[RE-wrenches] combining 24v and 12v systems

Ray ray at solarray.com
Thu Jan 2 18:23:33 EST 2020


How do you insure proper charge voltage to the 12 v set?  Never tried 
that one.

Ray Walters
Remote Solar
303 505-8760

On 1/2/20 1:37 PM, Chris Worcester wrote:
>
> I would like to add that you don’t need to get rid of the 12 v battery 
> bank, but use it for the high amp draw buffer, like a large capacitor. 
> Then use the DC to DC converter between the two battery banks. Done 
> this for years on multiple off grid systems.
>
> Chris Worcester
>
> Solar Wind Works
>
> NABCEP PV Installation Professional
>
> Office 530-582-4503
>
> Cell 530-448-9692
>
> www.solarwindworks.com
>
> chris at solarwindworks.com
>
> *From:*RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] 
> *On Behalf Of *Tom Duffy
> *Sent:* Wednesday, January 01, 2020 8:55 AM
> *To:* RE-wrenches
> *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] combining 24v and 12v systems
>
> Agree!  use a Victron DC to DC Converter
>
> Kind regards
>
> **
>
> *Tom Duffy*
>
> */Senior Solar Design Engineer/*
>
> **
>
> *If you don’t have the Time or Money to do it right in the first 
> place, how will you get the Time and Money to fix it?*
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> *From:* RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> *On 
> Behalf Of *Allan Sindelar
> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 31, 2019 6:51 PM
> *To:* RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] combining 24v and 12v systems
>
> Agreed: no 12v tap. I’ll add (with modest experience, as this doesn’t 
> come up as an upgrade very often any more) that Mean Well, despite the 
> odd name, proved itself pretty reliable in some early Wattsun tracker 
> drives and some other DC-DC applications. Available online; see 
> https://www.meanwell-web.com/en-gb/dcdc-converters/
>
> Allan
>
>
> On Dec 31, 2019, at 10:46 AM, Dan Fink <danbob88 at gmail.com 
> <mailto:danbob88 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     I second everyone. Center-tapping a 24 or 48v battery bank for 12v
>     SEEMS like it should work just fine, especially for low load
>     infrequent use like a 12v water pressure pump for a greenhouse, a
>     weather station, etc.. Nope, I've been a loser every time, with
>     that battery or pair always the first to go bad.
>
>     Samlex and Victron both make DC-DC converters I have had good luck
>     with; they are thermally protected and you can stack multiple
>     units for more amperage.
>
>
>     Dan Fink
>
>     Executive Director, Buckville Energy Consulting
>
>     NABCEP PV Associate
>
>     NABCEP Certified PV System Inspector
>
>     IREC Certified Instructor™ for:
>
>     ~ PV Installation Professional
>
>     ~ Small Wind Installer
>
>     NABCEP Registered Continuing Education Providers
>
>     d <mailto:dan.fink at greendustrialtraining.com>anbob88 at gmail.com
>     <mailto:anbob88 at gmail.com>
>
>     970-672-4342
>
>
>     On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 10:57 AM Ray <ray at solarray.com
>     <mailto:ray at solarray.com>> wrote:
>
>         Even with battery balancers, battery tapping is still a really
>         bad idea.  I know, I did it on my own system in the 90s.  The
>         DC/DC converters are the way to go, but be sure and over size
>         it by a fair amount to handle the fridge starting surge. 
>         Unfortunately my favorites are no longer available: made by
>         Solar Converters in Canada. I've seen them last decades. Iota
>         should be good stuff, their chargers have long term
>         reliability.  Samlex inverters have been around for quite a
>         while too, but I don't have long term experience with their
>         converters.
>
>         Ray Walters
>
>         Remote Solar
>
>         303 505-8760
>
>         On 12/31/19 10:05 AM, Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar wrote:
>
>             Tapping a battery bank is not a good practice. it will
>             unbalance the bank. Much better to add a 24V electronic
>             converter for the 12V loads. Then replace the 12V loads
>             when time permits. They will need a spare converter so buy
>             2. Amazon has tons of these converters. Your quote is
>             great BTW. H N Y !
>
>               
>
>             *Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar*
>
>             *"we go where powerlines don't"*
>
>             *http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/*
>
>             *e-mail offgridsolar at sti.net <mailto:offgridsolar at sti.net>*
>
>             *text 209 813 0060*
>
>             On Tue, 31 Dec 2019 11:52:20 -0500, Chris Schaefer
>             <chris at solarandwindfx.com>
>             <mailto:chris at solarandwindfx.com> wrote:
>
>                 G'day and Happy New Year to All,
>
>                 Recently came across this offgrid OB FX system. The
>                 first part is a 12v battery system w/ 2 PV modules, 2
>                 Trojan L16  batteries used to power a frig and freezer
>                 about 6 years old. The second is a 24v with 3kw of PV,
>                 4 Trojan L16's, twin OB FX inverters installed by an
>                 HVAC contractor back in 2016. This was their first
>                 offgrid project. Oh boy, lol. The client would like to
>                 add more battery capacity to both. My thought here is
>                 since we are powering only a 12v frig and freezer why
>                 not simplify the system by creating a single battery
>                 bank and then tapping off of the 24v bank using proper
>                 fusing and creating a 12v buss? Admittedly I live in a
>                 48v world so I'm asking our esteemed colleges as to
>                 options on how to address this.
>
>                 Oh yeah, the installer is unresponsive (no surprise
>                 there) and they are also having firmware issues with
>                 an old Mate 3 and would like me to install a new Mate
>                 3s but that's another issue I'll tackle when I head
>                 out to site.
>
>                 Thanks All,
>
>                 Christopher-
>
>                 Chris Schaefer's
>                 Image removed by sender. <http://www.solarandwindfx.com>
>                 /Tel/Fax 585-229-2083 or Cell 585-748-1870 //
>                 //5115 South Hill Road ~ Canandaigua New York 14424//
>                 //www.solarandwindfx.com
>                 <http://www.solarandwindfx.com> ~ E-mail:
>                 chris at solarandwindfx.com
>                 <mailto:chris at solarandwindfx.com>/
>
>                 /Image removed by sender./
>
>                 Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great
>                 Constitution, once said, "democracy" will cease to
>                 exist when you take away from those who are willing to
>                 work and give to those who would not."
>
>             -- 
>
>               
>
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