Redarc TVMS + Manager30 Not Reporting Battery State of Charge

[jbillauer]

I just hooked up my electrical system which is basically comprised of the following (there are some breakers and loads but I'm not sure those are relevant):

TVMS
Manager30
400ah LiFe Po4 Battery bank
400w of solar

The BNeg side of the battery sensor is hooked up to the battery bank with a battery disconnect switch in line. The ground side of the sensor is hooked up to a negative bus bar off of which all of my negative connections aside from the negative wire that goes to the TVMS.

The battery sensor is able to detect voltage and temperature but says the SOC is 0%. I can run my fans and fridge of the battery even without the solar connected which tells me I must have some charge.

Redarc support ins't open until Sunday but I figured I might be able to get some help here.

I disconnected my batteries and my solar (since it is still enough to power the manager 30 and tvms by itself) just in case overcharging is a possibility due to the sensor not reading the SOC.

My initial thought is that the in-line battery switch may be causing an issue. Or the negative wire going to the TVMS should be on the bus bar rather than the negative side of the battery sensor.

Any thoughts/solutions would be appreciated!

 

[DiploStrat]

Having spent literally years chasing a voltage-but-no-amps gremlin, I can only advise to be absolutely sure that your camper battery shares a common (and good) ground with the starter battery. REDARC gear requires a common ground.

In my case, it took way too long to trace every wire only to discover that the builder installed my battery without a common ground to the starter battery.

Could not believe it and it took a long time to find as I was getting a perfect charge with solar and shore power.

Ran a proper ground wire and everything worked perfectly.

Best wishes!

 

[jbillauer]

Gotcha, thanks for the reply.

I do have the starter battery connected to my bus bar via a long run of 6 gauge (same run as the positive terminal).

I have yet to run the chassis ground that I had intended to run but I guess I'll get that installed and try again.

 

[DiploStrat]

No need to tie to the chassis if you already have a properly sized wire connecting the negatives of the two batteries. The chassis is simply an alternative to running a wire, assuming that:

-- Both batteries are tied to the chassis, and,
-- The chassis has no breaks/high resistance points.

 

[Power Wagon Family]

Upon initial hook up your RedArc will display your battery level at 0% until the manager 30 detects the battery is charged back to 100% and then will read correctly. This happens each time you disconnect power from the system.

 

[jbillauer]

Upon initial hook up your RedArc will display your battery level at 0% until the manager 30 detects the battery is charged back to 100% and then will read correctly. This happens each time you disconnect power from the system.

Does this apply when the data is read via the TVMS? I only read about the "calculating" being displayed on the Manager30 display.

 

[Hegear]

If your battery is fully charged try switching to storage mode and then switching back to touring mode. It may take a few minutes but this has worked for me.

 

[Power Wagon Family]

Does this apply when the data is read via the TVMS? I only read about the "calculating" being displayed on the Manager30 display.

I have the Manager 30 and RedVision and it does this every time I've had to disconnect the Aux battery. Once the system detects the battery at 100% it will show that and operate normally. Thats been my experience