Go Solar controller only showing 90%

[ghegenbart]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and have had my E-Pro 19QB less than a year. We have solar and every time we go out, the controller always shows the batteries charge to 100% during day. We went out this weekend and now the max it shows is 90%. The voltage is showing 13.4V. I checked the batteries and my multi-meter shows 13.1V. Before we went out, and for the first afternoon after arriving it showed 100%. It dropped in the evening (as usual) and in the morning started going back up, but stops at 90%.



Batteries are flooded, and I topped off the water two weeks ago. The controller is a Go Power GP-PWM-30. I have a single 100w panel on the roof that is in full sun. I've seen over 4A current, but it sometimes drops. Is a max of 90% normal?


Thanks,
Gary

[Ex-tenter]

Batteries are flooded. Is your panel set to flooded?

[PhilFromMaine]

Originally Posted by ghegenbart

Hi, I'm new to this forum and have had my E-Pro 19QB less than a year. We have solar and every time we go out, the controller always shows the batteries charge to 100% during day. We went out this weekend and now the max it shows is 90%. The voltage is showing 13.4V. I checked the batteries and my multi-meter shows 13.1V. Before we went out, and for the first afternoon after arriving it showed 100%. It dropped in the evening (as usual) and in the morning started going back up, but stops at 90%.



Batteries are flooded, and I topped off the water two weeks ago. The controller is a Go Power GP-PWM-30. I have a single 100w panel on the roof that is in full sun. I've seen over 4A current, but it sometimes drops. Is a max of 90% normal?


Thanks,
Gary

If the settings are correct on our controller, I would think that what you show in your readings in your post seems normal. Solar input varies from day to day and to the naked eye multiple days may look all alike, but they are not. On a very good day you should probably be getting well over 5 amps.
(Edit: I get well over 5 amps per 100 watts, but my panels are portable and are usually set perpendicular to the sun. If yours are on the roof, I would think you would get less amps.)

[nic7320]

Voltmeters give you an actual measured voltage reading, but charge estimators are running an algorithm to estimate percent State Of Charge. The algorithm is never perfect, sometimes the battery settings are not correct, so it can't track the charge vs. discharge numbers accurately.

In this case, there is a reset function in a menu somewhere to reset the algorithm to 100%, and should be done when your battery is fully charged.

It may also indicate your batteries are getting old, since a full charge seems like it should hold longer. The voltage rise you see is the solar charger bumping up the voltage during the day.

[ghegenbart]

It is set to flooded. We used the max boost button and it went to 100%, so we'll see if that makes a difference. The trailer is now in storage for a month, so we disconnected the battery since it is not getting any sunlight. Hopefully when we go back out things are back to normal.

[chriscowles]

Originally Posted by ghegenbart

It is set to flooded. We used the max boost button and it went to 100%, so we'll see if that makes a difference. The trailer is now in storage for a month, so we disconnected the battery since it is not getting any sunlight. Hopefully when we go back out things are back to normal.

Not directly related to your issue but is that disconnected at the post? Or disconnected with a disconnect switch? If the latter, are parasite drains like the CO/LP alarm rewired to be cut off with the disconnect switch?