Thread: Doable or dumb?
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Old 20th Jan 2019, 10:58 pm   #1
ITAM805
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Folkestone, Kent, UK.
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Default Doable or dumb?

Hi all

I have a 48V 2kW solar setup and recently one of the 12V lead acid batteries died. So I replaced it, but with a different type (Varta 60Ah) from the remaining 3 'Powerline' 65Ah. I should say I've found the Powerline batteries to be crap

Now I know the rule is the batteries should be the same voltage for balanced charging, and to aid this I fitted each battery with a circuit (green) that turns on a dummy load when the charge reaches 13.8V and this worked well, that is until I fitted the superior Varta, which doesn't reach 13.8V and thus is undercharging.

So, is it feasible to charge the Varta (magenta) from an isolated charger (orange) whilst 'in circuit', that is while the battery string in charged from the 48V source?
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