Electrical Recondition setting on Projecta

Axl

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2014
384
890
93
Brisbane/Bayside
Does anyone know what the recondition setting on a Projecta 25amp 7 stage smart charger does? The manual doesn't say much at all. It would appear my 5 year old 120amp deep cycle in the Expanda is failing, twice now I've come home after two weeks at work to find the battery at 12.4v. I charge it once a month and historically it's around 13v when I plug the van in. Is it worth giving it a go on the recon setting before righting it off?
 

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
12,723
19,450
113
QLD
If you leave it plugged into the charger it will be brought up to charge and the charger will go to recondition mode itself if it finds the battery needs to be done, had a Projecta 25amp 7 stage charger myself for many years better to leave the battery on the charger all the time ......
 

achjimmy

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2011
3,031
3,401
113
If you leave it plugged into the charger it will be brought up to charge and the charger will go to recondition mode itself if it finds the battery needs to be done, had a Projecta 25amp 7 stage charger myself for many years better to leave the battery on the charger all the time ......

Yep that’s how my one works
 
  • Like
Reactions: Axl and Drover

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
12,723
19,450
113
QLD
If you leave the setek plugged in and charging all the time you shouldn't have an issue, some say the setek doesn't push them to full charge which is sorta correct but in the real world it gets it good enough, if the battery when off the charger for 30 mins with no drain on it shows 12.6 then alls good.....on my old 14 I could shut down the setek and plug in the fancy charger via the Anderson plug but the setek did a decent enough job, now Big Mal just stays charged by solar.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Axl

Axl

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2014
384
890
93
Brisbane/Bayside
Ok, within 5 minutes of the Projecta being turned on it went into analysis mode then straight to float so I suspect the battery is fine. I'll leave Projecta hooked up for the week and give the battery a good charge at float which is 13.8v.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Drover

Boots in Action

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2017
2,054
1,806
113
Ferny Grove, Queensland
If you leave the setek plugged in and charging all the time you shouldn't have an issue, some say the setek doesn't push them to full charge which is sorta correct but in the real world it gets it good enough, if the battery when off the charger for 30 mins with no drain on it shows 12.6 then alls good.....on my old 14 I could shut down the setek and plug in the fancy charger via the Anderson plug but the setek did a decent enough job, now Big Mal just stays charged by solar.

Hello @Drover and @Axl , I read with despair at what has happened to your batteries. Went back through a lot of posts to confirm what I had said at the time and what others had also said about the charging?? ability of the Setec unit. If you go back to posts 764/5, 774, 785/6 and your own of 780 all around 27/11/17, your will read that there was considerable discussion on charge voltages for different types of batteries and what setting should be used ie. general or manufacturer's . If any or all of that is considered fully, then why are you trying to get full charge into an AGM battery (which probably wants up to 14.7 volts to reach full charge!!) by charging with a unit that will only attain 14.05 volts such as the Setec unit??? You are always going to be behind the 8 ball getting the full charge into an AGM that way and the result of maybe 5 years of undercharging may vindicate what I have been trying to get across on this forum. Just because it is on float mode does NOT mean it has reached FULL energy capacity. "Float" means it will try to maintain what energy (power in voltage and amp hours) is already stored in the battery. It assumed full charge capacity has been reached. It does not mean that it will put more charge or voltage into battery. This only occurs in the "bulk charge" and the topping up time of "absorbe charge". You already have a superior type sophisticated "smart" charger which can do all these things much better than your SETEC. With a great piece of kit like that, I would forget about the Setec and just connect up you Projecta every time you are home and it will certainly do a much better job every time. No disrespect suggested or intended. Look at the side of battery and give it the voltage it recommends as some members have said.
I fear that years of under-charging has reduced the life of your batteries considerably and lost capacity/voltage can never (rarely anyway) be recovered. Many of my posts have been researched fully and are not my ideas, but the documentation of technical experts, not amateurs.
Just happen to have the instructions from another model CTEC which may be of help to you as per your first post on 27th September 2018. It gives you voltages for charging different chemistry batteries plus how to (try) to recondition deep discharged ?? batteries. On "recondition", a high voltage of 16 volts is applied at 1.5 amps for up to 4 hours to re-activate areas that have been allowed to sulphate due to undercharging or left deeply discharged. I would try for ordinary AGM "*" charge first and then have a go at recondition.

My so called "smart charger" did exactly the same thing when my Daughters Gel battery failed and I was only able to get it to charge by hooking up another charged battery in parallel until there was sufficient constant voltage for charger to do it alone without going to "analysis" and then to ""fault" and alarm. Daughter's failed to recover despite my efforts. My 120ah AGM is now more than 5 years' old and after all excursions on grid or off grid, on getting home, I hook up my "smart" charger for 24 hours at least. At that stage, it has fully charged the battery and switched to "float". After disconnection, battery voltage is always 13.0 volts and remains at that voltage (no load) for up to 2 weeks!! If i had used the SETEC (I don't any more!), the best I could expect is 12.6 volts, but I have said that in previous posts!!
@Drover has been getting away with maintaining a higher charge because (unknowingly??/) he has been using his solar charge system and his Pro Star 35 solar controller has a max charge voltage of 14.4 volts (fixed) and this has kept up the voltage in his Gel batteries I think.

All the above is given in "good faith" with the intention of helping a fellow member who "may" have overlooked some important points.
Kind regards and good luck.
CTEC charging voltages.jpg
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Axl

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
12,723
19,450
113
QLD
Haven't been getting away with anything really, just the right gear for the job,lol,lol, a decent regulator and my 240 charger used to be a Projecta 7 stage the same as the OP's which if left hooked up will maintain and if hooked to sick units will charge and recon if required or tell you they are stuffed...it can supply a controlled 13v supply if needed to be used as such, never needed to but the facillity was there, they have all the bells and whistles, probably why they cost a fortune......................but then Big Mal is wired totally differnt to a Jayco, if you don't have a battery you don't have lights and other 12v stuff and in my old 14.44 the Setek did the job, just and not well, I thought it plodded along charging the battery which was okay when hooked up to a big power station but when using a genny it was hopeless really took a month of sundays to boost the battery when off grid but as a keep the battery good system when parked up in the shed for months it was great.............................

Told a little fib, I get away with heaps of stuff cause I'm an all round damn nice fella........................


Anyway @Axl how did that Projecta perform with your batteries, I suspect if you left it for a week and you looked at it occasionally you would have seen the rolling bars on the screen which is scary at first but it just means it's gone to recon mode, meant to say that before but forgot....................oh if you want a spare remote monitor for it I have one, the rest of the unit is in my recycle box.................found then to be an excellant charger.
 

Boots in Action

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2017
2,054
1,806
113
Ferny Grove, Queensland
Haven't been getting away with anything really, just the right gear for the job,lol,lol, a decent regulator and my 240 charger used to be a Projecta 7 stage the same as the OP's which if left hooked up will maintain and if hooked to sick units will charge and recon if required or tell you they are stuffed...it can supply a controlled 13v supply if needed to be used as such, never needed to but the facillity was there, they have all the bells and whistles, probably why they cost a fortune......................but then Big Mal is wired totally differnt to a Jayco, if you don't have a battery you don't have lights and other 12v stuff and in my old 14.44 the Setek did the job, just and not well, I thought it plodded along charging the battery which was okay when hooked up to a big power station but when using a genny it was hopeless really took a month of sundays to boost the battery when off grid but as a keep the battery good system when parked up in the shed for months it was great.............................

Told a little fib, I get away with heaps of stuff cause I'm an all round damn nice fella........................


Anyway @Axl how did that Projecta perform with your batteries, I suspect if you left it for a week and you looked at it occasionally you would have seen the rolling bars on the screen which is scary at first but it just means it's gone to recon mode, meant to say that before but forgot....................oh if you want a spare remote monitor for it I have one, the rest of the unit is in my recycle box.................found then to be an excellant charger.


Cannot help but like your style @Drover!!! You have a friend on this end. You still seem to be all over this subject in a "rough" sort of way gained by time and experience. Thanks for your response.
 

Axl

Well-Known Member
Dec 23, 2014
384
890
93
Brisbane/Bayside
Haven't been getting away with anything really, just the right gear for the job,lol,lol, a decent regulator and my 240 charger used to be a Projecta 7 stage the same as the OP's which if left hooked up will maintain and if hooked to sick units will charge and recon if required or tell you they are stuffed...it can supply a controlled 13v supply if needed to be used as such, never needed to but the facillity was there, they have all the bells and whistles, probably why they cost a fortune......................but then Big Mal is wired totally differnt to a Jayco, if you don't have a battery you don't have lights and other 12v stuff and in my old 14.44 the Setek did the job, just and not well, I thought it plodded along charging the battery which was okay when hooked up to a big power station but when using a genny it was hopeless really took a month of sundays to boost the battery when off grid but as a keep the battery good system when parked up in the shed for months it was great.............................

Told a little fib, I get away with heaps of stuff cause I'm an all round damn nice fella........................


Anyway @Axl how did that Projecta perform with your batteries, I suspect if you left it for a week and you looked at it occasionally you would have seen the rolling bars on the screen which is scary at first but it just means it's gone to recon mode, meant to say that before but forgot....................oh if you want a spare remote monitor for it I have one, the rest of the unit is in my recycle box.................found then to be an excellant charger.

Yeah all good @Drover, I left the Projecta on for a little over a week checking it each day and I didn't see it go into recon mode but in saying that it very well could have a some stage. We went over to Straddie for a couple of days (in a cabin, boss wouldn't let me take the Expanda:crazy:) so I unplugged the charger prior to leaving and when I checked the battery voltage just prior to flying back in to work a week later it was sitting nicely at 13v.
I do suspect that my battery is getting a bit tied and after 5 years of reliable service in my camper trailer first then into the Expanda I am more than happy enough to replace it if needed, when I get home if it is back around the 12.4v mark with the only load that has been on it being the EPever solar controller then I reckon it may be time for a new one.
As @Boots in Action has pointed out above it probably hasn't had the absolute best of service being that it has been looked after by the Setec in the Expanda for the last 3 years but in saying that I still believe that the Setec's do a fantastic job for what they are
 
Last edited:

Drover

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2013
12,723
19,450
113
QLD
If thats the same battery that the previous owner had in it then he would have given it a good work out....................ooppss just reread your post, oh well a good stir to previous owner, it has had a good life, I retire mine to the shed where they have a little 2.5 panel hooked up to keep charged, get used for testing or running 12v stuff, or an old grinder with a dead battery which I modded with an Anderson so it still runs just has a lead.
 
Last edited:

Boots in Action

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2017
2,054
1,806
113
Ferny Grove, Queensland
Yeah all good @Drover, I left the Projecta on for a little over a week checking it each day and I didn't see it go into recon mode but in saying that it very well could have a some stage. We went over to Straddie for a couple of days (in a cabin, boss wouldn't let me take the Expanda:crazy:) so I unplugged the charger prior to leaving and when I checked the battery voltage just prior to flying back in to work a week later it was sitting nicely at 13v.
I do suspect that my battery is getting a bit tied and after 5 years of reliable service in my camper trailer first then into the Expanda I am more than happy enough to replace it if needed, when I get home if it is back around the 12.4v mark with the only load that has been on it being the EPever solar controller then I reckon it may be time for a new one.
As @Boots in Action has pointed out above it probably hasn't had the absolute best of service being that it has been looked after by the Setec in the Expanda for the last 3 years but in saying that I still believe that the Setec's do a fantastic job for what they are

Hi there @Axl , sorry to have been so forthright (BLUNT) in my post about your batteries, but I had to get my point across. I accept that my diagnosis may not be absolutely correct, but by the process of elimination and probability, it does not look good for your batteries. One thing I did not mention about batteries running down whilst not in use was the fact that my built in radio ( a Pioneer) was found to using 250ma even when switched off and this slow discharge over a couple of weeks dropped voltage down considerably. Something to do with memory of settings being stored etc even though all other functions are switched off including the dial illumination. After finding this out, I now remove the fuse for the radio when I get home, and that solved the problem. Bit of a bugger though as every time we hook up and go away, the whole Bl...y thing has to be reset again!! Such is life!! The Setec is quite acceptable if van is fitted with a Gel battery and van is hooked up for long periods in a static position, so charger is in "stand by voltage " mode at that time. But when it comes to "cyclic" use, that is where the system may be found lacking in not being able to punch in the higher voltage to enable FULL battery capacity to be reached. Anyway, good luck with your new battery/ies when you find the cash to purchase same. AGMs for sure!!