the setup- 900w solar providing for 4 off 280 (1120A/H) AGMs.
The AGMs are dying it seems, more from sitting doing nothing, connected, for too long. They fall off voltage too quickly for my liking. So medium term they will be replaced with LiFePo4. I dont want to do anything against that ultimate goal like buying something to throw away again.
The AGMs are split into 2 banks which I hate. I want to create the one battery from them but are not sure if the solar regs will play together? Each bank currently has its own controller - Tracer MPPTs. I don't have any reference to the controllers at all, they could be 30A, I was told 40A.........
tracer.jpg
So, will the regulators play together or should I get a Dingo and some SSRs?
Should I de-sulphate somehow?
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The disulphate would be my first try, find which battery is the crook one or ones by charging all to 14.4v till the current drops to around 2 amps, then disconnect them from each other. Let them sit for an hrs or so, then with a 60w headlight connected across the battery watch the voltage, an as new battery will keep the light on and the voltage above 12v for 10 hrs, a 50% dead battery for 5 hrs, much less than that and the battery has passed over to the other side.... unless it happens in the first 5 mins, then the battery is sulphated and just can't recharge as the plates are coated. Charge to 15v, discharge to 12v, recharge to 15v and watch how long the voltage holds up, the 16v style disulphate will kill AGM batteries but the really good mains chargers have a ripple reconditioning charge that has been known to break the sulphation scale off the active plates...... worth a try at least.
As far as the controllers, I can build you a circuit that will control the Tracer controllers so they will play nicely with the lithium batteries, getting two MPPT controllers to work together is a bit like the current federal parliament we have, not really a good workable system but it sort of works. Getting the things to come back to bulk charge mode is the biggest problem, not impossible to do but it isn't really an automatic process, it requires the sun to stop shining or the controller to at least think that was what happened, then it needs to see low battery voltage so it will switch to bulk charge when the sun comes out again.
The Dingo system requires none of this, so if you panels are around 16v to 18v Vmp and connected in parallel the Dingo would be the set and forget method I would choose. If the system is 24v or the panels are 24v then best stick with the Tracers for now, till I get these better solid state relays made for me and they test ok.
T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
Those who struggle to become a leader, rarely know a clear direction forward for anyone but themselves
OK, the shopping list is a 10 -15A mains charger then, programmable for up to 15v- that can be a permanent fixture for the future, my only shore power
Then I will stress those bad boys a bit and see what comes up.
The panels are matching -18Vmp 150w- but there is space for more. When that happens the tracers will be topped out anyways, best keep a lookout on gumtree for a dingo. Thanks T1, lets know when your SSRs come about too!
Maybe you can sell the Tracers on Gumtree or evil bay or similar.
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
Those who struggle to become a leader, rarely know a clear direction forward for anyone but themselves
Projecta IC5000, not cheap but reliable and can be adapted to the lithium control system. These also have the ripple charge you require to attempt a disulphate of the AGM batteries.
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
Those who struggle to become a leader, rarely know a clear direction forward for anyone but themselves
with all the "spare" stuff in the shed, I could start my own ebay.... 
