up to 13.6-13.7v?

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UPDATE- i wanted to leave an update on case anyone else comes to this thread with the same issue. We ended up taking the battery system apart and charged each battery separately using a victron charger. It turns out that one of the batteries is defective. The red terminal moves slightly and this causes the battery to vaccilate between a zero charge and a full charge. Unfortunately, we bought the van used- though it was only 1 year old- and we don't have the receipts for the batteries. We are trying to see if battleborn will honor their warranty. Thanks to everyone for your kind advice. We appreciated all of the help.

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