Yurt Forum - A Yurt Community About Yurts  

Go Back   Yurt Forum - A Yurt Community About Yurts > Powering the Yurt
Search Forums
Advanced Search

Having Battery Issues-Help, Please!

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-05-2021, 02:25 PM   #1
Yurt Forum Youngin
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Posts: 2
Default Having battery issues-Help, please!

I’ve been using a ‘Portable Solar Generator for about 4 years now. I burnt through a couple AGM batteries thanks to my lack of knowledge, and upgraded to lithium phosphate this winter.

Now that I’ve learned more about solar, I am less than impressed with the setup I bought. But hindsight is 20/20.

It’s got a 24v inverter, so I have 2-100ah batteries wired in series (which I know is not advisable). Since switching to liFe, I have been overcharging, which causes the inverter to shut down.

The maker of the kit has the battery wires from the charge controller wires right to the lugs on the inverter, which I suspect is contributing to the erratic voltage on the top end of my charge, since voltage is going into the inverter and batteries rather than directly to batteries?

My questions are:
- Am I right in thinking that charge controller directly to batteries is the correct setup?

-Can I hook the charge controller wires to the + on one (series wired) battery and the - on the other?
Would this work temporarily until I can get components to do it right?

-Would a dual battery charge controller work with my series wired batteries?

WIyurt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-05-2021, 04:44 PM   #2
Administrator
 
Jafo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 2,386
Default Re: Having battery issues-Help, please!

Yeah you have a lot going on here. First, there is no problem wiring them in series to 24v and in fact it IS advisable to raise your voltage as much as you can afford. Higher voltage requires smaller wires and they don't heat up as much, ergo it is safer. You're good to go there and I wouldn't worry about that.

I connect my inverter directly to the battery. I never use anything on the charge controller itself except I just plug in the input from the panels and the output to the battery, that's it.

Hooking + on one and - on the other is EXACTLY how you SHOULD do it. Remember, when you are wiring in series, you are essentially making one big battery instead of two batteries in tandem (parallel). You should hook your charge controller up this way AND your inverter.

You should only need one charge controller.
Jafo is offline   Reply With Quote
Blue Ridge Yurts
Old 06-06-2021, 04:16 PM   #3
Yurt Forum Member
 
trihartsfield's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Sheridan, MT
Posts: 45
Default Re: Having battery issues-Help, please!

Wires from solar panel to charge controller. Charge controller to batteries. Batteries to inverter. Inverter to appliance(s).

I run my batteries in series also.
trihartsfield is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-07-2021, 07:10 PM   #4
Yurt Forum Youngin
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Posts: 2
Default Re: Having battery issues-Help, please!

Thanks folks!

I’ve got it set up properly now. Charge controller to only batteries. Seems to be better this afternoon. We’ll see tomorrow when I have a full day of sun how it goes.

I asked about the dual battery controller because I’ve heard that series wiring lithium can cause problems with equalization. The BMS shuts down whichever is full first causing the other to not charge completely.
I thought the dual bank controller might be a way around this. Any thoughts?
WIyurt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-08-2021, 09:00 AM   #5
Yurt Forum Addict
 
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 2,154
Default Re: Having battery issues-Help, please!

Thanks for all the info folks.
Bob Rowlands is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-08-2021, 11:18 AM   #6
Administrator
 
Jafo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 2,386
Default Re: Having battery issues-Help, please!

Quote:
Originally Posted by WIyurt View Post

I asked about the dual battery controller because I’ve heard that series wiring lithium can cause problems with equalization. The BMS shuts down whichever is full first causing the other to not charge completely.
I thought the dual bank controller might be a way around this. Any thoughts?
I'll admit that I am a little out of my expertise with the lithium batteries as they have onboard charge controllers, but if you are hooking them up in series, the charge controllers should be looking at total voltage.

That might be a better question for the battery manufacturer..
Jafo is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:38 AM.


Yurt Forum | Buying a Yurt | Building a Yurt | Yurt Life | Yurts for Sale | Yurt Glamping | Yurts Pricing Yurt Calculators | Yurt Insurance | Yurt Insulation | Yurt Classifieds

Copyright 2012 - 2024 Jeff Capron Inc.

Yurt Posts Delivered to your Email!

Stay up-to-date with all the new yurt posts to your inbox!

unsusbcribe at anytime with one click

Close [X]