LXi Parasitic Load

[pgchin]

(07-30-2013 11:35)pgchin Wrote:  Corey,
After you check the things David Listed, look at the battery bank cabling system. The 95-97's are NOT balanced loads, meaning 1 bank is 2 batteries, the other is 4, so indeed my non intelligent panels behave as you describe in item 1 for that reason and the FYI below. Not sure if the factory fixed the loads in the LXI's or just wired them like the 95-97's. I've had new wiring for YEARS! to balance the loads, 3 batteries each, just hasn't moved up on the short list yet!
item 2-SWAG......... you may have a bad battery in the large bank bringing down the entire bank...................you will need to disconnect and test each one with a load tester separate.....to be sure........
FYI, if you have non intelligent panels, then the two chargers "compete" for loads (all 6 batteries) with one being the master, one the slave, so one will ALWAYS shut down more quickly then the other and leave the "master" to charge ALL battery banks.......this was told to me by the Zantrex support engineers.........so you may be fine on item 1 if you have non intelligent panels......

OK,
So, Old age and memory loss has definitely set it so I need to fix this thread as a safety awareness to other owners. The 95-97's ARE wired in a balanced load architecture...... like David describes in the LXI's.......Someone, who shall go nameless, did NOT have his glasses on when he was tracing wires!, the rest about master/slave and "dumb" panels is true. NOW, IF you have a symptom like Corey describes and I've expereinced, THEN my SWAG about a weak or bad battery cell in the setup somewhere IS the most probable cause. I've been fighting that scenario for 6-8 months until finally the bad cell went from weak, to short and started gassing and overheating the battery so bad you could not touch it............pulled the bad battery out of the lineup and yep, down 2 volts and began too cool to normal......... So be aware here and make sure you do you due diligence early on a weak cell like mine, if you do not catch it quick enough,it will get worse each time you charge the setup, overheat and you will have a HOT time if you do not see the symptoms and catch it in time! FWIW I thought getting a 4D battery in "Yooperville" was going to be an issue so I was just going to run on 5 4d's until I got home, ALAS, good ole NAPA came through in 1 day with a GREAT price so we are hooked up and rockin the house!

PS when I thought I was going to have to run on 5 4D's, I just pulled the bad battery out of the lineup and reinstalled it with the terminals 180 degrees opposite once it cooled to normal, then took two rubber gloves, wrapped and taped the cable terminals to insulate them and tied everything down......... FWIW , a trick, if you ever have to pull a battery out of a lineup and keep rollin.............

[gondolaguy]

Looks like my problem was programming the two remotes properly, so that one was "master" the other "slave". Acts more normal now

[pgchin]

(08-22-2013 18:04)gondolaguy Wrote:  Looks like my problem was programming the two remotes properly, so that one was "master" the other "slave". Acts more normal now

Corey,
Thanks for the "fix", yes the diagnostic steps (in order) would be:
1) Check your programming and your chargers/ inverters are functioning properly
2) Make sure your battery terminals and cables are not loose and are clean
Then
3) Load test each battery disconnected for a weak cell, and replace the entire battery

PS.... trick for some.... most birders do not run wet cell batteries ,but if you do, a weak cell will "drink" water more often than the others! It will also "expel" acid and you can see it out of the caps and the area around the caps /tops wet.............

OK,OK time for "true confessions"......... I knew what cell was bad and for how long(6-8 months)...........was trying to push the equipment until I got home......came up a little short this time! :-) And yes the batteries were 18 months out of warranty so they were no youngsters!