Battery Bank Configuration - Wiring

Posted by Steve M on June 23, 2008, 07:49:49 AM

Battery Bank Configuration - Wiring
I have 12 x 110 Ah batteries @ 12 volt, I'm experience voltage drops with small loads on the inverter.

What is the best way to connect the batteries to be most efficient?

I have them connected 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12
Inverter cable 1 connects to battery 6 +&-)
Inverter cable 2 connects to battery 7(+&-)

I've researched on the net but cannot find any conclusive information on the best configuration.

Many thanks

Steve
 

Posted by Travis M on June 23, 2008, 11:24:11 AM

Re: Battery Bank Configuration - Wiring (Reply #1)
You have 12, 12v batteries?  It shouldn't matter which battery the inverter is wired to (since, technically, it's wired to all of them at once).  Are they all close together?  What guage wire are you using from battery to battery?  How far is the inverter away from the battery array?  What size wire are you using from battery pack to inverter?

What do you mean by connects to battery x (+ & -)?  If you have 12v batteries, and you're wired for 12v to the inverter, all (-) should be connected together and all (+) should be connected together, to maintain 12v.

[+ 12v INV -]
 |         |
 |         |
[+  bat 01 -]
 |         |
[+  bat 02 -]
 |         |
[+  bat 03 -]
 |         |
[+  bat 04 -]

« Last Edit: June 23, 2008, 11:25:59 AM by Travis McMillian »
 

Posted by John D on June 23, 2008, 09:59:24 PM

Re: Battery Bank Configuration - Wiring (Reply #2)
With that many batteries, I would connect each of them to a positive and a negative bus bar.  Then run wires from each of the bus bars to the inverter. 

The bus bars I use are actually grounding bars for circuit breaker boxes.  I got them for about $5 each from a hardware store.

Keep all wires as short as possible, and use heavy guage wire.

If you still want to connect the inverter directly to the batteries though, you should connect the plus wire to battery 1, and the negative wire to battery 12. Then each battery has the same amount of jumpers between it and the inverter. Draw this out if you're not sure what I'm talking about. 

John
 
« Last Edit: June 23, 2008, 10:04:34 PM by John Dalhaus »
 

Posted by Steve M on June 24, 2008, 03:41:12 AM

Re: Battery Bank Configuration - Wiring (Reply #3)
Thanks for your replies...

Travis - Looking here http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html your suggestion is not the best configuration as the numbers show, this apparently is the most common mistake when it comes to connecting batteries.

I'm still trying to find the best most balanced method of connecting batteries, looking at the data provided in the above link, connecting a small number into a bank and connecting the inverter to the first and last batteries would be the most efficient. However, the article goes on to say this is not the case for 8 or more batteries...

The problem I haven't been able to find another site or method that confirms what is the best. The search goes on...
« Last Edit: June 24, 2008, 06:17:17 AM by Steve Miller »
 

Posted by Steve M on June 24, 2008, 03:51:01 AM

Re: Battery Bank Configuration - Wiring (Reply #4)
John/Travis
The bus bar method was mentioned in the article http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html well sort of, it mentioned connecting each battery or group of 4 and on to the inverter.

The bus bar option I like, however, how do I keep the wires short and all 12 of them to the same connection point?

I have the batteries in a vertical rack with 3 batteries on each of 4 shelves.

I think this is going the right way, just need to resolve the above question.

By the way, the article is interesting and is worth a read!

Many thanks

Steve
 
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