boB asked: "Does this customer have another charging source besides a generator, like PV?"
Mick says: No...that is unfortunate because the customer doesn't want to allow the generator to grind away for the additional hours required for a full recharge. They've been shutting the generator down when the Magnum display shows 99%. If the client could win the lottery, renewables could be added but job one has been to reduce their bill for diesel. About the meter reset problem, boB says: "1) The return Amps must go below 2% of the Amp-Hour setting for the battery bank (settings via the remote)." Mick says: The battery string is 400 amp hours, which also happens to be the Magnum default. This setting pre-disposes the Magnum charger for a 120 minute absorption period before shifting to float. 2% of 400 is only eight amps, so I'll bet the Magnum unit is dropping into float before the DC amperage can taper to the 2% level. I need to get my customer to confirm that as a possible explanation why we're not getting the reset...if I can explain that in a fax. Note 1 to the Magnum engineers: Isn't 5% return amps a more common determinant of full charge instead of 2%? Note 2 to the Magnum engineers: If the charger drops into float how about allowing that to trigger a reset on the ah meter? In this installation, one Magnum hand seems to not know what the other Magnum hand is doing...that seems a shame when the ah meter is networked in with the inverter/charger. Note 3 to the Magnum engineers: "Shift to float" based on "return amps" seems better than a shift based on minutes. I realize that not all inverter customers buy the meter option, but for those who do...it seems that the networked aspect could deliver another customer advantage if the amp meter could report the return amps and the charger use this information to decide when to shift to float. Just wondering... Thank you, boB, for helping me cut through the customer support muddle. I had once before tried to get help from Magnum via email and I got no reply. Mick Abraham, Proprietor www.abrahamsolar.com Voice: 970-731-4675 P.S. I also think my customer has some problem in his fairly new battery string. After pushing the Magnum charger all the way to float, the Magnum ah meter clocked only 137 amp hours of DC delivery before the inverter shut down due to low voltage. I think I'll loan the client a PakTrakr voltage monitor which can connect to each 6v unit all the way up the battery string, and we'll look for anomalies. Maybe we'll find one zombie... _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
