Outback Charger/Inverter, controlling charger

[pepperhead1963]

Is it possible to delay or set the conditions whereby the automatic charger kicks in and charges your batteries from grid?

Following scenerio comes to mind:

My batteries are at 11.9 volts and it is going to be a sunny day and my use will be low so I know by 2pm my batteries will be topped up.  It would be a shame for the charger to kick in, draw 10kw from the grid, and waste sun all day.  Conversely, it is a dark November day and the batteries are 11.9, I want them topped up via the grid.  I would like to be able to manually override the charger, by flipping a switch or by having a delay, ie), it the batteries stay at 11.9 for more than 2 hrs, charge them

Thanks

[TomW]

A little looking around over at outbackpower.com would yield your answer.

Basically: With a Mate you can program the FX series Inverters to do what you wish.

Might be worthwhile to check that out.

Tom

[electronbaby]

yes. You can set the chargers to draw from grid power and charge your batteries based on their voltage, and/or the clock. Pretty sure they wont do time-or-day selling, but im pretty sure you can do it on the charging end. If you want the solar to always supply a charge first, program the charge controller parameters slightly different than the grid charger. There is many ways to set up and program these systems.

hope this helps.

[pepperhead1963]

Yup, I just went over and downloaded one of their PDF manuals, and the charger can be set to  OFF/Auto/ON, with the default to Auto

Thanks guys