Battery charger not coming on

DanSees

I recently installed 2 lifepo4 batteies with the technical help of this forum. Lion Energy UT 1300's, DC-DC charger, & a WF 8735AD charger. Everything seemed to work fine. Batteries charged to 100% prior to camping trip. Gone camping for 5 days with no hookups. Batteries did fine, when traveling home the batteries charged back up to apprx 80% through the dc-dc charger. Got home & forgot the frig was left on. Had no solar, which I found the + terminal from the panel to the solar charger had come out of it's socket. Reinstalled all is good. In the mean time the batteries shut themselves off due to being drained. I plugged in the 110ac 30 amps, However my charger never came on to recharge the batteries. Does anyone have any thoughts on what may have happened & what to check? I did check all the fuses in the system & they check good.

MuttonChops

Please provide additional information:
1- Is the DC-DC Charger only getting input voltage from the 7-Pin or
     does the WFCO 12VDC Output also connect to the DC-DC Charger input side.

     This is the DC-DC 'smarts' are controlling the battery charge not the WFCO.

      Or are the chargers fully separate.

2 - What is the WFCO 12VDC output reading when on Shore Power.
      With and without the Battery Cut-Off Switch in both on & off.

Bayliss

@DanSees, are you confident that the power center/converter is receiving power?  If so, is it possible that you used your disconnect switch to cut off power between the power center/converter and the batteries?  Your solar system is not impacted by the battery disconnect switch (because solar is normally connected directly to the battery terminals), so you should still be able to charge the batteries via solar, assuming that all checks out, which it sounds like it is.

If you are not getting any charge to the battery (i.e., via solar or the converter), then it must be something else.  Usually a fuse, but you indicated they are good.  Did that include checking the inline fuse(s) at the batteries?

If the above suggestions are not the issue, since you did a recent install/rewiring, maybe check for a loose wire somewhere, especially a ground wire, such as in the junction box on the frame at the front of the trailer.

pthomas745

Lots of web chatter about Lion's "safety mode" and how to get the battery reset so it can accept a charge again.

What is your Victron app or a multimeter telling you the state of charge is?  There is a reset procedure in the manual.

Will Prowse has run up against this, too...but he does some hefty battery testing, so this may not apply. He does discuss the reset procedure. This comment is about 3 years old now....so, take it with your own manual in hand. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/lion-energy-safari-ut-safety-mode-is-a-pain.424/

This blog post from a camper talks about the same thing.  Scroll down to where you see the Victron screen or search for the word "reset" and they explain what happened with their batteries.

https://wanderusliving.com/lion-energy-battery-review-safari-ut1300-lithium-battery/

DanSees

MuttonChops said:

Please provide additional information:
1- Is the DC-DC Charger only getting input voltage from the 7-Pin or
     does the WFCO 12VDC Output also connect to the DC-DC Charger input side.

     This is the DC-DC 'smarts' are controlling the battery charge not the WFCO.

      Or are the chargers fully separate.

2 - What is the WFCO 12VDC output reading when on Shore Power.
      With and without the Battery Cut-Off Switch in both on & off.

1)The Dc-DC charger is not connected through the WFCO charger & is connected to the tow vehicle through a dedicated anderson plug. It is wired directly to the batteries with a 30amp circuit breaker.

2) The disconnect is not in the off position, My shore power is good coming into the charger, this I confirmed. Bayliss said:

@DanSees, are you confident that the power center/converter is receiving power?  If so, is it possible that you used your disconnect switch to cut off power between the power center/converter and the batteries?  Your solar system is not impacted by the battery disconnect switch (because solar is normally connected directly to the battery terminals), so you should still be able to charge the batteries via solar, assuming that all checks out, which it sounds like it is.

If you are not getting any charge to the battery (i.e., via solar or the converter), then it must be something else.  Usually a fuse, but you indicated they are good.  Did that include checking the inline fuse(s) at the batteries?

If the above suggestions are not the issue, since you did a recent install/rewiring, maybe check for a loose wire somewhere, especially a ground wire, such as in the junction box on the frame at the front of the trailer.

I will check the output, but I fear it is 0 due to the fan is not running & when the unit is charging the fan will be on according to the WFCO manual. But I will definatly check this. 

I agree with you and my solar is wired directly to the batteries, I did'nt have a chance yesterday to pull the camper out of the garage to confirm charging & it is cloudy & raining here today.

I am going to hook the tow vehicle back up & confirm if I can still get power from the DC-DC charger to charge, if so this will confirm the batteries are taking a charge, if not then I do beleive the problem would lye in the batteries. I did a quick assesment of my connections yesterday, I will do a more thorough look at them today.pthomas745 said:

Lots of web chatter about Lion's "safety mode" and how to get the battery reset so it can accept a charge again.

What is your Victron app or a multimeter telling you the state of charge is?  There is a reset procedure in the manual.

Will Prowse has run up against this, too...but he does some hefty battery testing, so this may not apply. He does discuss the reset procedure. This comment is about 3 years old now....so, take it with your own manual in hand. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/lion-energy-safari-ut-safety-mode-is-a-pain.424/

This blog post from a camper talks about the same thing.  Scroll down to where you see the Victron screen or search for the word "reset" and they explain what happened with their batteries.

https://wanderusliving.com/lion-energy-battery-review-safari-ut1300-lithium-battery/

Thank you for the links I will read them prior to going out to the camper & checking all the above.

Thanks to all 3 of you, you have given me a good bit of info as to where to start. 

DanSees

Fixed!!!  I feel stupid, So I went back & checked all my connections, and each battery voltage seperately. I found the hot wire from the charger/converter splice loose. Then I pulled the inline fuse at the battery on this same wire and double checked it. It was blown. I suspect the loose connection caused the fuse to blow. I can't find any other wire connections loose or chafed to cause the fuse to blow. Repaired the splice & installed a new 30 amp fuse and the charger started charging with the fan on.

 I also recieved a setting sheet from Lion Energy yesterday for the victron settings. These setting are different from what I had set the parameters for the battery , both for V-712 & the Mppt solar charger. I reset these parameters for both. Lion Energy explains that my state of charge from the V-712 may not read correctly and these new settings should help that. 
Thanks for all your help. I know that I should always check the simple stuff first, which I thought I did yesterday. 40+ years experience of an aircraft mechanic and I did not do a thorough first step.

 

DanSees

Update: After I posted the above post I went back out to the T@b and found the fuse blown again. Removed & installed another so I could watch it. It did'nt blow right away but it did get very hot. I shut it all down & removed the fuse again, I did not let it blow the fuse. I went into the manual for the WFCO converter/charger & found in the specs that the unit requires a 30 amp fuse, however the output is 35amps. I replaced the 30 with a 40 & it charged up to 13.25 in about 2 hours & everything stayed cool, which is where they recommend the batteries to be stored at if not using for a month or more. Our next trip is scheduled for March 2023.

AnOldUR

DanSees said:

I replaced the 30 with a 40 ...

Not being an electrician, I'd have to wonder if your wire size is safe with the larger fuse?

Horigan

One concern with upping the fuse rating is make sure the wire gauge from the charger to the battery (positive and negative) is rated for 40 amps; 8 AWG I believe.

DanSees

Horigan said:

One concern with upping the fuse rating is make sure the wire gauge from the charger to the battery (positive and negative) is rated for 40 amps; 8 AWG I believe.

It is good , but I didn't actually up the fuse rating, the correct fuse is 40 amp. I just had a 30 amp in its place. The input for the WFCO is 30amp, however the out put for the charger is 40 and the fuse on the panel itself for the charger is 40 amp