I purchased the heat pads from Battleborn Dec 2022 and the batteries, BMV, and PD-9160ALV prior to delivery of RV. I had immediate issues first winter (Jan 2023) where the pads wouldn't turn on and long story short, BMV712 read 0 amps. Battleborn RMA'd the BMV through Victron. Rig was parked at dealership for repairs most of the winter while we were south visiting and I had no way of monitoring it. Last winter was mild and I didn't notice any loss in battery voltage when I checked. Teens again this year and after getting RV back from Elkhart, had to wake the batteries up from a low voltage disconnect - BMV showed a 6 day gap while there and I don't know if they pulled the batteries, disconnected (I have added a Blue Sea disconnect which disconnects everything), or the batteries went to 0 SOC incrementally (that's kind of what the BMV trend shows).
So, back to the heat pads - three nights well below freezing and I took my temp gun out - heat pads cold. I cycled the circuit breaker and some of the elements momentarily heated then went cold again. Batteries are too cold to charge (23F) but they aren't discharging which I guess is a good sign. BMV is reading 0 Amps again. But this time I put my clamp meter on the feeds to the battery heaters - on pulling 0.16Amps, the other 0.68 neither of which is enough to heat the pads. Not sure why I'm seeing 0 Amps on the BMV - should show negative draw. Seems the pads were defective all along - they did have a 'replacement' temp sensor due to supply chain issues. But why is the BMV reading 0 Amps when my clamp meter is showing a combined pull of 0.84Amps from the heaters alone? Isn't making sense. The 0Amp reading is frequent - even in the summer. Have I wired something incorrectly?
FWIW, batteries are wired in parallel with a single 4/0 cable (plus the positive feed to the shunt) running from Battery 1 to a positive bussbar and a single 4//0 cable running from Battery 2 to the BMV shunt and a single to the negative bussbar. I do not have my disconnect switch turned off so there has to be some parasitic draw from the inverter, PD9160 (the pendant LED is lit), and the CO monitor. There is no solar input due to snow on the panel.
On a fluke with ambient 13F at night, I just powered up my BMV app in one phone and OneControl on a second. BMV was showing 0 Amps and 13.4V. As soon as I turned on all the lights in the camper with One Contreol, the BMV went from 0 to -1.65Amps. And when I shut the lights off, I was getting a +.78Amps charge to the batteries which can't possibly be above 32F based upon earlier readings (max today was 23F). I had to go out in my jammies and check the temps on the batteries and pads since the PD9160 was charging. My clamp meter showed a draw of 0.7ish on both pads with a positive Amp flow up to .65 which had to be coming from the PD9160. Pad temps were 45F. Battery (external temps) were 23F.
I'm assuming that the external temps on the batteries is not as high as the internal temps and I have no way of measuring that. Must be 32F or they wouldn't be taking a charge. For what BB charges, there should be a better way of monitoring temps inside the casings.
So, back to the heat pads - three nights well below freezing and I took my temp gun out - heat pads cold. I cycled the circuit breaker and some of the elements momentarily heated then went cold again. Batteries are too cold to charge (23F) but they aren't discharging which I guess is a good sign. BMV is reading 0 Amps again. But this time I put my clamp meter on the feeds to the battery heaters - on pulling 0.16Amps, the other 0.68 neither of which is enough to heat the pads. Not sure why I'm seeing 0 Amps on the BMV - should show negative draw. Seems the pads were defective all along - they did have a 'replacement' temp sensor due to supply chain issues. But why is the BMV reading 0 Amps when my clamp meter is showing a combined pull of 0.84Amps from the heaters alone? Isn't making sense. The 0Amp reading is frequent - even in the summer. Have I wired something incorrectly?
FWIW, batteries are wired in parallel with a single 4/0 cable (plus the positive feed to the shunt) running from Battery 1 to a positive bussbar and a single 4//0 cable running from Battery 2 to the BMV shunt and a single to the negative bussbar. I do not have my disconnect switch turned off so there has to be some parasitic draw from the inverter, PD9160 (the pendant LED is lit), and the CO monitor. There is no solar input due to snow on the panel.
On a fluke with ambient 13F at night, I just powered up my BMV app in one phone and OneControl on a second. BMV was showing 0 Amps and 13.4V. As soon as I turned on all the lights in the camper with One Contreol, the BMV went from 0 to -1.65Amps. And when I shut the lights off, I was getting a +.78Amps charge to the batteries which can't possibly be above 32F based upon earlier readings (max today was 23F). I had to go out in my jammies and check the temps on the batteries and pads since the PD9160 was charging. My clamp meter showed a draw of 0.7ish on both pads with a positive Amp flow up to .65 which had to be coming from the PD9160. Pad temps were 45F. Battery (external temps) were 23F.
I'm assuming that the external temps on the batteries is not as high as the internal temps and I have no way of measuring that. Must be 32F or they wouldn't be taking a charge. For what BB charges, there should be a better way of monitoring temps inside the casings.
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