Battery charge controllers
Just purchased a 28' travel trailer w 2 6 volt golf cart batteries the previous owner converted to dual 6 volt over 12 volt. The problem is when left connected to 110 house current the batteries over...
Forum Discussion
westend wrote:
You two---First it was freezing water pipes (another thread) and now it's overcharged batteries. Hopefully, one of you will learn that differences in opinion aren't terrible and debating personal issues only derails the thread.
The OP hasn't returned so I'd assume that he has resolved a possible non-issue and is happily charging his batteries. If anyone is concerned about over charging their own batteries, the battery Mfg's have all of that data available. IME, over charging two 6V's in series is difficult. Trojan, for instance, specifies a 15 V charge profile. If a battery is charged fully, keeping charge voltage below 13.6 V would not injure a battery. It might use some water over a period of time but that is typical. A battery will only draw as much current as it needs.
Chargers can malfunction, sending high voltage to the battery bank and over charge it.
Even the temperature sensing circuitry which is supposed to step down the charge rate can fail. In some of the more sophisticated chargers the charging will be stopped if the battery temperature reaches 120F, but that too can fail.
A charger is connected to both the positive and negative terminals of the battery/battery bank. If not, no charging can take place. An internal battery short or one in the cables will send voltage to the charger. That is why many coach builders place a catastrophic fuse or breaker on the positive lead between the inverter/charger and the battery bank.
After experiencing such a failure many years ago, I am a firm believer in doing so. The cost of replacing both the inverter/charger and the battery bank could have been prevented by installing a single catastrophic breaker or fuse.
