iota info needed

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hermit
hermit Solar Expert Posts: 25 ✭
in General Solar Power Topics #1
can you series 2 iota dls75 12v chargers with iq to get a 24v charge? thanks.
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  • Brock
    Brock Solar Expert Posts: 639 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
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    Re: iota info needed

    Yup, I have done it and it definitely works, just use each 12v charger on that 12v half of the bank. In other words don't just wire the two chargers in series. You can also use them in parallel as well although one of the iq's will put it in float sooner (pretty close), no baggie though.

    Honestly an advantage of charging in series is that your sure each 12v bank is fully charged, in a 48v bank you can sometimes get batteries a bit off from one another.
    3kw solar PV, 4 LiFePO4 100a, xw 6048, Honda eu2000i, iota DLS-54-13, Tesla 3, Leaf, Volt, 4 ton horizontal geothermal, grid tied - Green Bay, WI
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  • hermit
    hermit Solar Expert Posts: 25 ✭
    #3
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    Re: iota info needed
    Brock wrote: »
    Yup, I have done it and it definitely works, just use each 12v charger on that 12v half of the bank. In other words don't just wire the two chargers in series. You can also use them in parallel as well although one of the iq's will put it in float sooner (pretty close), no baggie though.

    Honestly an advantage of charging in series is that your sure each 12v bank is fully charged, in a 48v bank you can sometimes get batteries a bit off from one another.

    thanks for the info, if i am understanding correctly each 12v iota would be charging their own 12v parallel bank of batteries.(2 parallel 12v banks in series yeild 24v or 2 12v batteries in series yield 24v) also do not series the 12v iota`s to try to achieve a 24v output. can a person charge the 24v battery bank (using 12v batteries in series or parallel) using the 2 12v iota chargers simultanously without disconnecting the battery bank from each other to separate the batteries into individual 12v branches?
    or are you saying using 6v batteries in series to achieve 12v banks and then charge each individual 12v bank for a 2x6v series charge.
    either way can both the 12v iota chargers be used for charging at the same time with out breaking the battery banks down to a 12v configuration?
    thanks again.
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  • halfcrazy
    halfcrazy Solar Expert Posts: 720 ✭✭✭
    #4
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    Re: iota info needed

    i did the same thing sort of. the engineer i talked to at iota told me to wire them in series with + of first iota and - of second iota to battery's and then a short jumper from the - of first iota to the + of second iota? works like a charm i have 2 40 amp 24 vdc iotas going into a 48vdc bank.
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  • Brock
    Brock Solar Expert Posts: 639 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
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    Re: iota info needed

    Yes, just connect the first iota to one side of the 24 volt bank and the second to the other side. You can leave the bank as in series and even use the inverter loading up the bank while charging as well.

    Don't connect the - from the first iota to the - of the bank then + to - on the iota's and then the last + to + on the bank.

    Here is my bad attempt at drawing it.

    iota.jpg
    3kw solar PV, 4 LiFePO4 100a, xw 6048, Honda eu2000i, iota DLS-54-13, Tesla 3, Leaf, Volt, 4 ton horizontal geothermal, grid tied - Green Bay, WI
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  • hermit
    hermit Solar Expert Posts: 25 ✭
    #6
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    Re: iota info needed

    called iota USA this morning (as my canadian distributor was unsure) and my understanding of connecting the 2 12v iota`s up are as follows;

    halfcrazy; you are correct in hooking up 2 12v iota`s in series to achieve 24v, i would like to add that iota said not to use the iq4 on either of the chargers when doing this, bad thing is no 3 stage charging only bulk and 1 weak battery would effect charge of entire bank. iota said they could modify one iq4 to provide simultanous switching for both the chargers.

    brock; you are also correct when saying you can charge across 12v battery strings using 1 iota on each 12v string while the batteries are still mechanically series connected in a 24v configuration. iota said this way you can still use the iq4 on each charger for 3 stage charging. bad thing on multiple battery configurations you would have to add a bus to the existing series wiring + to - side of the series connections between the paralled 12v banks in order to charge all the batteries in each of the parallel banks at the same time vs charging only 1 battery at a time with 1 iota. this is assuming you are not connecting the 12v parallel banks together with 1 cable.

    this is my understanding of what the iota tecnical rep told me, please correct me if i missunderstood or if you have any other considerations on hooking up the iota`s in either configurations.
    thanks again for your input.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,448 admin
    #7
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    Re: iota info needed

    Hermet,

    Follow Brock's wiring diagram and (if I understand Hermet's plans correctly) do not add a parallel wire to connect the - to + leads of the Iota's together...

    Adding a small gauge wire in parallel with the heavy battery lead is both meaningless (because of the heavy wire already there) and potentially dangerous (if the main battery bus interconnect fails/corrodes/etc.)--then all of your 24 volt battery bank current will go through the small gauge wire and cause it to overheat and fail.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • halfcrazy
    halfcrazy Solar Expert Posts: 720 ✭✭✭
    #8
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    Re: iota info needed

    ok that makes sense sinece iota told me to do it that way before they offered the iq4 smart controller so i will call them and see what my options are for the rewiring of the iq4
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  • Powerguy2011
    Powerguy2011 Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭
    #9
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    Re: iota info needed

    I have taken 2 Powermax converts (they are just like the iotas) and they are charging 2batteries independently of each other for my 24v system. Is it better to run as 24v system or 2 12v? I hope I am explaining right
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #10
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    Re: iota info needed
    Powerguy2011 wrote: »
    I have taken 2 Powermax converts (they are just like the iotas) and they are charging 2batteries independently of each other for my 24v system. Is it better to run as 24v system or 2 12v? I hope I am explaining right

    You could have a problem over time as no two batteries or chargers are exactly alike. Therefor you are charging two 12 Volt batteries but using them as one 24 Volt battery. If these are flooded cells you can check the Specific Gravity with a hydrometer and make sure the cells aren't getting too far apart (difference of more than 0.010). I don't think the Powermax units will do an equalization cycle, so some other charge source may be needed for this.

    If you have AGM's you can't check the SG nor can you equalize. Whereas they are less subject to sulphation, it still happens and could end up shortening battery life.

    If at all possible, they should be charged as one 24 Volt battery.
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