I replyed to a question this morning.
http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2006/5/30/161127/681
all pics where in JPG format, all pics where less then 50K, there where only 4 pics in the post, so, what happened to the post?
?
Irritation and frustration does not adequately express the hours spent "LOST" in working on the reply to the question and then having it removed.
WHY???
Explain what was soooo wrong with this post and why it had to be removed???
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All C-series controllers are pre-programmed and have a microcontroller internal to them.
The C-30-40 series is preprogrammed to follow a routine of charge or diversion. The C-60 can be set by dip switches or totally re-programmable by outside computer so you can adjust any or all parameters on the fly (my personal favorite). They are also more expensive and have more functionality.
All controllers vary their internal routine based upon temperature and voltage and other secondary factors. All C-series controllers are based on the "millivolt scale" or mv dc volts scale for internal reference measurement. Which you would think and assume would be accurate, but it's not and is the cause of many problems. All results then appear as blinken lights which tell us basics but not much else, and are not accurate at all.
All controllers are rated with an accuracy (in the book it came with), this accuracy is measured in "millivolts" and feeds an analog to digital converter, which the internal microprocessor reads and interprets the data and applies the net result to the output. In all manuals this accuracy is listed, however, know that all accuracy is also out by some factor, in most cases this accuracy is out by ~.50 mv. This means that at the time of manufacture and testing of the controller at the factory this is how much it more or less could be out in millivolts. Personal experience suggests this to be much greater and as much as ~.100 more or less.
So lets say that you have a controller, a temperature sensor, a solar panel and a battery, the most basic and fundamental setup. Let say also that you have a voltage sense wire that is going to measure the battery voltage directly from the batteries.
The first question is, where did you connect your temp sensor and where did you connect your battery voltage sense wire, because in a battery bank it becomes a major factor when dealing in the millivolt scale. This can be out by a factor of 1000. So the controller is going to get the wrong information and thus display and output the wrong information. The correct placement of a temperature sensor would be in the exact middle of the battery bank.
This also applies to the voltage sense wires. If they are not placed in the exact center of the battery bank then your controller will be out to lunch. Remember, we are dealing with the millivolt scale, wire resistance is a major factor (not the sense wire resistance). Placing sense wires at the inverter or anywhere else will cause problems.
The controller also measures both the incoming solar/wind power and the battery voltage on it's terminal legs. It's looking at many variables to determine what is the best possible method to charge batteries with the available power it has to work with and picks this based on a mathematical algorithm, which can be graphically seen here.
This is the pre-programmed mathematical algorithm in all C-series controllers. Note the vertical and especially the horizontal lines that define the states of operation. They are the control points that also tell the blinken lights what state the controller is in at any given time.
Data is fed into the controller from the voltage sense wires, the battery lugs on the controller, the temperature sense, the solar/wind input. It varies along this chart according to these inputs, all of which are fed via analog to digital converters and all are measured in the millivolt scale.
Now let's add the complication of batteries.
All batteries are measured in terms of voltage, amp hours and temperature. Yes, temperature!! An important factor no one talks about much.
All batteries stats are available on the internet by battery manufacture.
Here are the specs on standard trojan batteries, so from this chart I can see the 5 and 20 hr amp hour rate, notice the "d" and "e". Below you will see that this relates to temperature and voltage. To the left you can see capacity and again "c".
Here is the chart below to explain those other letters.
C-Series controllers check the temperature sensor to see how far out it is from a preprogrammed set point and adjust the output accordingly, feeding the battery more or less voltage. The set point in also listed in the manual as ~78-80F. Again accuracy in the controllers is not the greatest.
Now here is chart (c-60 controller) of the led readout and battery charge chart
Everything to turn on those blinken lights depends on the controller getting the right information, the batteries state of charge, the available input power and the temperature.
All voltages are measured in millivolts. A simple voltage transition of a couple of millivolts will change the LED. Since the millivolt scale is so sensitive you can see now why this is somewhat an in-accurate method of checking the state of anything.
My highest recommendation is in tracing down and finding all available information on your batteries since they are what it all hinges on and what is going to tell the controller to do. so knowing this you can see it may not be the controller in the end, it may be other factors.
In ending, if your batteries are located in a cooler environment then a change of 10deg will shift the controller sense off as well. (attempt to compensate- take a thermometer with you and measure the temp and the batts.
