gels+charging

[CoffeeLuke]

#1. 3 cells 12v x 12ah=36v x?ah
#2. if i hook up a 12 volt charger to 1 cell while still in series what happens?(wanna hookup a solar system with 12 volt charge controllers).
#3 does any 1 in Vancouver bc wanna help me test motors/controllers(i have 2 of each to test/play with).

 

[Rassy]

CoffeeLuke wrote:

#1. 3 cells 12v x 12ah=36v x?ah

I assume when you say cell you mean battery, as in 12V battery. When 3 12V 12AH batteries are hooked up in series you get a 36V 12AH battery pack.

#2. if i hook up a 12 volt charger to 1 cell while still in series what happens?(wanna hookup a solar system with 12 volt charge controllers).

Yes, you can charge just one of the batteries at a time, but you should charge all three of them before you start using them. If you try to charge more than one of them at the same time (with two or more 12V chargers), there can be a problem if the grounds on the plugs into the AC system are connected, but doing just one 12V battery at a time will not cause any problems.

Edit: As I reread this, I saw your solar system part of the question. So if the three solar chargers are 100% independent you should have no problem charging the three batteries at the same time.

 

[CoffeeLuke]

kool that's what i thought now i wait for the panels by ups
and if i have two 17ah and one12ah?

 

[dogman dan]

If you put a 12 ah , and a 17 ah, in series and draw out 13 ah, bye bye 12 ah battery. You will need to get the same size, or monitor discharge carefully with a wattmeter to avoid over discharging the smallest battery.

3 12 ah batteries in series = a 36 volt 12 ah battery pack

3 12 ah batteries paralell = a 12 volt 36 ah battery pack

I guess you could also monitor the small battery with a cheap voltmeter, since lead will give you a lot of warning when the small one gets low. So you could keep riding till the smallest battery hit 12 volts or so.

 

[CoffeeLuke]

ran 2 17ah and one 12ah for bout 8 months no problem even seemed to charge faster than 3 12ah and last longer lol

 

[dogman dan]

As long as you didn't overdischarge, sure. If your daily ride is within the range of the smallest battery, there would be no problem. It would however cook the little one pretty fast if you kept going farther than three batteries of the smaller size would go. Basicly once the little one was drained, it would keep on draining, putting out 8 volts, then 6, then 3, and so on till completely dead. Meanwhile you would be merrily riding along on 32 volts, then 30, then 27, with the brunt of the juice coming from the other two, normaly discharged batteries supplying 24 volts, plus the tiny amount left in the overdischarged small battery. The two big ones, don't charge the little one in series connections.

But again, if you stop in time, no problem. So a voltmeter on the small battery could tell you when to stop. The bike will keep going on the other two batteries , so you need to know when to stop. Or you could disconnect it, and ride on at 24 volts. It works, its just risky for the small one if you go too far.

 

[CoffeeLuke]

after talk'n with a batt dude it was prob because the 17ah are older and held less any way.Cause I'm HARD on batteries