So our Wanderer 30A charge controller will not turn on. I’m a little worried that our lithium batteries are a bit low…they won’t kick on the BT module so I can’t even monitor their level but just before the Wanderer turned off, one battery was at 10% and the other was at 18%.
Anyone had this issue? No, the fuse to the wanderer is still intact, so that’s fine. Just before this happened, our Propex was running and blew a fuse and we also heard a pop noise coming from the 1000w Renogy inverter.
I called Renogy and they said I should try a battery charger and get the charge back up to 50% at least. Is this something we should expect in the future when the batteries get this low?
Did you try removing or disconnecting the bluetooth module and then plugging it back in to the controller? I’ve never had my batteries drop this low, but every once in a blue moon I the bluetooth module just doesn’t connect for whatever reason. Unplugging it and plugging it back in seems to work when this does happen to us.
I can’t speak to the wanderer exactly, we have a rover 40li and it has a display that tells you what is going on as well.
If you meter your batteries, it should let you know if the solar is charging or not as the voltage should be increasing over time.
From what I understand of it, even though the lithium batteries can be discharged completely, you are shortening their life if they drop below 15% and it is not recommended. 20% discharge max and never 100% full charge for the most longevity.
I believe you said in a past post that you were using goal zero’s as opposed to a straight up battery. If that is still the case it may be part of the problem. A friend had an issue with his heater as they didn’t put out the correct voltage of the battery. Something about how they are regulated. So the heater would not work unless it was 80% or above.
Battery makers will not recommend this, so this is at your own risk!
I’ve run lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries down to one volt or so, and the only way I got them back was to charge them using a dumb 12 volt charger or jumper cables from a 12 volt battery. It doesn’t take long to get them up to the point where the smart charger can take over - maybe 5 minutes or less. It’s not recommended, so be careful, stand back, and protect yourself in case it explodes - it’s kind of a last-ditch method.
Once you get it to where the smart charger will deal with it, go ahead and let the smart charger/BMS take over and balance the cells.