Rule of Thumb #2 Temp Matters

feedhorn

Battery temperature matters a lot when charging or discharging. What especially matters is that all batteries in a bank are at the exactly same temperature.

If batteries are up against a basement wall make sure there are only a single row of them. If one row of batteries are against a cold outer wall and a parallel row is exposed to room heat these rows will be at different temperatures. If you must use two rows with different temperatures make sure they are in separate parallel strings. Having batteries in the same series string but at different temperatures can cause cell failures.

Don't install batteries right next to each other. Allow a space for air circulation so that heat from one battery can't effect another. If only one side of a battery is exposed to heat a charge imbalance can take place across indivdual plates inside the battery.

RVs have a real problem with batteries inside a storage cabnet where the sun can shine on the door. Outside batteries get solar heat and warm up faster in the morning and this can cause a massive charge/discharge imbalance. At best make sure the outside batteries are in series in a speparate parallel string from the inside batteries.

Just do what you can too keep all your batteries at the same cool temperature on all sides at all times.

FH