Balmar ARS-5 Programing

[Diverrob]

Looking for assistance from the hive mind again. I believe I need to tweak my Balmar ARS-5 external regulator settings but am not sure which ones to tinker with. The regulator is switching to float too early in the charge cycle (in my opinion anyway). I have been out cruising for a few days and have seen the same situation every day. I flash up run for a couple hours and when the bank is around 85% the input amps drop to float (3-6A). If I stop and shut down, when I re-flash up the system is putting out 30-65A depending on the state of the bank when I shut down. After about an hour it again goes to float and I have to shut down again. On previous trips I have been able to get the bank to 95% before the regulator went to float. If anyone knows which setting I should play with I would appreciate it, system info below. Thanks

Balmar 150A alternator
Balmar ARS-5 regulator (no temp sensor) set to default settings
6 X Trojan 105 6V golf cart batteries in sérier/parallel (12v system)

Rob

 

[DDW]

Unfortunately, all the Balmar regulators are very bad at this, and transition to float early. Perhaps the best internet write up is the one on MarineHowTo.com. There is only a few things that can be done with the Balmar, mainly extend the minimum absorb time, or increase the float voltage nearer the absorb voltage. The problem is the regulator really has no clue whether the batteries are charged or not, and trying to use voltage and time to guess.

The real solution to this is the Wakespeed 500 regulator, but that is expensive.

 

[Diverrob]

Unfortunately, all the Balmar regulators are very bad at this, and transition to float early. Perhaps the best internet write up is the one on MarineHowTo.com. There is only a few things that can be done with the Balmar, mainly extend the minimum absorb time, or increase the float voltage nearer the absorb voltage. The problem is the regulator really has no clue whether the batteries are charged or not, and trying to use voltage and time to guess.

The real solution to this is the Wakespeed 500 regulator, but that is expensive.

Thanks for that, it’s a great article and I have now set my absorption time to 4hrs which should help things. I will study this more and make some adjustments as I move along. Thanks again

Rob