Starcraft Solar regulator TPS 1230 beeping
- Thread starter starcraft
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Usually means battery is low, if covering the panels when parked up always a good idea to have the batteries on a good quality charger which will just trickle away keeping it/them in good shape....................or at least turn 12v power off to stop drain.
Today I was hooking up an inverter, no trouble disconnecting red lead but when I disconnect black the beeping starts and hasn’t stopped. I don’t think low battery is an issues. Clues please. John
Topray 555 1230 charge regulator manuals are easy enough to find on the internet. I suggest reading it very carefully- about 3 times should be enough.
Here's what I've found (after months of annoying beeps and unnecessary expenses)
This alarm is set to go off by default when your van battery goes to 10.7 volts. My experience is that this often happens at night. It probably means your battery is dying. A quick test will indicate a full charge but this may only be a 'surface charge' which isn't enough to run a load. Things may look ok during the day when the sun is shining but after sunset the battery may not be holding a load properly.
It could also mean something else is drawing a current - possibly a short circuit somewhere.
Either way it's time to visit your auto electrician. If your battery is an AGM (most likely) you should get a full load test but this means giving up the disconnected battery for 24 hours which is a hassle if you are traveling and off grid.
I also suggest you check your 240v battery charger and make sure it is set to the right battery chemistry (eg AGM). The wrong setting here can reduce your battery life.
Frequent discharges of AGM batteries (like when your regulator is bleeping) shorten battery life, so once this problem starts you are on a downward spiral with ever shorter periods between bleeping.
You can stop the buzzing by disconnecting the solar leads to the regulator. Black (negative) FIRST, then red (positive), though the latter may not be completely necessary. The ORDER you disconnect the leads is IMPORTANT or you could damage your regulator.
Don't tape over the buttons this can also cause damage to the regulator.
Ron
Here's what I've found (after months of annoying beeps and unnecessary expenses)
This alarm is set to go off by default when your van battery goes to 10.7 volts. My experience is that this often happens at night. It probably means your battery is dying. A quick test will indicate a full charge but this may only be a 'surface charge' which isn't enough to run a load. Things may look ok during the day when the sun is shining but after sunset the battery may not be holding a load properly.
It could also mean something else is drawing a current - possibly a short circuit somewhere.
Either way it's time to visit your auto electrician. If your battery is an AGM (most likely) you should get a full load test but this means giving up the disconnected battery for 24 hours which is a hassle if you are traveling and off grid.
I also suggest you check your 240v battery charger and make sure it is set to the right battery chemistry (eg AGM). The wrong setting here can reduce your battery life.
Frequent discharges of AGM batteries (like when your regulator is bleeping) shorten battery life, so once this problem starts you are on a downward spiral with ever shorter periods between bleeping.
You can stop the buzzing by disconnecting the solar leads to the regulator. Black (negative) FIRST, then red (positive), though the latter may not be completely necessary. The ORDER you disconnect the leads is IMPORTANT or you could damage your regulator.
Don't tape over the buttons this can also cause damage to the regulator.
Ron
I can't remember exactly what I did when it started beeping one day- I vaguely think it was related to the load on/off setting when the left button has been pressed? So try pressing the left button then the load, or left button twice then load..or something like that
Hello @starcraft and @pharlap66 , just in case you do not have the full instructions for your Top Ray 1230 solar controller, here is the proper instructions for you to download. Please note that unless you have wires connected to the "Load" terminals, the display will NOT show discharge in amps, only amps IN and Voltage. I have provided wiring diagrams for this easy connection if you also want to know what current is going OUT of battery. But only simple if you do not have a Drifter panel, in which case, you should monitor the Drifter panel to see what is happening. By the time the Top Ray starts beeping at 10.8 volts, your battery is stuffed and probably beyond recovery to recharge and hold a reasonable capacity. 11.80 volts is the last stop before battery goes into serious decline, so the Low Voltage Disconnect at 10.8 volts is far too low IMO. For your info @Gonemissing .
https://www.caravansplus.com.au/pdf/solar_reg.pdf
Attachments
Been a long time since this discussion.
Regarding your comment about 10.8v belong to low. I understand and agree.
I had the buzzer come on again the other night after a bit of extra use (it’s only ever in the middle of the night!) but I’m sure the voltage was about 12.2V. No where near 10.8V. This battery is now about 8 months old and kept charged daily as we travel.
Any thoughts on how to retrieve and set the topray voltage alarm? 11.8v or thereabouts would be good.
Hi,
as far as I am aware, the Low Voltage Disconnect (LVD) feature on the Topray TP 1230 is not adjustable. It is fixed at 10.7V +/- 0.4V.
Cheers
Mike
as far as I am aware, the Low Voltage Disconnect (LVD) feature on the Topray TP 1230 is not adjustable. It is fixed at 10.7V +/- 0.4V.
Cheers
Mike
Correct as @mikerezny said about LVD and LVR being NON ajustable. But that is probably not the main problem. Something is wrong, either a current leakage somewhere, or a charging issue. @Gonemissing covered a lot of the reasons the alarm is sounding. From what I can remember, the LVR was 12.00 volts plus or minus 0.4 volts. That means once battery voltage has dropped below LVD, (even momentarily), it will be in alarm until voltage has reached more than 12.4 volts. Put battery on "smart" charger if you can and leave it connected for at least 48 hours to get the battery right up to FULL capacity , not just at maintain stage. You might also think back about your usage and maybe you are pushing the envelope too close to the edge. Use less power or have more charging ability when off grid, or extra battery. If you put a heavy load on battery when voltage gets down, it does not take much to tip it below LVD!!
Hi @Gonemissing , just had a few thoughts that might help. Your comment "kept charge daily as we travel" could be the problem. Your tug alternator will never charge up you battery in the van, no matter how far or long you travel. Depending on your tug, modern alternators are not capable of getting anywhere near 14.7 volts which an AGM requires to attain full capacity. The only way that this can successfully be done is with a DC to DC charger , which a lot of members now have. I have attached a couple of notices from RED ARC for your info. Note charging voltages of different vehicles. If you can get the van battery voltage above 12.4 volts, by disconnecting ALL LOADS including lights etc, you may be able to get voltage up above LVR. Then only switch on what is absolutely necessary one at a time while watching voltage reading on Topray 1230. That rationing might get you through for a while, but do not rely on tug alternator to charge up van battery.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for that. Just to clarify we have a dc-dc charger (and a second battery for a 40l fridge) installed but what i meant was that we spend most of our time in parks on 240v so the battery gets a full charge daily. Usually well over 13.5v each morning.
We were off grid for a couple of nights and we only have the one 8 month old 110AH AGM battery at present.
First night battery ran down from over 13.5v (after being on solar all day ) to 12.2V after just a very quick shower, two led lights, couple of iPhones, small water pumping and 12v tv for no more than 20 secs (that saw it drop 0.5v really quickly so i turned it off). Buzzer sounded later that night at around 12v. I thought we’d have got more out of the battery than that. The drop after the tv was an extra worry.
Next night we were more frugal. We used the Park showers and skipped the iPhone charges and really just used internal lights and it stayed at 13v all night. suggesting no leak.
Clearly the pump and phones used a bit. I’ve had the van checked a couple of times and we couldn’t find a leak. Maybe I’m expecting more from the battery than it can give but its 110Ah and i though my load was pretty minimal.
I really appreciate your comments and will go thru those docs carefully. I’ll keep monitoring and minimise nightly use.
Sorry @Gonemissing , I was not aware that you were pretty well organised with dc-dc charger and solar charging during day and 240 volt charging at night. But I would not be happy with the power provided by that AGM battery. The TPS 1320 has a max charge voltage of 14.4 volts (plus or minus ?) and I am sure you would have the correct settings on your DC to DC charger. Once again I am not privy to your power distribution system be it a Setec or the later BMpro. That should be able to charge up battery to full overnight - 10 hours at 10A comes to 100ah less 10% for charging losses!! . The Setec has max voltage setting of only 14.0 volts which is short for an AGM, but even with the smaller unit ST20, I would have thought that the charge rate of 10 amps all night would be more than enough. I would love to put my clamp meter on charge and discharge lines as well as measure voltage at various points to isolate the problem. If the charging system is functioning properly, it only leaves the battery - not charging properly or not capable of holding a charge - not going through the "absorption" phase long enough?? Faulty??
How do you charge your second battery for the 40l fridge? Is the second battery connected in parallel with the main van battery?? Are they charged together? One of them could have a failed cell which would certainly cause problems overall. Might be worth looking at running on one battery by itself and see how the load is carried. Good luck and please keep us informed.
Thanks much for your replies. You've given me much food for thought.
Both the fridge and towbar Grey Andersons are isolated behind the DC-DC charger and I checked the settings a couple of weeks back, so I'm pretty sure that I've got both set as AGM. Experience with the fridge battery suggests it gets a good charge while on the road and doesnt give me any problems. The van house battery also gets a good charge while driving but as you say, wiring losses can prevent a full charge getting through. I'll double check how good the charge really is.
So, I've now built a spreadsheet with all my expected usage while off grid, including lights, pumps, etc and that was a surprise. Consumption could be my problem, so I'm keeping a close eye on what I'm running, in particular the radio and mobile devices. Based on my spreadsheet entries, it seems I'm using more than I'm generating from solar even on a sunny day, and that being the case I'll soon drain the battery! So, it seems that perhaps I don't have a circuit problem, but one of ambitious use of my poor old 12V battery. So I'm cutting out the major power consumers (eg iphones) and seeing how I go, I'll gradually add them back in and see how I go. Cheers.
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