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Old 07-01-2016, 14:19   #1
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Equalizing 6V Battery Bank

Hey all. Looked through this forum for an answer and probably just missed it, but could use an answer to a probably silly question.

I have a bank of 4x 6V batteries that are wired for 12V output. I suspect they need an equalization / reconditioning as they are not performing as I would expect.

I have a charger with an 'equalize/recondition' mode. Can I hook it up to all four batteries as they are currently or do I have to do each battery individually? Would prefer to do the whole shebang once....

Thanks!
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Old 07-01-2016, 14:41   #2
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Re: Equalizing 6V Battery Bank

No reason you can't equalize all at once as long as the charger has the capacity to maintain the equalization voltage on the full bank. Probably does, but if it is a tiny charger on a large bank then...

If doing the whole thing all at once will you have all your loads disconnected? Some loads may not like the 15+V used for equalization, and to be effective you really don't want loads to pull down the voltage. If you can't disconnect everything then charge 1/2 at a time, leaving your loads connected to the other bank.

Have you checked SG of the cells? Differing SG (when fully charged) is a good indication of required equalization.
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Old 07-01-2016, 16:25   #3
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Re: Equalizing 6V Battery Bank

Thanks, Dsanduril. I do have the ability to disconnect the loads. My plan was to run my motor and associated 100amp alternator, and use my inverter to run the charger through the equalization charge on the batteries.

Have not been able to test the SG of each cell as I lack the tool to do so. I'm afraid that I may have killed them as I let them run down to 10V two days in a row before I got my 750W of solar and 400W of wind generation installed. Hoping that an equalization / desulfation might get me some more storage capacity back.
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