Charging Batteries Without Solar

[thezenvan]

I'm planning on getting my battery bank soon (2 6V GC2 AGM Deep Cycle batteries connected in series) and I'm waiting a little before getting the solar panels and charger controller for the whole setup.

I wanted to know if it's possible (recommended?) to charge the batteries outside of the van using a 120V battery maintainer and then hook them up in the van when I want to use them. Is there any downside that and if not what would be a good amp amount to use with the battery charger?

Thanks

 

[ArmorAbby]

I don't know about a maintainer, but I wanted to ask if you considered an isolater or something similar to charge your batteries. I was a bit discouraged thinking it would be difficult, but it was rather easy... considering I had no experience whatsoever...

then you don't have to keep unhooking everything and taking the batteries out each time you have to charge them.

 

[John61CT]

Yes, not a "maintainer" which implies low amps and likely "overly intelligent" and non adjustable. You want a quality charger that will allow you to get maximum lifetime from any banks you install, get lots of energy into them even if shore power's only available for a short time, etc.

Say your bank is 250AH, and has a decent CAR, Charge Acceptance Rate.

Minimum I would recommend is a 30A charger, and up to 150A, declining incremental utility but would not be wasting money.

Even higher if you are likely to want to expand in the future.

Banks are consumables, infrastructure like chargers will (should) last longer than your vehicle.

Ideal is a relatively future-proof unit that allows for customizing the voltage setpoints, Absorption time etc.

I recommend Sterling ProCharge Ultra or ProMariner Pronautic P.

 

[ArmorAbby]

That sounds cool. I'm gonna check it out.

 

[John61CT]

then you don't have to keep unhooking everything and taking the batteries out each time you have to charge them.

If the charger only has a single bank output, a solid high amp battery switch like Blue Sea will allow you to direct the charge to either bank or both at once when needed.

Just don't put one between the Alt and the banks without getting the AFD feature wired up properly.

A combiner is fine, but requires some thought for the individual situation to wire properly.