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How to connect second battery without power surge

offgridpower

Off Grid Simple Living AZ
Joined
Nov 19, 2020
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I am preparing to add a second battery to my 48v system. The new battery will have its own BMS and breaker and will be connected the same bus bars as the other battery. How do I prevent power surge due to voltage differential between the two batteries when I close the breaker to place it in service?
 
Try to avoid voltage differential. By preference charge fully both batteries before connecting.

BTW, Do not connect during operation. Have everything off.
 
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Try to avoid voltage differential. By preference charge fully both batteries before connecting.

BTW, Do not connect during operation. Have everything off.
Makes sense, I will try to match the voltages as closely as possible before connecting, and do so with everything turned off. Thanks!
 
I've added 6 batteries to the original 1st one over the last few years. I've stabilized on a 49.5v cut-off so every morning the battery bank is ~50v for a few hours until PV kicks in.

When I build my new batteries I build them with this in mind so they are ~50v when I assemble them. Then, it's just a matter of picking any morning to add the new battery to the powerwall. It doesn't matter if one is 49.8v and the other is 50.2v - it just needs to be 'fairly close'.

My powerwall is lithium-ion so matching voltages is easy. If ou're doing LifePo4 maybe you use SOC and voltage since it's a flatter curve. My point is you might find you add a 3rd and 4th and 5th and ... battery over time and working out a repeatable approach can reduce stress and add safety. :)
 
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If the two batteries are fairly close, it's not a concern. Even if they're not fairly close it's not a big issue. If you want to be seriously over cautious, first connect the new battery to the existing one with a 10 ohm high wattage resistor and leave it there until it's no longer getting hot.
 
I've added 6 batteries to the original 1st one over the last few years. I've stabilized on a 49.5v cut-off so every morning the battery bank is ~50v for a few hours until PV kicks in.

When I build my new batteries I build them with this in mind so they are ~50v when I assemble them. Then, it's just a matter of picking any morning to add the new battery to the powerwall. It doesn't matter if one is 49.8v and the other is 50.2v - it just needs to be 'fairly close'.

My powerwall is lithium-ion so matching voltages is easy. If ou're doing LifePo4 maybe you use SOC and voltage since it's a flatter curve. My point is you might find you add a 3rd and 4th and 5th and ... battery over time and working out a repeatable approach can reduce stress and add safety. :)
That sounds like a good approach, thanks!
 
If the two batteries are fairly close, it's not a concern. Even if they're not fairly close it's not a big issue. If you want to be seriously over cautious, first connect the new battery to the existing one with a 10 ohm high wattage resistor and leave it there until it's no longer getting hot.
The resistor is a good idea
 
I do not think a resistor is a good idea. 100's of Watts can flow between unbalanced packs. Get them within 0.5V of each other and connect. The inrush is not an issue.
 
10 ohm resistor will pass less than 1 amp unless the differential is greater than 10 volts. Even a 10 watt resistor should be plenty. Not hard to get the batteries within 10 volts. Might be a bit slow if anything.
 
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