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Trace 4024’s
It’s been years since I had these Trace inverters and it’s all coming back to me slow but sure. What doesn’t seem to make sense is everytime you turn off the inverter or plug and then re-plug, it starts the charge cycle all over. When driving 7 or 8 hours the batteries are fully charged, but when you plug in, it starts the cycle all over. The absorbtion time can be adjusted, but you would think there would be a way to set up the charge based on battery voltage instead of a default charge cycle. Seems like needless battery cycle’s which effects the life of the batteries.
Maybe Ben can shed some light and get me on the right track.
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5 Replies
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That’s the way Marathon sets them up. We’ve tried to change them in our past coaches, with bad results- insufficient battery charge results.
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Mine do the same thing, and I have not found a way to change it. I replaced a failed temp sensor this past winter and that made a HUGE difference in how long they will try to charge. It now goes into float much quicker than it did last fall, but still goes into charge each time I switch to either generator or shore power.
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After I installed new batteries two years ago my Trace inverters do fine when switching from shore power to generator. If the batteries are in float with the shore power connected and I switch to generator they stay in float. They do the same when going the opposite direction as well.
However, Tom, mine does the same as yours when the trip is over. I will be paying attention to see if anyone has answers.
Davy
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Tom, I’m pretty sure that’s the nature of the beast with Trace units. If you are a pole to pole kind of person you can reduce the absorbtion cycle time. You should nt do this if you actually use your inverters.
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Are you literally turning the inverters off or did you mean turning off the major loads before plugging in? Just to clarify…
It is normal for the Trace Inverters to hold the batteries at Bulk on the first return of an AC input source after being in the invert mode for a length of time. The default time of this is 3 hours. I ABSOLUTELY agree, the temp sensors MUST be both functioning, and both on the same battery for all to be well with the world. Here is how to see if they are both working properly:
1) Push the Red & Green buttons at the same exact time, which takes you into the Setup Menu #9.
2) Using the Menu Heading right button, advance the screen to #20, “End of User Setup”
3) Push the Red & Green buttons at the same exact time, which advances you to Menu #21, Advanced Diagnostics “Temperatures”
4) Use the Menu Items Down, the far left button, go down to Battery Temp Counts. This is a value from 0-255. It is not the actual temperature, just a representation of the Analogue to Digital converter based on what the temperature reading is. If either has 255 for a reading, the Battery Temp sensor is open-circuit. It could be a bad connection at the inverter board, a bad connection or corroded coupler, or a failed temp sensor itself.Example: If one inverter reads 255 for counts, the inverter assumes ambient temp is 70-degrees. In normal summertime temps, the value should be in the low 100’s and BOTH should be within 10 counts of each other! If they are not, look to make sure they are next to each other on the SAME BATTERY, and if one is 255, start looking for bad connections along the cable to the sensor.
Lack of battery temp sensor input to the inverters can cause the inverters to either undercharge the batteries in cooler than 70-degree temps, or Overcharge them, resulting in gassing of the pressurized AGM batteries. If the pressure relief valves open to vent excess gas, it can never be replaced and the battery will experience premature failure that is NOT covered under any warranty.Things that make inverters stay in bulk longer than the 3 hour limit are:
1) inconsistent battery temp readings.
2) large ac load amps downstream of the inverters that reduce the charge rate, taking longer to finish off the charge cycle.
3) bad house batteries, causing the “return amps” the inverter sees to make one or both of them think the batteries are not fully charged.
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