Outback FXR Series Operator's Manual

Operation
900-0167-01-01 Rev A 29
Battery Charging
IMPORTANT:
Battery charger settings need to be correct for a given battery type. Always follow battery
manufacturer recommendations. Making incorrect settings, or leaving them at factory default
settings, may cause the batteries to be undercharged or overcharged.
Charge Current
Batteries or battery banks usually have a recommended limit on the maximum current used for
charging. Often this is calculated as a percentage or fraction of the battery capacity,
represented by “C”. For example, C/5 would be a DC amperage figure that is 1/5 of the total
amp-hours of the bank.
Any chargers must be set so that the peak charge current does not exceed the recommended
battery maximum. If multiple chargers are present (including other types of chargers), this
calculation must accommodate the total combined current. The inverter’s charger may need to
be set at less than maximum. The system display can change charger settings.
IMPORT
ANT:
Although the recommended current is generally represented in DC amperes (Adc), the
Charger AC
Limit
setting is measured in AC amperes (Aac), which use a different scale. To convert the DC
current into a usable AC figure, divide the DC figure by the following number (based on inverter
voltage) and round up. The result can be used as a charger setting for the FXR inverter.
12-volt inverters: Divide by 10
24-volt inverters: Divide by 5
48-volt inverters: Divide by 2.5
Examples
:
1.
Bank consists of 8 x L16 FLA batteries in series for a 48-volt system. Recommended
maximum
charge current is 75 Adc. (75 ÷ 2.5 = 30 Aac)
2. Bank consists of 12 x OutBack EnergyCell 200RE
VRLA batteries in series/parallel for a 24-volt
sy
stem. Recommended maximum charge current is 90 Adc. (90 ÷ 5 = 18 Aac)
The maximum DC charge rate for FXR models is specified in Table 13 on page 57. The actual
Charger AC Limit
setting is available in the
AC Input and Current Limit
menu of a
MATE3-class system display. (See the menu tables which begin on page 66.) These numbers
are also summarized in Table 3.
NOTE
: This table does not match the calculations above
due to other factors in charging.
Table 3 Charge Currents for FXR Models
Model Maximum DC Output (sent to battery) Maximum AC Input (used from source)
FXR2012A 100 Adc 14 Aac
VFXR2812A 125 Adc 18 Aac
FXR2524A 55 Adc 14 Aac
VFXR3524A 82 Adc 20 Aac
FXR3048A 35 Adc 14 Aac
VFXR3648A 45 Adc 20 Aac
Charge Current for Multiple Inverters
If FXR inverters are stacked, the master inverter
Charger AC Limit
setting is used by all other
inverters. Divide the total AC current by the number of chargers used and program the master
with the result. The master will operate all chargers with this setting to achieve the maximum
total charge current. The system display has a global
Charger Control
command of
On
which
enables all available chargers.