Charger solutions?

lupacexi · February 2018

Hey all, so I'm finding myself in need of a charger lately ( experiencing record levels of sunless days here), and pondering a few avenues. My system currently consists of 225ah of T105re @24v, 500w of pv, the classic 150, and a samlex 600sa. This system has, for the past 13 months, supplied all our electrical needs without a hitch. My eventual plan is to incorporate a much bigger inverter to handle the well pump, which will require something along the lines of a VFX3524 or the like, which I know is a rather large rig for such a modest bank, but it is what it is. The samlex evo line ( the 2224 in particular) looks really slick, but an utter lack of reviews leave me second guessing it's reliability.

So what I'm basically asking is, is there a cheap interim route I can go until I can afford the bigger inverter/charger a few months down the line?
The only chargers that I've seen that seem alright are the Iotas... And I'm guessing that the 24v 40amp model would fit the bill. Any recommendations on that? I've also seen this : "NOCO Genius G7200 12V/24V 7.2A UltraSafe Smart Battery Charger", and while I realize it's pretty small, lately I've just been running the house on my yamahaef2000is to avoid running the bank past a 65% discharge anyway... Often for 12 hours a day, so would adding that little charger for ~100 bucks be a bad move to bridge the gap until I can grab the bigger unit?

Are these units capable of going through the classic to charge? Or do they need to go through the shunt separately? Lastly, is a charger as big as the 3524 going to damage the bank? The generator that will be charging that is aa 5500ww Briggs elite. I'm not worried about wattage drain from running the pump (bout 900-1k running watts at less than ten minutes a day, into pressure tank with an 18 gallon drawdown), but the surge of a concern potentially, at somewhere around 5-6k... Would this create dangerous voltage drop on mybank?

Estragon · February 2018

I have a pair of Iotas for charging 12v bank, and they do the job. They don't have a great power factor though, so aren't particularly efficient. Not a huge issue for me, as I rarely charge that bank with the generator. As an interim solution, I'd be inclined to go that route rather than a 7a alternative.

In any case, charger output would go to the battery buss, NOT though a classic CC.

Longer term, running a ~5kw/24v=200a+ surge with a 225ah bank may be pushing it. Probably doable though, as long as the bank is at a reasonably high SOC, and heavily wired. If at a low SOC or whatever, the inverter should protect itself from voltage sag at LBCO of ~10.5v, so shouldn't hurt the battery.

westbranch · February 2018

Search this for "GENERATOR SUPPORT" and you should read at least this helpful thread
http://forum.solar-electric.com/discussion/330786/adding-generator-support-should-i-use-a-battery-charger-or-inverter-based-gen-support
It may save you some money as you should be able to make a determination of what you might need to buy long term for agood system for your needs.

Dave Angelini · February 2018

A large charging source that is not (user set) limited to the battery manufacturers maximum current recommendation will shorten the life of the battery.
In an outback 3524 there are settings to limit the max amps charging from a generator.

jonr · February 2018

I would at least look at the option of replacing your well pump with a small DC one plus a large pressure tank.

oil pan 4 · February 2018

For a 24v bank I would just build a 24v generator using a 24v vehicle alternator and single cylinder gasoline engine.
Way more efficient than trying to charge with a single phase high voltage generator and battery charger.

Charger solutions?

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