Installation Guide
51TriStar MPPT 600V Operator’s Manual
50
Operation
Temperature Compensation
All charging settings are based on 25°C (77°F). If the battery temperature varies by 5°C, the
charging setting will change by 0.60 Volts for a 48 Volt battery. This is a substantial change in
the charging of the battery, and the use of the Remote Temperature Sensor (RTS) is recom-
mended to adjust charging to the actual battery temperature.
The need for temperature compensation depends on the temperature variations, battery type,
how the system is used, and other factors. If the battery appears to be gassing too much or not
charging enough, the RTS can be added at any time after the system has been installed. See
Section 3.4 - Step 7 for installation instructions.
Battery Sense
Voltage drops are unavoidable in power cables that carry current, including the
TriStar MPPT 600V battery cables. If Battery Sense wires are not used, the controller must use
the voltage reading at the battery power terminals for regulation. Due to voltage drops in the
battery cables, the battery power connection voltage will be higher than the actual battery bank
voltage while charging the battery.
Two sense wires, sized from 1.0 to 0.25 mm
2
(16 to 24 AWG), can be used for battery voltage
sense. Because these wires carry no current, the voltage at the TriStar will be identical to the
battery voltage. A 2-position terminal is used for the battery sense connection.
Generally accepted wiring practice is to limit voltage drops between the charger and the battery
to 2%. Even properly sized wiring results in signicant voltage drop that can impact charging.
The controller will begin Absorption or limit equalization at a lower battery voltage because the
voltage at the controller’s terminals is higher than the actual battery voltage.
Note that the battery sense wires will not power the controller, and the sense wires will not com-
pensate for losses in the power wires between the controller and the battery. The battery sense
wires are only used to improve the accuracy of the battery charging.
See Section 3.4 - Step 8 for instructions on how to connect the battery sense wires.
4.3 Push-button
The following functions can be enabled with the pushbutton (located on the front cover):
PUSH
• Reset from certain errors or faults.
• Reset the battery service indication if this has been activated in custom settings. A new
service period will be started, and the ashing LEDs will stop blinking. If the battery ser-
vice is performed before the LEDs begin blinking, the pushbutton must be pushed at the
time when the LEDs are blinking to reset the service interval and stop the blinking.
PUSH AND HOLD 5 SECONDS
• Request battery equalization manually. The TriStar MPPT 600V will begin equalization
in either the manual or automatic equalization mode. Equalization will begin when there
is sufcient solar power to charge the battery up to the equalization voltage. The LEDs
will blink the sequence dened in table 4-3 below to conrm that an equalize has been
requested. The equalization request will automatically stop per the battery type selected
(see Section 4.2). Equalization will only occur if the selected battery type has an equaliza-
tion stage.
• Stop an equalization that is in progress. This will be effective in either the manual or auto-
matic mode. The equalization will be terminated. The LEDs will blink to conrm the equal-
ize has been cancelled as shown in table 4-3 below.
Push-Button Action SOC LED Indication
Manual Equalization Started Green+Yellow+Red / Green+Yellow+Red / Green / Green
Stop Equalization Green+Yellow+Red / Green+Yellow+Red / Red / Red
Table 4-3. Manual Equalization LED Indcations
NOTE:
For multiple TriStar MPPT 600V controllers on a MeterBus
TM
network, initialize a battery
equalization using the TriStar meter so that all controllers are synchronized.
REMARQUE :
Avec plusieurs contrôleurs TriStar MPPT 600V 600Vsur un réseau MeterBusTM, initialisez une
compensation de batteries à l’aide de l’outil de mesure TriStar an de synchroniser tous les
contrôleurs.
Note that if two or more TriStar MPPT 600V controllers are charging in parallel, each controller
may attempt to equalize on a different day. Systems with multiple controllers should only equalize
manually to ensure synchronization between controllers.