Battery charging question

[Jerry Woodward]

For all you battery gurus out there, I have a question.
I am putting my PDQ32 cat on the hard for 6 months in FL. It has a 400AH wet cell golf cart battery bank (4 batteries connected in series/parallel). There is a 145 watt solar panel with a PWM controller supplying charge to the batteries. I also have 2 12V starting batteries that are independent from the house bank and the solar panel (they get charged from the port alternator). Last year, I left the solar panel on to charge the house bank and it worked beautifully. The batteries stayed fully charged, no reduction in the electrolyte level, and the specific gravity was perfect after 6 months. The starting batteries were not connected to a charger and I charged them with a portable charger after 3 months. After 6 months, they were ok, but a few cells looked borderline. I'm going to to equalize the starting batts and hopefully get all cells back to good.

So, this year I'm thinking of simply connecting the starting batteries to the house bank with jumper cables and let the solar panel keep both banks charged. Can anyone think of a problem with this?

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Jerry Woodward

>>>>>>>>>>

So, this year I'm thinking of simply connecting the starting batteries to the house bank with jumper cables and let the solar panel keep both banks charged. Can anyone think of a problem with this?

Good solution, easy to do. Just remember to un-do.

But depending on your electrical "layout" you could use your 1-2-B switch. Might be easier to disconnect the output and leave it on B.

[Cheechako]

I suppose if they secure onto the battery connections well there is no problem. But if one snaps off, and contacts ground.... flames!