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Charging amps

gblanchard81

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May 5, 2022
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I have 4 12v 31dcm batteries wired in parallel to keep 12v, but more amperage. My inverter charger can go up to 65amp charge. What is a safe max charge rate? I have is set at 20 amp currently and it seems like it takes forever to charge them. Also, is it more efficient to run lights on 12v rather then through the inverter to 120v?
 
What is a safe max charge rate?
Since you did not give the size of your batteries I will let you do the math. A safe charge rate is .5C
Also, is it more efficient to run lights on 12v rather then through the inverter to 120v?
It depends on the fixture or the bulb. Lumens per Watt vary a lot between LEDs. There is a sweet spot between Lumen output and current but unless you have an LED driver that can vary the current and a good light meter you would never know. The actual voltage at the LED is only 3 volts so either way there will be conversion losses.
 
I have 4 12v 31dcm batteries wired in parallel to keep 12v, but more amperage. My inverter charger can go up to 65amp charge. What is a safe max charge rate? I have is set at 20 amp currently and it seems like it takes forever to charge them. Also, is it more efficient to run lights on 12v rather then through the inverter to 120v?
You did not say what the amp hour rating was for your batteries but 65 amps divided by 4 is 16.25 amps it would have to have a pretty small amp hour rating to have trouble at 16 amps.
Running your led lights off 12v could be dramatically mor efficient than from the inverter especially if you are able to turn off the inverter for extended periods of time by using 12 volt directly. We use12 v led lights in our camper we leave one on at night so we can see to use the bathroom. Because we have nothing else that requires 110 volts overnight we have 10 hours of time that does not use 55 watts of idle consumption for a total of 550 watts saved overnight. If you must have the inverter on all the time the quality of your lights and the efficiency of your inverter are what you need to calculate to come up with the answer
 
what is .5C? Battery specs are 31dcm. 550cca, 185 min rc, 100ah. I’m curious about the lights due to using 1st these batteries sat and sun and only use like .5v. Went from 13 to 12v this past weekend with the inverter and no additional draws.
 
Since you did not give the size of your batteries I will let you do the math. A safe charge rate is .5C

It depends on the fixture or the bulb. Lumens per Watt vary a lot between LEDs. There is a sweet spot between Lumen output and current but unless you have an LED driver that can vary the current and a good light meter you would never know. The actual voltage at the LED is only 3 volts so either way there will be conversion losses.
 
what is .5C? Battery specs are 31dcm. 550cca, 185 min rc, 100ah. I’m curious about the lights due to using 1st these batteries sat and sun and only use like .5v. Went from 13 to 12v this past weekend with the inverter and no additional draws.
Multiply your amp hour rating by .5 and in your case you wold get a max charge rate of 50 amps per battery since you have 4 in parallel your theoretical max charge rate woul be 4 times that or .5 times 400 ah of battery.
 
Class 31 lead-acid are about 100-115 AH at 20 hour discharge rate (about 5 amps). At 25 amps discharge rate the capacity is about 65 AH.

No more than 15-20 amp charge per battery. With parallel batteries you will have current distribution mismatch between batteries so should go no more than 30-40 amps total for four in parallel.

Good idea to get a DC clip-on amp meter to keep tabs on battery current distribution.

An inverter will have no load idle current and extra loss with load. A 12v to 120vac 300 watt inverter may have 4-8 watts of no load power consumption so just running a couple of 6 watt LED lights wil have a lot of relative inverter loss.
 
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Multiply your amp hour rating by .5 and in your case you wold get a max charge rate of 50 amps per battery since you have 4 in parallel your theoretical max charge rate woul be 4 times that or .5 times 400 ah of battery.
Keep in mind that no matter how quickly you are able to charge those batteries initially they will slow down to a crawl once they get to about 80% charge and it will take 4 to 8 hours to fully charge them after that.
 
Class 31 lead-acid are about 100-115 AH at 20 hour discharge rate (about 5 amps).

No more than 15-20 amp charge per battery. With parallel batteries you will have current distribution mismatch between batteries so should go no more than 30-40 amps total for four in parallel.

Good idea to get a DC clip-on amp meter to keep tabs on battery current distribution.

An inverter will have no load idle current and extra loss with load. A 12v to 120vac 300 watt inverter may have 4-8 watts of no load power consumption so just running a couple of 6 watt LED lights wil have a lot of relative inverter loss.
So you’re saying that its more efficient to run what I can on 12v?
 
I do have them wired like this. Would I need a dc amp meter for each battery or just one? I do have a meter with shunt that I have yet to install.
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An overall single in-line battery monitor with inverter and a hand held clip on DC amp meter to occasionally check current balance between batteries.

The diagram has batteries connected for good cable resistance balance and also allows each single battery current to be checked with a clip on amp meter.
 
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I am definitely a noob when it comes to all this stuff but when I become very interested in something I like to learn as much as I can and I’m extremely interested in all of the DIY solar and off-grade and so on. Thank you so much for all the help. Maybe someday I’ll be able to help someone on here like you help me.
 
what is .5C
charging Amps for LFP is typically 0.5 times the Amphour capacity. I don't know what the rate is for Flooded.
NOTE: @RCinFLA responded above with the correct Amp rate. Someone also mentioned the Absorb time after the charging voltage is reached. With Flooded it is important that the batteries get enough Absorb time. Lithium does not care.
 
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So you’re saying that its more efficient to run what I can on 12v?
As soon as you start using 110v items your power usage will go up exponentially. I think that’s psychological more than anything else somehow it is easier to be deliberate about 12 v devices. Also all inverters have a efficiency loss and idle consumption so it takes a noticeable amount of additional solar power to run a 24/7 inverter system than a 12v only system with the same wattage loads. It really depends on where you want to compromise when you setup your system. I think the best compromise is to have a inverter available for what you need but only have it on when you need it. With only 4 fla batteries you will need to be very thoughtful about your power usage unless you only have the smallest of loads. I started with flooded lead acid batteries because it was all I could afford and they do work but it is an art to get them fully charged on a system that you are using. They have to be maintained especially if you are pushing the acceptable charge rate. They also are heavily affected by the Pukart effect which means the faster you use the power from the batteries the less power is possible to use. Also they have poor faradaic efficiency only between 60 and 80% of the energy that you put into the batteries will be available to use when you are finished charging. All of these factors become exaggerated as the batteries get colder but “hot” batteries deteriorate very quickly so it’s a real balancing act to make the most of them. With only 400 ah nominal of fla batteries to play with you will need to be very thoughtful about your loads.
 
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