12v battery maintenance, issues, etc.

[Dala]

9 minutes ago, Yaris_Cross said:

I meant the info in the link you posted

The principle of operation is the same. You can't recharge to 100% a car Battery by driving.

[Yaris_Cross]

I doubt many motorists assume their Battery is at 100% charge every time they drive and  as you dont need it to be at 100% to start the car the information is of little   importance.

[Dala]

3 minutes ago, Yaris_Cross said:

I doubt many motorists assume their battery is at 100% charge every time they drive but as you dont need it to be at 100% to start the car its of no importance.

This is an important value if you park the car for a week or two after taking it home.

[Yaris_Cross]

25 minutes ago, Dala said:

This is an important value if you park the car for a week or two after taking it home.

I can honestly say in the 40+ years of owning an ICE car i have never worried about parking the car for a week or two this Battery anxiety has only become a thing since hybrids with tiny 12v batteries  became a thing.

Has anyone here buying a  £25,000 ICE car  ever gone out and immediately bought a booster pack,  trickle charger or solar panel because they were worried their new car might not start if they left it on the drive for a week or two?

[jthspace]

10 minutes ago, Yaris_Cross said:

I can honestly say in the 40+ years of owning an ICE car i have never worried about parking the car for a week or two this battery anxiety has only become a thing since hybrids with tiny 12v batteries  became a thing.

Has anyone here buying a  £25,000 ICE car  ever gone out and immediately bought a booster pack,  trickle charger or solar panel because they were worried their new car might not start if they left it on the drive for a week or two?

My Mitsubishi PHEV would flatten the 12v Battery in a week - learned very quickly to buy a booster pack and trickle charger 😁

[flamarro]

12 minutes ago, Yaris_Cross said:

Has anyone here buying a  £25,000 ICE car  ever gone out and immediately bought a booster pack,  trickle charger or solar panel because they were worried their new car might not start if they left it on the drive for a week or two?

I even bought a Noco GB20 before I have the car 2 weeks before. Just in case, but I am not so worried about it. Just one thing I always wanted and if it happens I am good to go now. Besides, if I have it before I could help so many friends...

Yes, I wanted the car, searched for troubles and I am aware what could happen. So, let's see.... But the car, I'm in love, really....

[Sharnie70]

Does the energy monitor show how much the Battery is charged. Left mine running for an hour and it only went from 3 bars to 4. 

Also my car has just been in getting the 2 new back bumpers fitted after being rear ended. When I got it back it had the PDA symbol and a green steering wheel symbol on the dashboard which weren’t there before.

Tried reading about the steering wheel symbol but confused. The car confuses me. It steers itself sometimes. It brakes for itself sometimes. It tells me off too!!

[TonyHSD]

5 minutes ago, Sharnie70 said:

Does the energy monitor show how much the battery is charged. Left mine running for an hour and it only went from 3 bars to 4. 

Also my car has just been in getting the 2 new back bumpers fitted after being rear ended. When I got it back it had the PDA symbol and a green steering wheel symbol on the dashboard which weren’t there before.

Tried reading about the steering wheel symbol but confused. The car confuses me. It steers itself sometimes. It brakes for itself sometimes. It tells me off too!!

When you keep the car in ready mode the system charges the 12v Battery only using power from the hybrid Battery. When the hybrid Battery gets low the engine starts and recharge it. Even after 1hr of ready mode your hybrid battery may remain low, all depends of hvac settings, outside temperature and how often your engine been running. 
For the steering wheel symbol best to look your owners manual, it will explain why is there, probably activated a system, and how to disable it. 

[Corolly Poly]

2 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

When you keep the car in ready mode the system charges the 12v battery only using power from the hybrid battery. When the hybrid battery gets low the engine starts and recharge it. Even after 1hr of ready mode your hybrid battery may remain low, all depends of hvac settings, outside temperature and how often your engine been running. 
For the steering wheel symbol best to look your owners manual, it will explain why is there, probably activated a system, and how to disable it. 

Steering wheel symbol looks like Lane Trace Assist is enabled. That's what the symbol on mine looks like.

[CPN]

4 hours ago, Sharnie70 said:

Does the energy monitor show how much the battery is charged. Left mine running for an hour and it only went from 3 bars to 4. 

That Battery symbol you are seeing is for the HV (Traction) Battery and not the 12v Battery.

You will find that it will vary to sometimes as low as 1 bar or as high as 5 or 6 bars. Be aware that the HV battery very rarely shows all the bars lit and that is because the system keeps the overall charge between 40 - 80% levels so that HV battery life span is kept as long as possible...

[Dala]

Test solar panel 45W

1/ car positioned to direct the east (the sky was sunny)

 

2/ car positioned in the shadow to direct the north (the sky was cloudy )

[hind]

Dala you are only one step away from mounting the panel on the Roof Rack 😛

[CPN]

Upgraded my puny AA 2.4W panel to the 25W version of one of these...

Comes with an excellent easy to use controller...

...and gives much more bang for your buck!

Very pleased with it 🙂

[CPN]

@Dala Do you know under what classification our Mutlu batteries should come under? "Sealed", "Gel" or "Flooded"?

I'm thinking that just "Sealed" would do it?

[Liam K]

15 minutes ago, CPN said:

@Dala Do you know under what classification our Mutlu batteries should come under? "Sealed", "Gel" or "Flooded"?

I'm thinking that just "Sealed" would do it?

I'm guessing it's to set up the charge controller mode? I have the same one (though branded as photonics universe) and used the sealed setting as AGM batteries are a subset of sealed lead acid. Worked really well, though PWM charging doesn't perform as well as pulse charging in low light conditions - however if you've a big enough PV panel to harvest enough winter light, that shouldn't cause any problem.  

[Yaris_Cross]

1 hour ago, CPN said:

Upgraded my puny AA 2.4W panel to the 25W version of one of these...

Comes with an excellent easy to use controller...

...and gives much more bang for your buck!

Very pleased with it 🙂

Looks good - the 10w was enough for this guys set up a 25w should have no problems one word of warning in the video he says the controller  draws 35ma when the panel is not powering it.

 

 

[CPN]

I turn the load off once it has gone dark and the panel auto switches off also...

[Dala]

1 hour ago, CPN said:

@Dala Do you know under what classification our Mutlu batteries should come under? "Sealed", "Gel" or "Flooded"?

I'm thinking that just "Sealed" would do it?

I had the MUTLU car Battery replaced with VARTA. The regulator I use distinguishes all types of car batteries.

 

[Liam K]

I've used this charge controller a few times. The self draw is actually less than 5mA so nothing to lose sleep over!  Do be aware that the load on/off button on this only disconnect the load terminals - which you probably won't have anything connected as you are using it as a Battery charger. 

[Dala]

For my solar controller is swritten :
"MONITOR - Battery condition is displayed every 3 seconds. Ready indication for STD, hi-performance AGM and lithium LFP batteries. Draws less than 0.5mA during monitor mode.
Automatically switches to CHARGE when solar power is sufficient."

[Yaris_Cross]

 

Quote

I've used this charge controller a few times. The self draw is actually less than 5mA so nothing to lose sleep over! 

This is where he mentions the draw (first video below) 

 

 

[Dala]

58 minutes ago, Yaris_Cross said:

This is where he mentions the draw (first video below) 

He must have it connected wrong. The manufacturer says <<5mA

https://www.epever.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/LS-E-EU-Manual-EN-V4.2.pdf

His voltmeter consumes 0.5W

http://en.peacefair.cn/products/602.html

 

[CPN]

Indeed! I thought he was talking rubbish also! 🤣

[Yaris_Cross]

1 hour ago, Dala said:

He must have it connected wrong. The manufacturer says <<5mA

Well that puts that one to bed 😄

[Cyker]

The fact that he keeps saying "milli-ampere-hours" when talking about current draw annoys me and tells me he probably doesn't know what he's talking about.

mAh is a measure of energy capacity, not energy use - That's just milliamps!