new system, I need help with too many amp in my batteries

[unionoutfitt]

Hello, I'm a newbie.
I just installed a new 3x windynation 100w panel system. I have a amazon 20a cheapo battery charge controller and 4 duracell 6v batteries wired to 2 parallel 12v.
I wired a digital meter on my ground with a stint.
Now the problem I have is that today it was full sun at 1:00 I got 14.54 volts, 549.9w, 38.10 amps(here's the problem) total 1463 kh,. At day end total kh was 3303.
Questions
1. Are my amps to high? the charge controller is only 20 amp.

2.Dd I wire my meter wrong? I have the hot lead coming in line side from the dish. This powers the meter. Should I have it in the load side battery. This is what I shall try tomorrow.

3.Is 3303kh a good number for day end with 3x 100w panels.

Thanks
jc

[max2k]

Hello, I'm a newbie.
I just installed a new 3x windynation 100w panel system. I have a amazon 20a cheapo battery charge controller and 4 duracell 6v batteries wired to 2 parallel 12v.
I wired a digital meter on my ground with a stint.
Now the problem I have is that today it was full sun at 1:00 I got 14.54 volts, 549.9w, 38.10 amps(here's the problem) total 1463 kh,. At day end total kh was 3303.
Questions
1. Are my amps to high? the charge controller is only 20 amp.

2.Dd I wire my meter wrong? I have the hot lead coming in line side from the dish. This powers the meter. Should I have it in the load side battery. This is what I shall try tomorrow.

3.Is 3303kh a good number for day end with 3x 100w panels.

Thanks
jc

I understand 'stint' means 'shunt' but I'm having problems to understand where did you get the rest of the numbers from.
3300Wh / 300W = 11h, you had unrealistically long sun hours, about twice longer than normal. Does the place have sunsets at all?

[AzRoute66]

[...] it was full sun at 1:00 I got 14.54 volts, 549.9w, 38.10 amps(here's the problem) total 1463 kh,. At day end total kh was 3303. Questions 1. Are my amps to high? the charge controller is only 20 amp. 2. Dd I wire my meter wrong? I have the hot lead coming in line side from the dish. This powers the meter. Should I have it in the load side battery. This is what I shall try tomorrow. 3. Is 3303kh a good number for day end with 3x 100w panels.

The first problem I had was that you got a reading of 550W with 3 100W panels. I think there is something wrong with the amps measurement. It would be nice to know the brand/model of the controller, and the same for the meter/shunt. An exact wiring diagram for all leads on the meter will also be useful.

The second problem is "hot lead coming in line side from the dish." I have no idea what the dish is or anything about that statement. The hot lead for the meter should be wired to the plus post of the battery, less any fuses or buss bars, etc.

The Watt-hour numbers are all messed up because your Watts are messed up because your Amps are messed up.

[unionoutfitt]

Thanks for all your help. I meant panel not dish. I had alot of sat dish problems too. I think I wired my digital meter wrong. I hooked the power lead to the incoming wire from the panels. I have moved to the battery side 12v. I will see tomorrow when I have full sun. I should only be getting 6-10 amps with these three dishes.

[AzRoute66]

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict no change if that is the only thing you are going to do differently. You said you had 14 volts already and I am still wondering where you got that from if not the battery post or the battery + terminal on the charge controller...

[sdold]

I'm having a hard time visualizing what you have, for example, by "digital meter" do you mean a digital multimeter, or something solar-specific? Same with the shunt. It sounds like a case where the meter is misinterpreting the voltage on the shunt to give you a current value that is not real. It would help to know what the meter and shunt are.

[littleharbor]

The only way you're going to get 38.1 amps from 3, 100 watt panels is if you are on another planet. Clearly something is wired wrong. Please be careful , especially around your batteries.

[Gdwats]

?? I'm confused from the beginning about the batteries. Why don't you just start over. I assume your charge controller is limited to 12 volts being a cheapo. So whatever batteries you have that are the same amp hour rating you'll have to wire them in series/parallel to double both amp hrs and volts. Put your solar panels in series leading to the controller. And don't confuse the amps going to the battery with amps coming from the solar panels. You'll probably be getting about 5 1/2 amps from the panels had about 45 volts and the charge controller will change that to 12 volts and a certain amount of amps to send to the battery.
if your charge controller can handle 24 volts wire the batteries all in series

[sdold]

...Put your solar panels in series leading to the controller. And don't confuse the amps going to the battery with amps coming from the solar panels. You'll probably be getting about 5 1/2 amps from the panels had about 45 volts and the charge controller will change that to 12 volts and a certain amount of amps to send to the battery.
if your charge controller can handle 24 volts wire the batteries all in series

The Voc for those panels is likely to be over 20 volts, so three in series would be over 60 volts. I don't know what an "amazon 20A cheapo" controller is but if it's not true MPPT, 60 volts could easily exceed the max input for a PWM controller and give no benefit. It would help to know what his controller is.

[AzRoute66]

I'm having a hard time visualizing [...] It would help to know what the meter and shunt are.

Steve, I don't know either but I suspect it is something very similar to ""MICTUNING DC 6.5-100V 0-100A LCD Digital Display Ammeter Voltmeter Multimeter Volt Watt Power Energy Meter Blue with 100A/75mV Shunt" as found on Amazon. [quite the mouthful, eh?]

I recently bought two (actually three as one died two days in), and am quite a cheerleader for this AT THE MOMENT. Have had them on the bench for a couple weeks. Very accurate for < $20 each. They are a great alternative to an 'expensive' Tri-metric or other energy meter that has a user interface that was a high school project for somebody. Put one facing each direction on the shunt and you get a lot of battery charge info at a glance.

Hopefully the OP gets back to us with all of the requested info.

[sdold]

It's funny that you describe the Tri-Metric user interface as a school project, because I sometimes refer to software as "someone's senior project that was forgotten as soon as he graduated." This sounds an awful lot like it might have a setting for a shunt value that was not set correctly, or something similar. By the way my 6 year old daughter thinks your avatar is hilarious.

[AzRoute66]

[...] This sounds an awful lot like it might have a setting for a shunt value that was not set correctly, or something similar. By the way my 6 year old daughter thinks your avatar is hilarious.

I think you've solved it. Besides the under and over voltage alarms, there is only one other setting on the meters that I have, and that is if you are using a 100A/75mV shunt or a 50A/75mv shunt. If the OP has this particular meter and accidentally set his unit to the 50A version, it would be reading twice the amps, and his 38 amp reading would correspond to 19 amps - just about right for 3 100W panels in good sun. Not only did we figure out the problem, we have identified his meter with no further input from him. Ice cream and beers for us !!!

Let your daughter know that my wife generally uses a 'Peanut' avatar, I'm sure she will see the symmetry of that.

Edit: Spoke too soon. OP would be reading half amps. Maybe we haven't figured out the exact meter/shunt, but I would wager it will be something like that. Just beers.