fudd Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 I've recently fitted four of these on my boat. I've set my Victron charger to the lead acid setting and I've got the smartgauge 03 overload come up on the display. I originally set the charger to the gel cell setting and it took two whole days to get from 75% to 90%. I am currently on a land line. I have done a factory re-set on the smartgauge. Any advice is welcome. Regards Steve P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty69 Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 What voltage are they charging at? If you have done a factory reset, the sg should be set to battery type 1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detling Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 Smartgauge takes 3 to 4 cycles to get set up. On a shoreline you will have no real daily cycles just the charger switching from absorption to float and any dips caused by loading (hairdryer, microwave etc). The SG will never get it right on a landline, but you don't need it. When you cruise after two or three days it will be right. The victron will from time to time do a mini equalise and cause 03 errors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudd Posted June 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 1 hour ago, rusty69 said: What voltage are they charging at? If you have done a factory reset, the sg should be set to battery type 1. It's showing 13.35-13.4 47 minutes ago, Detling said: Smartgauge takes 3 to 4 cycles to get set up. On a shoreline you will have no real daily cycles just the charger switching from absorption to float and any dips caused by loading (hairdryer, microwave etc). The SG will never get it right on a landline, but you don't need it. When you cruise after two or three days it will be right. The victron will from time to time do a mini equalise and cause 03 errors. 48 minutes ago, Detling said: Smartgauge takes 3 to 4 cycles to get set up. On a shoreline you will have no real daily cycles just the charger switching from absorption to float and any dips caused by loading (hairdryer, microwave etc). The SG will never get it right on a landline, but you don't need it. When you cruise after two or three days it will be right. The victron will from time to time do a mini equalise and cause 03 errors. Ok. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty69 Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 42 minutes ago, fudd said: It's showing 13.35-13.4 1 hour ago, Detling said: Seems a bit low to trigger the 03 error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudd Posted June 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, rusty69 said: Seems a bit low to trigger the 03 error. I've just switched the charger off for a couple of minutes, switched it back on and it's charging at 14.4 Edited June 13, 2017 by fudd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty69 Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 3 minutes ago, fudd said: I've just switched the charger of for a couple of minutes, switched it back on and it's charging at 14.4 Still seems low to trigger the alarm. Although im not sure the manual quotes a figure. Have you got solar on too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 Is the smart gauge connected correctly,straight to the battery? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudd Posted June 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 40 minutes ago, rusty69 said: Still seems low to trigger the alarm. Although im not sure the manual quotes a figure. Have you got solar on too? No. 32 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said: Is the smart gauge connected correctly,straight to the battery? Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smileypete Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 How about contact Numax and ask what the recommended charging voltage is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudd Posted June 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 1 minute ago, smileypete said: How about contact Numax and ask what the recommended charging voltage is? I should do. I'll try tomorrow. I'm just a bit concerned that the charger is playing up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_fincher Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 30 minutes ago, smileypete said: How about contact Numax and ask what the recommended charging voltage is? Nothing special about those Numax batteries. They are very bog standard Lead Acid, other than they are sealed. From memory doesn't the Smartgauge require a different set up between sealed and unsealed? Which battery type setting are you now using? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudd Posted June 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 12 minutes ago, alan_fincher said: Nothing special about those Numax batteries. They are very bog standard Lead Acid, other than they are sealed. From memory doesn't the Smartgauge require a different set up between sealed and unsealed? Which battery type setting are you now using? Setting no 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulD Posted June 13, 2017 Report Share Posted June 13, 2017 1 hour ago, fudd said: Setting no 1 Are these same as my Numax CXV 31 MF? I set my Smartgauge to setting 6 and get 03 error every time my Victron goes into bulk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan_fincher Posted June 14, 2017 Report Share Posted June 14, 2017 10 hours ago, fudd said: Setting no 1 The Smartgauge manual says..... Quote 1 Deep cycle, wet cell, antimony lead acid 2 Gel Cell lead acid (a type of VRLA – Valve Regulated Lead Acid) 3 AGM – Absorbed Glass Matt (another type of VRLA) 4 Hybrid – calcium/antimony (usually marked as dual purpose or “leisure”) lead acid 5 Carbon Fibre lead acid 6 Maintenance free (wet cells but no way to top up the electrolyte) lead acid So if your batteries are sealed, as I think they are based on the number you have quoted, then surely it should be set to 6? Not sure it will fix the problem, though, but that's surely what Smartgauge are saying? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smileypete Posted June 14, 2017 Report Share Posted June 14, 2017 12 hours ago, fudd said: I should do. I'll try tomorrow. I'm just a bit concerned that the charger is playing up. Reading in between the lines, it sounds like the charger is going to float voltage well before the batts are fully charged, a fairly typical problem. A work-around is to power cycle the charger when it drops to float voltage, until the 'tail current' is acceptably low (for sealed batts say between 0.5% and 1% of capacity in Ah - at the correct charge voltage). If there's no panel ammeter, an alternative is to get a handheld multimeter with a clamp that can read DC amps, they can be had for £25+ off Ebay, ask for recommendations if interested in getting one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard10002 Posted June 14, 2017 Report Share Posted June 14, 2017 My "smart" charger usually runs for an hour in absorption mode, then drops into float, ( there are circumstances when it runs for longer, but only if the batteries were particularly depleted). An hour isn't usually long enough to reach a low enough Amp draw by the batteries, so I have to remember to reset the charger after about 50 minutes or so. I sometimes set a timer alarm on my phone. I keep doing this until the NASA BM2 tells me the Amps drawn is around 2 to 4, (1-2% of calculated capacity of 200Ah). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naughty Cal Posted June 15, 2017 Report Share Posted June 15, 2017 (edited) On 6/13/2017 at 22:57, PaulD said: Are these same as my Numax CXV 31 MF? I set my Smartgauge to setting 6 and get 03 error every time my Victron goes into bulk. If it is these: Then they look remarkably similar (minus a few colour changes on a few bits of plastic and a slightly different reference number) to the Bison batteries we got earlier this year. We have been impressed with these so far. They seem to cope with larger loads like boiling the electric kettle far better and with less voltage drop then the old Varta's did even when they were new. Too early to say if they are going to be long lived as they have only been on for a few months but first impressions are pretty good. ETA: Just found what I suspect is the direct Bison version of the Newmax battery. The BC31MF. http://www.sybsgroup.co.uk/bisonleisure/ Edited June 15, 2017 by Naughty Cal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulD Posted June 16, 2017 Report Share Posted June 16, 2017 I think they are probably the same batteries as I understand all the sealed ones use calcium to reduce electrolyte loss. The C has been dropped from the Numax data sheet product list for calcium batteries even though it still says CXV in the title. I remember reading several threads about short life caused by using too low a charge voltage with sealed batteries so I just ignore the E03 error. This is not a recommendation to anyone else - just my conclusion from reading a lot of very conflicting information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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