Hi all,
I have a problem similar to what was discussed here, but I'm still looking for answer to the original concern, which wasn't quite addressed:
I have a 2x180Ah 12V sealed lead acid battery bank at my cabin, which is kept mostly fully charged by an MPPT charger and 2x250W panels. I also have a mobile 80Ah AGM battery that is used with a trolling motor on a boat, but unlike the boat battery in the referred thread, mine often drains quite low. So I would like to re-charge this boat battery from the main bank.
Ideally I would like to be able to just snap the boat battery parallel to the main battery bank, but I'm afraid with different battery types, different capacities and different charge levels, bad things could happen, right?
I wouldn't mind the charging taking it's time, so is it possible to limit the DC-DC charge distribution rate somehow (maybe to 6A or so)? DC-DC chargers also seem to exist, but with a big price tag - is that the only way to go?
So far the only safe solution I've come up with is to use a regular 230VAC-to-12VDC battery charger through an inverter (since I happen to have both) to achieve what I want, but it feels silly having to do the AC step inbetween.
Local solar panel retailer suggested me that easiest and cheapest would probably be to just buy a separate panel and simple charger dedicated for the boat battery, but I'd really like to benefit from the existing charge at the main bank, too, in case I'd need to get the the boat battery recharged overnight for example.
Thanks in advance for any ideas!
Jaakko
I have a problem similar to what was discussed here, but I'm still looking for answer to the original concern, which wasn't quite addressed:
I have a 2x180Ah 12V sealed lead acid battery bank at my cabin, which is kept mostly fully charged by an MPPT charger and 2x250W panels. I also have a mobile 80Ah AGM battery that is used with a trolling motor on a boat, but unlike the boat battery in the referred thread, mine often drains quite low. So I would like to re-charge this boat battery from the main bank.
Ideally I would like to be able to just snap the boat battery parallel to the main battery bank, but I'm afraid with different battery types, different capacities and different charge levels, bad things could happen, right?
I wouldn't mind the charging taking it's time, so is it possible to limit the DC-DC charge distribution rate somehow (maybe to 6A or so)? DC-DC chargers also seem to exist, but with a big price tag - is that the only way to go?
So far the only safe solution I've come up with is to use a regular 230VAC-to-12VDC battery charger through an inverter (since I happen to have both) to achieve what I want, but it feels silly having to do the AC step inbetween.
Local solar panel retailer suggested me that easiest and cheapest would probably be to just buy a separate panel and simple charger dedicated for the boat battery, but I'd really like to benefit from the existing charge at the main bank, too, in case I'd need to get the the boat battery recharged overnight for example.
Thanks in advance for any ideas!
Jaakko
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