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Old 05-26-2014, 10:32 AM   #21
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This should answer your questions. It answered mine! http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...html#post52140
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Old 05-26-2014, 10:39 AM   #22
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Jamman is right, something is not adding up here. Check how you are measuring. To make accurate voltage measurements you can't have current going in or out of the batteries. You also need to rest them before measuring.

If you are measuring after a couple of hours in the sun then I assume the sun is still up. Are you disconnecting the charger before measuring? If the charger is still plugged in and working you might be measuring the voltage output from the charger not what is in the battery.
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Old 05-26-2014, 11:21 AM   #23
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Agree. Doesn't add up, must be my inverter is sucking too much juice from the batteries. No, I'm not reading the voltmeter while charging (duh!). Thanks all. Great thread on solar.

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Old 05-26-2014, 11:29 AM   #24
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As I've mentioned in other posts, until I installed an amp hour based battery monitor (a TriMetric 2025), I thought the battery charge per cent measurement provided by the GoPower solar controller was accurate. After setting up the TriMetric, I discovered that my batteries would sometimes be down as much as 25 amp hours while the solar controller showed 100% (as did the lights on the built in monitoring panel).

A voltage measurement (which is what the solar controller does) has too many variables to be accurate. Either a real battery monitor that shows amp hours in/out or measuring the specific gravity of the cells is the only accurate way to know the condition of your batteries.
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Old 05-26-2014, 05:21 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LarryandLiz View Post
Couldn't find them. I don't have much luck using the search function on this software.
Use the the search site/google,the the other search I've found to be less useful
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Old 05-26-2014, 05:34 PM   #26
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See attached.
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Old 05-27-2014, 08:24 AM   #27
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Thanks for the info re searching. This makes a huge difference and the old forum threads much more accessible
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Old 05-27-2014, 11:56 PM   #28
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Back to the inverter question, if I were to buy a better inverter, how is it installed? Just wire it to two 12v wires or do a new circuit off the panel?

Greg
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Old 05-28-2014, 03:31 AM   #29
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I believe inverters are best wired direct to your battery as that is the source of power.
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Old 05-28-2014, 08:26 AM   #30
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1000W 12VDC-115VAC Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter | SSW-1000-12A
See page 6 of product manual.
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