Battery is Leaking!

[BloodyBaronXS085]

I have four 100-watt solar panels hooked up some in series, some parallel pumping out 38 volts and 10 amps. They are tied to my fancy 60-amp Oyoocyoo charge controller which feeds two 100-ah gel batteries chilling in parallel. Then it all flows to my Hoenjuno 1500-watt pure sine inverter. Oh and I've got a DC disconnect between the panels and controller coz safety first right?? Here's the kicker once the sun dips, my batteries start ghosting me draining like nobody's business!!! So I stumbled across this site and I'm betting you brilliant folks can save my bacon!!

 

[DivisionAgent]

Hope i can still save your bacon!


take note that an inverter uses power just by being connected, it will still drain your battery but slowly and can reduce the voltage

 

[CarChemistry]

I have four 100-watt solar panels hooked up some in series, some parallel pumping out 38 volts and 10 amps. They are tied to my fancy 60-amp Oyoocyoo charge controller which feeds two 100-ah gel batteries chilling in parallel. Then it all flows to my Hoenjuno 1500-watt pure sine inverter. Oh and I've got a DC disconnect between the panels and controller coz safety first right?? Here's the kicker once the sun dips, my batteries start ghosting me draining like nobody's business!!! So I stumbled across this site and I'm betting you brilliant folks can save my bacon!!

Haha, "batteries ghosting you"! Love it. Sounds like your inverter might be throwing a midnight party when you're not looking. Or maybe your charge controller is secretly a vampire. Either way, welcome to the "why is my power gone?!" club. We'll help you bust the culprit!

 

[SunPower]

Haha yep, love the "batteries ghosting you" line! Sounds like classic inverter or charge controller shenanigans. Welcome to the mystery power loss club, we'll help track it down

 

[BobPlissken1]

Wow, look at all these unhelpful comments. Come here @BloodyBaronXS085, let me help you out with this one.

First of all, nice setup and props for the dc disconnect, safety first indeed!

So you have two 100ah batteries giving you around 2,400wh usable, meaning it's easy to draing them quickly if you're pushing bigger loads, especially since your inverter is 1,500w. Larger consumers will drain the batteries fast, so it's normal and expected and you'll probably need to double the capccity to avoid this. On the other hand, you have the panels, which aren't always generating at max capacity, so you may need more panels. I'd start by monitoring usage and charge states. This is the first step to determine if the problem is with the batteries, panels or whatever you have plugged in. And yes, the inverter does consume power, but I don't think it's gonna consume that much. Still, monitor the numbers and you'll find the culprit.

 

[sol3rg1c]

I have four 100-watt solar panels hooked up some in series, some parallel pumping out 38 volts and 10 amps. They are tied to my fancy 60-amp Oyoocyoo charge controller which feeds two 100-ah gel batteries chilling in parallel. Then it all flows to my Hoenjuno 1500-watt pure sine inverter. Oh and I've got a DC disconnect between the panels and controller coz safety first right?? Here's the kicker once the sun dips, my batteries start ghosting me draining like nobody's business!!! So I stumbled across this site and I'm betting you brilliant folks can save my bacon!!

Hope I'm not yet too late to offer my two cents.. what @BobPlissken1 said is plausible but it can also be case of parasitic drain, likely coming from your inverter.

So the inverter has to power itself even when it's not actively running anything, and that standby power draw can eat through your battery storage surprisingly fast overnight. The DC disconnect you mentioned is for your solar panels, which is great for safety, but it's not stopping the power flow from your batteries to the inverter.

I suggest to try installing a DC disconnect switch between your batteries and the inverter. Just flip that switch when you're done using the inverter for the night, and you'll stop that drain dead in its tracks.