Amps from Zamp charge controller

[Elkman]

The Zamp ZS-30A has two Zamp 100W panels providing DC volts in and the Zamp panel shows the input amps at 4.8 AH which seems very low at mid day. At the batteries they show 1.0 Amps of charge taking place and the panels should be providing closer to 10 amps at mid day. The Zamp solar setup is also not able to maintain the batteries SOC with no loads at all other than the Xantrex in standby mode which should be drawing 0.16 amps.

The batteries are lithium phosphate and the Zamp controller is configured for this battery type. There is something off with the Lithionics batteries as one was showing 90% SOC and the second one showed 60% SOC this morning. They are wired in parallel but I still expected the demand to be shared by the two batteries and this does not appear to be happening.

No issues with charging these batteries using shorepower and the Xantrex or the generator and the Xantrex. It seems most likely to be a Zamp problem. Has anyone run into anything similar with their Zamp charge controller?

[Winterbagoal]

Nope, but I don't have all the fancy monitors and tools that you have with your Lithionics batteries and other charging sources. I just have my One Place battery monitor, and the Zamp ZS-30A display to give me an idea of whether I'm charged up or not. It's not worth the heartburn to micro manage stuff like that, to me at least.
The Zamp display is supposed to show you what the batteries are asking for or receiving, not what the panels are putting out. The fuller the batteries, the lower the amps coming to them from the panels. I would regularly see 15A+ (I added a 3rd 100W panel to my roof) in good sun in total going to the original equipment NAPA FLAs because they were almost always closer to fully discharged as they aged out before I replaced them. The other "amp" display is total amps harvested during the current daylight hours, and the volts display is (approximately) the current state of charge in volts of the batteries. I asked Zamp for the display meaning explanation long ago.
Too bad the Lithionics batteries don't seem to be doing what they're supposed to do, considering the price and technology included. That's quite a difference in SoC between the 2 connected in parallel.

[Elkman]

It is not "micro managing" to expect 10 amps charging from solar and to be getting 1 amp. Truly dumb thing to say.

If I had installed the solar setup myself I would have confidence that it was done correctly but as it was done by someone at Winnebago I have no confidence that this was done. I want to know and correct problems before I hit the road and we are thousands of miles from home? Why is this so difficult to understand?

No idea why those with nothing to contribute insist on responding to a thread anywayt, It is not helpful and it is counterproductive.

[SpecE30]

Thanks for insights! Somebody else may not have understood your response.

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

Nope, but I don't have all the fancy monitors and tools that you have with your Lithionics batteries and other charging sources. I just have my One Place battery monitor, and the Zamp ZS-30A display to give me an idea of whether I'm charged up or not. It's not worth the heartburn to micro manage stuff like that, to me at least.
The Zamp display is supposed to show you what the batteries are asking for or receiving, not what the panels are putting out. The fuller the batteries, the lower the amps coming to them from the panels. I would regularly see 15A+ (I added a 3rd 100W panel to my roof) in good sun in total going to the original equipment NAPA FLAs because they were almost always closer to fully discharged as they aged out before I replaced them. The other "amp" display is total amps harvested during the current daylight hours, and the volts display is (approximately) the current state of charge in volts of the batteries. I asked Zamp for the display meaning explanation long ago.
Too bad the Lithionics batteries don't seem to be doing what they're supposed to do, considering the price and technology included. That's quite a difference in SoC between the 2 connected in parallel.

[SeeTheUSA]

Originally Posted by Winterbagoal

Nope, but I don't have all the fancy monitors and tools that you have with your Lithionics batteries and other charging sources. I just have my One Place battery monitor, and the Zamp ZS-30A display to give me an idea of whether I'm charged up or not. It's not worth the heartburn to micro manage stuff like that, to me at least.
The Zamp display is supposed to show you what the batteries are asking for or receiving, not what the panels are putting out. The fuller the batteries, the lower the amps coming to them from the panels. I would regularly see 15A+ (I added a 3rd 100W panel to my roof) in good sun in total going to the original equipment NAPA FLAs because they were almost always closer to fully discharged as they aged out before I replaced them. The other "amp" display is total amps harvested during the current daylight hours, and the volts display is (approximately) the current state of charge in volts of the batteries. I asked Zamp for the display meaning explanation long ago.
Too bad the Lithionics batteries don't seem to be doing what they're supposed to do, considering the price and technology included. That's quite a difference in SoC between the 2 connected in parallel.

Good response

[Winterbagoal]

Originally Posted by Elkman

It is not "micro managing" to expect 10 amps charging from solar and to be getting 1 amp. Truly dumb thing to say.

If I had installed the solar setup myself I would have confidence that it was done correctly but as it was done by someone at Winnebago I have no confidence that this was done. I want to know and correct problems before I hit the road and we are thousands of miles from home? Why is this so difficult to understand?

No idea why those with nothing to contribute insist on responding to a thread anywayt, It is not helpful and it is counterproductive.

Dude, since day one all you've done is complain about the very expensive motorhome that you bought. Every problem you've come up with, perceived or otherwise, has been Winnebago's fault in one way or another. If that's true, then either you didn't do enough due diligence before you bought it, which makes it your fault, or you knew the shortcomings and bought it anyway, which is also your fault. Either way, I responded to your post with some basic info about the Zamp ZS-30A CC and how to read the diplays, based on information requested from Zamp support long before you bought your unit. I also noted the general lack of response to your posts, and thought I might try to help. Micro managing was my preferred description of something I choose not to do with my system. Not a criticism, but you apparently took it that way. Sorry if I wasn't clear.
And just in case you didn't see the memo, this isn't the Winnebago complaint department forum. If it's a brand new motorhome, and you have a problem with it, please direct your displeasure to the manufacturer, not to the forum, where there are probably more fans of Winnebago, than critics.
On occasion I do actually try to help people that come here with legitimate problems, as do the rest of the folks, with more specific experience or knowledge on the topic.
As you don't think my post was particularly helpful and counter productive, I promise I will use more discretion in my responses to your posts in future.

Moderators: If this response is punishable by forum banishment, then I accept it gracefully. No hard feelings.

[rprochnow]

On a trip last month, our ATS went out, preventing us from using shore power for 3 days, relying on our lithium batteries and solar panels.

Even with full sun, we were surprised at how little recharging was done during the day (we also discovered the engine isn't charging the batteries while we're driving).

The batteries charge fine from shore power (30A) and diesel generator (40A).

I'm going to some tests when we get several days of sun and determine if and how much the solar panels are charging our lithium batteries.

The Zamp manual doesn't explain what the display readouts mean. Found this on their website FAQs:

Charging Voltage: The voltage going from the solar panel to the battery

Current Amperage: The amperage going from the solar panel to the battery

Cumulative AmpHours: The cumulative AmpHours generated over the past day

Charging Status: At the top of the display is a bar. The solid portion of the bar indicates what percentage of the battery is charged while the flashing portion of the bar shows what percentage remains to be charged.

[bkg]

Originally Posted by Elkman

The Zamp ZS-30A has two Zamp 100W panels providing DC volts in and the Zamp panel shows the input amps at 4.8 AH which seems very low at mid day. At the batteries they show 1.0 Amps of charge taking place and the panels should be providing closer to 10 amps at mid day. The Zamp solar setup is also not able to maintain the batteries SOC with no loads at all other than the Xantrex in standby mode which should be drawing 0.16 amps.


No issues with charging these batteries using shorepower and the Xantrex or the generator and the Xantrex. It seems most likely to be a Zamp problem. Has anyone run into anything similar with their Zamp charge controller?

I did notice a significant drop in my measured amps at the Zamp ZS panel one day this past summer. I keep my View at our home and it is typically plugged in to a household outlet. However, from time to time I unplug and let the solar keep the batteries topped off. I just spot check from time to time. So, one day when I saw only 5 amp draw and a very low amp-hour level on the Zamp ZS, I suspected something was wrong with my batteries.
After checking the batteries (which were OK), I went on the roof to inspect the solar SAE plugs. They were OK, but plugging the panels back in, I only heard one panel make the distinct click when the plug made contact.

The short version of this story, I had a bad solar panel. Determined by connecting one solar panel at a time to the Zamp controller and measuring the open voltage of each panel at the SAE plug. It was under warranty but Sunpower wants you to bring the solar panel to their authorized service center. About 1-1/2 hour drive one way for me. I found an exact replacement panel, ordered it, and installed it myself.

The shocker was what the filon roof looked like under the old Sunpower panel. Full of hairline cracks in the filon. I am still working with Winnebago warranty (5-year roof warranty) on that one.
I suggest anyone with the Flex Sunpower solar panels to inspect the roof area around the flex panels. The issue I have was under the panel, like the sun and heat was cooking the filon. This was not caused by the faulty panel. The old solar panel had no evidence of decay or burn-through. To this day I still don't know what made that panel fail, but we did have a significant lightning storm a few days before I discovered the faulty panel.

Bobby

[Elkman]

I had to move one of the Zamp panels that was located incorrectly by someone at Winnebago. I also used some marine grade butt splice adhesive heat shrink connectors and shortened the wires from the two Zamp panels as one had an extra 7-8 feet of wire and the other had an extra 12 feet of wire which was reducing the current flow to the charge controller.

I bought a Grape 190W solar panel for $218 from Grape and a Renogy 100W panel for $103 from Home Depot and they are both mounted on the roof so I have in theory 490 Watts going to the Zamp controller which is rated for 510 Watts.

[macnut]

All, here is a reminder to keep posts respectful of each other. Others want to benefit by the post and don’t want to read snarky comments about other members. Thanks for your cooperation.