Battery bank

Thread Starter

gunboatbay

Joined Jan 24, 2009
6
This may be a bit off-topic. I have an older solar power system, which uses four very large 6v deep-cycle batteries connected in series for its battery bank. It's trouble free and works perfectly, except, because it's older technology, the integrated inverter puts out a type of AC power that my (ISP provided) DSL modem will not operate on. So, to use the modem I have a small Coleman inverter, which I power from a separate automotive battery.
Can I safely tap off 12v power from two of the 6v batteries in the solar system without disturbing the battery bank setup??? If so, will I need any additional circuitry, such as diodes in the system??
 

Bernard

Joined Aug 7, 2008
5,784
My openion: Not a good idea to tap from series connected batteries. Workable?, Tap the 12V & rotate the batteries every day or so. What does the output of present inverter look like? Frequency OK?.Might use a filter to knock off the rough edges?
 

Thread Starter

gunboatbay

Joined Jan 24, 2009
6
Thanks for the info, Bernard. As to your questions,"What does the output of present inverter look like? Frequency OK?." The frequency and voltage are fine. According to my ISP technical support, it's the type of AC voltage that the old state-of-the-art inverter puts out. I'm not electrically literate enough to understand this, but when I purchased this small Coleman inverter and hooked it up to an automotive battery, the modem worked fine; versus not working at all with the big solar power inverter. It's just a PITA to have to fool with the extra battery, so I thought if I could just tap into the solar power battery bank it would make a trouble-free, neat installation. Why do you think it's, "Not a good idea to tap from series connected batteries" ??? If you reply, please use language that takes into account the I'm electrically challenged.
Thanks,
Art
 
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