Fenachrone
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2021
- Messages
- 39
I'm told by Outback that my MX60 is not compatible with lithium. Not that it might not be time to retire the old girl, but...
The situation I have now is that I've put into play Kilovault 2400 HLX+ batteries with this controller (for the moment anyway) and have put aside my set of compromised AGMs.
Understanding that I may have to get a new controller (FLEXmax 80?), for right now at least, I'd like to know if I can make this MX60 work while I'm out here in my remote location.
As far as I can tell, the issue seems to be around the limitations of setting absorb settings, that is, not being able to reduce the absorb time to the required specs. I not getting any sense there are other incompatibilities; maybe there are, but I have the bulk and float settings as per Kilovault for a 24v system.
Anyone deal with this situation? What harm comes to the batteries from this incompatibility? At least person here said the incompatibility was baloney, and was just to promote buying an upgrade.
I cherry-picked some comments about this:
...MX class has a "smart algorithm" for computing Absorb Time. The static settings are more of a guideline to define a minumum and maximum range, but are not a timer limit. AFIK it can't be overridden. So the LiFePo4 battery would be at the mercy of Lead Acid Absorb metrics. With the FM, the 0.1H Absorb Time setting is used for Constant Current (Bulk) charge termination at the target (Absorb Voltage.) This gives an unambiguous (and safe) charge cutoff, which the MX class cannot do.
Another said:
If I was stuck with an MX and a lithium battery, I'd use the "Long absorb" charge profile. For a 48V nominal battery, setting the Absorb voltage to 54.6V, Maximum Absorb Limit to 90minutes, and Minimum Absorb Limit to 0 minutes.
If someone can give me recommendations for the settings for a 24 volt system, to keep using the MX60 (at least for now), that would be greatly appreciated!
Any other comments on this are welcomed.
The situation I have now is that I've put into play Kilovault 2400 HLX+ batteries with this controller (for the moment anyway) and have put aside my set of compromised AGMs.
Understanding that I may have to get a new controller (FLEXmax 80?), for right now at least, I'd like to know if I can make this MX60 work while I'm out here in my remote location.
As far as I can tell, the issue seems to be around the limitations of setting absorb settings, that is, not being able to reduce the absorb time to the required specs. I not getting any sense there are other incompatibilities; maybe there are, but I have the bulk and float settings as per Kilovault for a 24v system.
Anyone deal with this situation? What harm comes to the batteries from this incompatibility? At least person here said the incompatibility was baloney, and was just to promote buying an upgrade.
I cherry-picked some comments about this:
...MX class has a "smart algorithm" for computing Absorb Time. The static settings are more of a guideline to define a minumum and maximum range, but are not a timer limit. AFIK it can't be overridden. So the LiFePo4 battery would be at the mercy of Lead Acid Absorb metrics. With the FM, the 0.1H Absorb Time setting is used for Constant Current (Bulk) charge termination at the target (Absorb Voltage.) This gives an unambiguous (and safe) charge cutoff, which the MX class cannot do.
Another said:
If I was stuck with an MX and a lithium battery, I'd use the "Long absorb" charge profile. For a 48V nominal battery, setting the Absorb voltage to 54.6V, Maximum Absorb Limit to 90minutes, and Minimum Absorb Limit to 0 minutes.
If someone can give me recommendations for the settings for a 24 volt system, to keep using the MX60 (at least for now), that would be greatly appreciated!
Any other comments on this are welcomed.