Frank Castle
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2020
- Messages
- 4
I'm hoping someone with a lot more experience here can make some suggestions for my setup.
I have a few lifepo4 16Ah batteries that I connect to a 300W pure sine wave inverter via alligator clips to keep some of my home networking gear online when there is a power outage. I even recently bought a transfer switch so I can cut over to this inverter without having to swap cables around every time. My only concern is that right now with the power out the battery will drain down to 10V before shutting off (not great for the health of the battery). I would like to have it shut off at maybe around 12.9V (seems like a much safer value from what I've read here on the forums). Whenever it shuts off I just swap in another lifepo4 16Ah battery to keep everything going. My networking equipment is also connected to a UPS that keeps everything powered while I swap batteries. I do try to manually monitor the voltage of the batteries currently but if I get distracted it drops below 12.9V so I would prefer to come up with a better solution.
I have seen different low voltage disconnect devices from $10-20 cheap solutions on Amazon to more expensive battery protector devices from Victron so I am aware of some potential solutions. Right now I just use a lifepo4 battery tender to recharge all of the batteries once power has been restored, I do not currently have any solar panels. I know some solar charging controllers have circuitry to do low voltage disconnections and I wouldn't mind getting a couple solar panels at some point to be able to recharge my batteries even if my house power is still off.
Is there a solar charge controller that I could use to disconnect the load to my battery when voltage hits 12.9V even without any solar panels connected? And as a bonus, is there a solar controller that I can connect to shore power instead of solar panels to recharge the battery instead of having to use my battery tender unit?
So instead of just getting one of those $10 cheap low voltage disconnect devices that I imagine would work I would prefer to future proof my setup by getting a solar charge controller that does the same thing and allows me to utilize shore power and of course solar panels so I would have many more options available to top off my batteries. Assuming that is even possible I mean. Thanks in advance for any advice you may have to help me improve my current setup.
I have a few lifepo4 16Ah batteries that I connect to a 300W pure sine wave inverter via alligator clips to keep some of my home networking gear online when there is a power outage. I even recently bought a transfer switch so I can cut over to this inverter without having to swap cables around every time. My only concern is that right now with the power out the battery will drain down to 10V before shutting off (not great for the health of the battery). I would like to have it shut off at maybe around 12.9V (seems like a much safer value from what I've read here on the forums). Whenever it shuts off I just swap in another lifepo4 16Ah battery to keep everything going. My networking equipment is also connected to a UPS that keeps everything powered while I swap batteries. I do try to manually monitor the voltage of the batteries currently but if I get distracted it drops below 12.9V so I would prefer to come up with a better solution.
I have seen different low voltage disconnect devices from $10-20 cheap solutions on Amazon to more expensive battery protector devices from Victron so I am aware of some potential solutions. Right now I just use a lifepo4 battery tender to recharge all of the batteries once power has been restored, I do not currently have any solar panels. I know some solar charging controllers have circuitry to do low voltage disconnections and I wouldn't mind getting a couple solar panels at some point to be able to recharge my batteries even if my house power is still off.
Is there a solar charge controller that I could use to disconnect the load to my battery when voltage hits 12.9V even without any solar panels connected? And as a bonus, is there a solar controller that I can connect to shore power instead of solar panels to recharge the battery instead of having to use my battery tender unit?
So instead of just getting one of those $10 cheap low voltage disconnect devices that I imagine would work I would prefer to future proof my setup by getting a solar charge controller that does the same thing and allows me to utilize shore power and of course solar panels so I would have many more options available to top off my batteries. Assuming that is even possible I mean. Thanks in advance for any advice you may have to help me improve my current setup.