Solar and battery maintenance questions October 08, 2022, 04:30:53 pm We bought our LD new. We have made no modifications from the factory setup. We full time. We have 2 solar panels. We got the battery disconnect switch. The only maintenance we have done is to clean the solar panels when we wash the RV. When we are boondocking we always turn on the solar readouts so we see our “volts/amp in” reading. Does anyone do any other maintenance? The solar manual talks about equalizing the batteries, does anyone do that? Should we? When should we? Tips and tricks about the solar? Tips and tricks about the fuse, battery disconnect switch? Words of wisdom about the solar or batteries? I have not reset the solar charge amp hours because I don’t want to do something wrong and equalize when I shouldn’t or do something to break anything. So it is always on 999. Any thoughts and words of wisdom would be appreciated.
Re: Solar and battery maintenance questions Reply #1 – October 08, 2022, 04:56:31 pm Your LD's Blue Sky 3000i solar controller can be set to manually or automatically equalize your AGM batteries.Can I Equalize AGM Batteries? - Lifeline BatteriesReading the Blue Sky 3000i's owner's manual will provide a wealth of information on how to program it.Every year or two, depending on how much the rig is used, it's a good idea to have a qualified tech tighten all the electrical connections inside the 120-volt section of the power center. Ensure the shore power is disconnected, the generator is off, and any inverters shut down before commencing work.Larry
Re: Solar and battery maintenance questions Reply #2 – October 08, 2022, 07:19:36 pm Quote from: bonnie - October 08, 2022, 04:30:53 pm<snap ........>I have not reset the solar charge amp hours because I don’t want to do something wrong and equalize when I shouldn’t or do something to break anything. So it is always on 999. Any thoughts and words of wisdom would be appreciated.The Blue Sky 3000i controller is a very good controller. The Blue Sky 3000i covers just about any questions you may have.Enclosed are two screen grabs that I think can answer your questions directly. The factory default setting can only be changed by going directly into the controller. You can't 'hurt' anything by pushing buttons on the 'outside'.By default, Blue Sky doesn't equalize AGM's. You would have to re-program the controller to do that. The only 'problem' you'd be facing in the future is when added more solar panels. At that point, you'd have to 'learn' more about the voltage and amp setting internally. Till then just enjoy what ya got. The only thing not documented in the LD owner's manual is the temperature compensator which is also included by the factory. They, the LD factory set is a tad low but that is not a big deal. glen