washtubman
Well-known member
I have a 2000 watt inverter with 4 batteries. Can I hook up a set of jumper cables to one of the batteries to recharge my deep cell trolling motor while hooked to shore power? Thanks
Battery Charging with Inverter
- Thread starter washtubman
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Tom
Administrator
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That very much depends on the different batteries you have running the inverter vs the trolling motor. You really shouldn't mix battery types when hooked together &/or charging.
Karl
Moderator Emeritus
Not a good idea. Let's say that all your batteries are deep cycle, including the trolling motor battery, and they are all 100AH. By placing the trolling battery in parallel with one of the other four, you would have two series strings in parallel; one with 2-100 AH batteries in series, and a second with 1-100AH battery in series with 2-100AH batteries in parallel. Without going into long calculations, suffice it to say that neither of the two batteries that are in parallel with each other (one regular; the other the trolling battery), will receive a full charge, and could potentially cause the others to overcharge! Get yourself a cheap charger for the trolling battery.
Ron
Moderator Emeritus
I agree with Karl better to get a separate charger to just plug into AC and use that to charge the trolling motor battery.
Tom
Administrator
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Karl said:
Good advice Karl. I have an on-board charger for the trolling motor batteries, but will sometimes hook up a Battery Minder just to keep them topped up.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
I'll disagree with the others, though they have given you the standard "safe advice". In practice, as long as all the batteries are in decent condition, there is very little risk to charging an additional battery with jumper cables from your battery bank. I have done so on numerous occasions when we carries a POrt-A-Bte and electric motor. But a bad battery anywhere in the mix can cause wierd results.
John From Detroit
Well-known member
I was going to stay out of this but Roamer gave me an "in" as it were (Thanks Roamer)
In most cases. I'd say Roamer is right, you likely will not have a problem.. If the batteries are the same type (Example, All AGM's) then they will all get a full charge... Just a bit later (As opposed to sooner) cause, Well, let's assume all the batteries are 100 AH You now have 300 AH of battery to charge.
The danger is if the "house" batteries are full up and the Trolling battery is full down (DEEP DISCHARGED) you can get some excessive current flow, This can do damage ranging from
1: Melting your jumper cables
2: Fire
3: Exploding battery syndrom (one or more batteries go POP, not, one hopes boom, but pop)
Frankly. I do not think the danger is great.. But that is worst case.
As for doing it.. Well,,, I have a jump battery in the motor home for those occasions when the car does not wish to start (Way too common) and that's how I charge it. When car don't go I hook it to the car and "jump" the car
When the car does go I hook it to the house batteries on the motor home to charge it up that way (Actually it's hooked to the AGM inverter bank IIRC) That way it re-fills and is ready for the next time I don't drive the car for a few days.
In most cases. I'd say Roamer is right, you likely will not have a problem.. If the batteries are the same type (Example, All AGM's) then they will all get a full charge... Just a bit later (As opposed to sooner) cause, Well, let's assume all the batteries are 100 AH You now have 300 AH of battery to charge.
The danger is if the "house" batteries are full up and the Trolling battery is full down (DEEP DISCHARGED) you can get some excessive current flow, This can do damage ranging from
1: Melting your jumper cables
2: Fire
3: Exploding battery syndrom (one or more batteries go POP, not, one hopes boom, but pop)
Frankly. I do not think the danger is great.. But that is worst case.
As for doing it.. Well,,, I have a jump battery in the motor home for those occasions when the car does not wish to start (Way too common) and that's how I charge it. When car don't go I hook it to the car and "jump" the car
When the car does go I hook it to the house batteries on the motor home to charge it up that way (Actually it's hooked to the AGM inverter bank IIRC) That way it re-fills and is ready for the next time I don't drive the car for a few days.
Bob Buchanan
Well-known member
washtubman said:
I can understand the concerns about temporarily jumping another battery from the house batteries. I do this all the time to keep my chassis battery topped off after sitting in one place for awhile. I have a single jumper cable that I occasionally and temporarily connect to the positive pole of the chassis from a positive of the closest house battery. Fortunately, on my rig both the house and chassis batteries are housed in the same location.
But my question is, what has any of this got to do with your inverter? Inverters invert DC from a battery bank to AC -- and are usually turned off when hooked to shore power. Or do you have a box containing an inverter "and" a charger that kicks in when on shore power?
Ron
Moderator Emeritus
Bob Buchanan said:
We never turn the inverter off except when boondocking then we may turn it off to conserve power overnight. In other words our inverter is on even when connected to shore power.
John From Detroit
Well-known member
His inverter, Like min, also charges the battery when operating in converter mode.
So that's what it has to do with the inverter... It is an "inverter/converter"
And of course a lot of folks really don't know the difference so call it by the wrong name
So that's what it has to do with the inverter... It is an "inverter/converter"
And of course a lot of folks really don't know the difference so call it by the wrong name
Bob Buchanan
Well-known member
John In Detroit said:
John, a question of charging a trolling battery off of an inverter may "not" have anything to do with an inverter. So I asked. His topic, "Battery Charging with Inverter" cannot be done.
You mention Inverter, Charger, and Converter. They all have differnt functions, though they may be in the same box, OR they may not be.
An inverter "inverts" DC to AC.
A Charger "charges" batteries.
A Converter "Converts" a portion of the AC coming from shore power to DC for the DC lights and such on board.
A converter may (or may not) have a charger built into it -- but a converter is not a charger, nor is it an inverter.
An inverter may (or may not) have a charger built into it -- but an inverter is not a charger either, nor is it a converter.
So again, that's why I asked the question. I also have an Inverter (tho mine is a 1500W from the former StatPower) with 4 batteries -- and that inverter has nothing to do with charging batteries. I also have a 40Amp 3 stage charger that has nothing to do with the inverter. The poster did not mention whether he had an Inverter that had a charger built in (so it may "not" have been like yours). I also asked if that was the case.
OP
OP
washtubman
Well-known member
My inverter panel (Xantrex) has a charge indicator on it, so I assume it has a charger built in. Since there are conflicting answers to my original post, I think I'll just carry a charger with me and recharge from AC. Better safe than sorry. Thanks for all the replies.
Ron
Moderator Emeritus
washtubman said:
I think that is an excellent choice and is what we do.
John From Detroit
Well-known member
Bob, I understood why you asked the question.. I also understood that the OP had an inverter/Converter, like my Xantrex... Turns out his is an Xantrex too..
I'm not sure what is was about his post that gave me the impression he had a dual function uint, But that was why I responded the way he did.
Alas, at first, When I read the topic,,, My response was the same as yours (Inverters DISCHARGE batteries don't you know.)
Ok,,, Funny story time.. I just got off a river (River clean up project, I was a "Sweep Rider" in one of the last canoes)
ONe of our comm officers was stationed on dry land.. She happened to be overlooking a park where a lovely young thing was sunbating.. She had on a "Thong" type top and it had a single bow tied in the back to hold it on.. The ends of the strings had what looked like popped corn on them.. One of the local Geese saw that and thought that popped corn looked tasty. and grabbed hold.... Untying the knot, startling the young lady, who then startled the goose, which ran off.... Still holding the "Corn" (And of course the top of the young lady's outfit)
Only sad parts: 1: nobody around with cameras 2: I'd gone past that park already (Dang)
The only other issue is the dam we had to portage around.. Hornets were nesting on the portage... Yup, they were (Wait for it)
DAM HORNETS
I'm not sure what is was about his post that gave me the impression he had a dual function uint, But that was why I responded the way he did.
Alas, at first, When I read the topic,,, My response was the same as yours (Inverters DISCHARGE batteries don't you know.)
Ok,,, Funny story time.. I just got off a river (River clean up project, I was a "Sweep Rider" in one of the last canoes)
ONe of our comm officers was stationed on dry land.. She happened to be overlooking a park where a lovely young thing was sunbating.. She had on a "Thong" type top and it had a single bow tied in the back to hold it on.. The ends of the strings had what looked like popped corn on them.. One of the local Geese saw that and thought that popped corn looked tasty. and grabbed hold.... Untying the knot, startling the young lady, who then startled the goose, which ran off.... Still holding the "Corn" (And of course the top of the young lady's outfit)
Only sad parts: 1: nobody around with cameras 2: I'd gone past that park already (Dang)
The only other issue is the dam we had to portage around.. Hornets were nesting on the portage... Yup, they were (Wait for it)
DAM HORNETS
