Trying to achieve 900Ah with 4 T105-225Ah batteries.

[squirbel]

First, is this possible?

How do I wire them?

I tend to grasp anything and everything quickly, but electricity remains a black box for me. Explain in instructional terms and I will be fine with that.

From my research, I know I will be wiring them in series parallel. I plan to place them in the four corners of my cargo van (for load balancing), so I know that the lower the number gauge in wire the better. I am going to charge the bank with about 7 90w solar panels, a backup charger, and/or a generator or house power.

What is shore power and where did the term come from? I think it means house power and it is like docking a boat.

 

[Zil]

The T105 is a 6 volt battery. I'm guessing you want 12 volt system. <br>Connect two sets of two batteries in series ( + to - ) to have two 12 volt battery banks. Then connect the two banks in parallel ( + to + &amp; - to - ) to have&nbsp; a house bank of 450 amp hours. that is the best you can do with 4 batteries. there is some disagreement of series conection before parrelel conection but with 4 or 6 six volt batteries it doesn't matter or ie can't be done. If you want 900 Amp Hours at 12 volts, you would need 4 more 225 amp hour batteries.<br><br>Series connection doubles volts and keeps same amp hour. Parallel connection doubles amp hours and keeps same volts. So you can have 900 amp hours at six volts, or 450 amp hour at 12 volts or 225 amp hour at 24 volts.<br><br>hope this helps. You should check wire gauge/length capacity before you buy wire. you need some heavy stuff to connect the batteries together.<br>&nbsp;Shore power is a nautical term, meaning the vessel plugs into a power supply on land. campers use the term to refer to the power plug in a camp ground site.<br>&nbsp;House power refers to the vessal's own power supplies as the batteries mostly but also the generator.

 

[squirbel]

Thank you very much!

 

[psytechguy]

nevermind! already answered.

 

[squirbel]

So I did worst case math and figured on my off days I might use (at worst) 318Ah of power. I have read that I shouldn't use more than 50%, but if it isn't frequent, and my typical use is around 250, would I be ok?

And psytechguy - your response gave me info that I learned from. You shouldn't have erased it! Regarding keeping my batteries in the same place, should I buy new springs for the rear of my van?

 

[wrcsixeight]

Kind of interested in what you need 900a/h for. &nbsp;That is a LOT of weight to carry around, and will 7 90 watt solar panels even fit on a cargo van roof?<br><br>Just seems really excessive.<br><br>And yes you will need to assist the stock springs somehow if you follow through, and don't forget about properly ventilating 900 a/h of battery. &nbsp;Could be a hydrogen factory in a cargo van

 

[Zil]

http://www.trojanbatteryre.com/PDF/datasheets/T105_TrojanRE_Data_Sheets.pdf<br><br>4 t105 is the weight of one big dude. 62 pounds each.

 

[bee]

<br>How do I wire them?<br><br><span style="color: #ff6600;">I would read the stickied FAQ in this section, there is a link to wind and sun that will answer this and more.</span><br><br>I plan to place them in the four corners of my cargo van (for load balancing), so I know that the lower the number gauge in wire the better<br><br><span style="color: #ff6600;">You shouldn't do this, If you plan on treating it as one big battery the cabling between them must be as little as possible. &nbsp;Pretty sure this is covered in the windsun battery faq page mentioned above.</span><br><br><br><br>What is shore power and where did the term come from? I think it means house power and it is like docking a boat.

<br><br><span style="color: #ff6600;">Yep it is standard outlet 120v house power.</span><br><br><br><span style="color: #ff6600;">The more you discharge a battery the fewer cycles you get from it before it dies. &nbsp;There are graphs from the battery manufacturers to show you what to expect.</span><br><br><span style="color: #ff6600;">One of the biggest factors to healthy batteries is after discharging a battery you must fully recharge it. &nbsp;Fully recharging wet lead acid 6v golf cart battery from 50% takes around 10hrs and should be done once a week at minimum.<br><br><br>You might want to consider fewer batteries you can always recharge mid day with a generator or shore power if necessary, like already mentioned you are looking at a lot of weight.</span>

 

[squirbel]

I didn't need 900Ah. I multiplied 225 by 4, and that equals 900.

To those who are referring to the stickies, I read those already. I did not connect the little bits and pieces to my project because I do not fully understand electricity, and would prefer to keep it that way.

 

[bee]

I didn't understand your other post in the welcome section, what kind of info are you looking for?<br><br>And welcome to the forums&nbsp;<img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

Im not sure what your application is, but if you have water on board, you could load balance with that.&nbsp; I plan to have my water storage opposite side of my battery storage.<br><br><br>If its a van, and you manage to fit 7 panels on that sucker please upload picks, I want to see it <img src="/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">&nbsp; It will look like some sort of space vehicle

 

[squirbel]

I was just saying hello. I was introducing myself. I have a high functioning form of Asperger's, so I apologize if I was not clear.

Regarding the person concerned with fitting the panels on top of the van, I located some that are 21.75in wide, very sleek.

 

[Zil]

If you have an estimate of your power needs. You know, like, what are you planing to run on your batteries, DC 12 volts or what size inverter if you plan to use AC 120 volts. Run just lights or refrigerator or electric blanket, micro wave, water pump??<br><br>We can help you with your questions.

 

[Zil]

you can put the batteries at the four corners, but you will need very heavy cable. expensive cable, more places for a dramatic short circuit. you want to quarantine the battery as well due to fumes and gases when charging.

 

[squirbel]

This is the chart I created to figure out my amp hours. Considering that I struggle with electricity, can you check my work?

Appliance. Wattage. Amp/hr. hrs/day. Ah. AC/DC
Litter box 5w/1w 24. 2.3. AC
Halogen bulb. 20w. 4. DC

NEVERMIND. Making a chart on a forum is stupid and time consuming. I will take a picture of my work and post it later.

 

[Zil]

Not a chart. but a list is what you want. Go on with what you started. You will need the information also. A good thing to get it down on paper.

 

[squirbel]

Oh, I've already got all the info down on paper. It was trying to show you via table that I gave up on. I'll post the info I have later. Thanks!

 

[wrcsixeight]

It is much simpler to use less electricity than create large amounts for wasteful items such as a 20 watt halogen bulb. &nbsp;You can get &nbsp;warm white LED's which put out the same light for 2 watts and have nearly the exact same color.<br><br>Too many people decide to transfer all their home conveniences appliances to Battery power, and instead of eliminating conveniences, decide to turn their RZ into some sort of power generating station so they can be as wasteful on the road as they are in a stick and brick.<br><br><a href="" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br><br>&nbsp;

 

[squirbel]

But some people choose to keep conveniences but use them less. There isn't anything wrong with that, right?

My reason for halogen over led is lumen output - little else. As I live now, (in a house) I rarely turn on lights. My computers are usually running and that's enough light. But when I need to turn on a light, I want to see, and see clearly. Lumens matter to my lifestyle greatly.

 

[squirbel]

Sorry for the offsite image but the forum will not let me upload from my tablet, and I don't see that bbcode is possible.

http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/7840/imageqlzg.jpg

This is the energy calculation for my rig. The purpose of my rig is as a sleeper and for food preparation/consumption, housing my cat, and spending time not working.i have land to park on, and shore power/solar for recharging my batteries. I will not be traveling much yet, except for the random weekend excursion. Hygiene/health will be cared for by a daily trip to the gym.

I have a company vehicle as well, which is why I will be parking and will remain stationary for a while. My gadgets and such (ipad, iphone, ipod, work phone) will be charged by the work vehicle.

At 225Ah per battery, connecting them in parallel will give me 450Ah, correct?
And at 450Ah, that gives me (13x450) 5850 watt-hours.
It is always best to use 25% of the battery (if traveling) which would be 1462.5 watt hours.
Because I will be near shore power and parked, I will use 50% of the battery at most, which is 2925.

I am well within my range thus far, since I will not be using every single appliance every single day. Except for my water boiler. That is an every day thing.