OK. Say I have a bunch of 12V Lead Acids. Say 6 to make it easy. I think that is a S2P3. The charge controller is set to 24VDC and so provides maybe 25VDC. But I only have a 12VDC inverter. Can I connect to one 12VDC battery? It seems that current will flow from wherever. There may be uneven discharge due to cable loss/ Any thoughts?
24V system - pick off from 12V
- Thread starter rkollman
- Start date
It would be bad for your system and batteries to hookup any 12V loads to a 24V battery bank. Doing it with such a high load device like an inverter would be extra bad.
If you have a 12V inverter then setup a 12V battery bank.
If you need a 24V battery bank for other reasons then you need a 24V inverter.
If you have a 12V inverter then setup a 12V battery bank.
If you need a 24V battery bank for other reasons then you need a 24V inverter.
StuartV
New Member
Can you change the controller to 12V charge, then put all your batteries in parallel? All the +`s together, then all the -`s together, 12V system with how many Amps your batteries have ?
If you only have a small 12v load, you can get a 24v to 12v converter.
MichaelK
Solar Wizard
I guess we could use a bit more context here? What do you want to power? How many panels do you have to charge these batteries? Do you need to use all six batteries? Is there a market in your area for used inverters?
Personally, I'm not a fan of 12V if your application does not have wheels, so I'd be the first to encourage you to stick with 24V. The easiest no-cost way of doing things is to wire everything for 12V, but 6 batteries in parallel at 12V is just silly. They will never stay balanced. Plus the amps to keep that many batteries properly charged might exceed 75A or so, depending on the size.
Maybe to easiest thing to do is just wire 2 batteries in parallel and adjust your controller settings to charge at 14.4-14.8V. Then hook up the 12V inverter to that. But, do you have enough solar to charge even 2 batteries? Need more details to give better advice.
Personally, I'm not a fan of 12V if your application does not have wheels, so I'd be the first to encourage you to stick with 24V. The easiest no-cost way of doing things is to wire everything for 12V, but 6 batteries in parallel at 12V is just silly. They will never stay balanced. Plus the amps to keep that many batteries properly charged might exceed 75A or so, depending on the size.
Maybe to easiest thing to do is just wire 2 batteries in parallel and adjust your controller settings to charge at 14.4-14.8V. Then hook up the 12V inverter to that. But, do you have enough solar to charge even 2 batteries? Need more details to give better advice.
DerpsyDoodler
Solar Addict
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2021
- Messages
- 2,247
if you want to go deeper and maybe better design/plan your system, answer michael's question, otherwise parallel them and call it a day. The latter may require replacing your SCC depending on its rating and how much solar you have, though. I suggest letting Michael guide you.
