recharging my batteries???

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Givadogahome

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Sep 27, 2011
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Something serious has gone wrong with the power to my home, it could take another day or two to fix, my batteries are almost out. Is there any way at all I could recharge my batteries without mains power, if I ran anextention from the neighbours or something, maybe?
Inversors not my thing.:ermm:
 
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zoomzx11

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Jan 21, 2006
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I think the inverter batteries are 6 volt. If so do not put them in a car - 12 volt system.
 
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dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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you could maybe rent a small generator just to power up the batteries? it should only take few hours...
 
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PeterInBrat

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What if you put two 6v in a series? It would total 12v to charge off of a car. I think schematically, it would be the same as a 12v. Each cell is 1.5 volts, so a 6v has 4 cells and a 12v has 8 cells. I know a household 6v is simply packed with AAA batteries. Just add a third jumper between the batteries from + to -. I'd check with someone else first, but I think this would work.
 
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PeterInBrat

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One thing I've done is to run an extension cord from a live circuit to a dead one by making a male to male plug. Always plug in the dead side of the circuit first and unplug it last, otherwise, you'll have an exposed "hot" male end.
 
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porkman100

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Apr 11, 2010
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giva, i always advise to have a small generator (american or japanese) with a couple of automotive battery chargers and an extra couple of batteries. If the street luz dont come to have your inverter charge your batteries, then you use your back up. Solar panels only work if... there is plenty of sun and takes too long for it to charge your system.
 
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porkman100

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PeterInBrat said:
One thing I've done is to run an extension cord from a live circuit to a dead one by making a male to male plug. Always plug in the dead side of the circuit first and unplug it last, otherwise, you'll have an exposed "hot" male end.
Click to expand...

peter if you energize a line with male to male and powers comes later to that line...off mucho sparks. And most of the batteries are 12 volts
 
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fuchs4d

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Mar 7, 2004
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Get a quality car charger, best one advertised that can be used for small trucks.
Should have a switch to choose 12V or 24 V.
The more ampere charging power, the better.
Big and heavy is better than small and leightweight.

Figure out if your batteries are connected together as 12 or 24 V.
Your inverter should have printed it somewhere, the model number might have either "12" or "24" in it like 1512 or 3624.

Just connect the charger cables Plus and Minus from the charger as printed on the 2 batteries poles with cables to the inverter.
A good batterie charger is always a nice to have item.
 
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Lothario666

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Oct 16, 2012
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PeterInBrat said:
What if you put two 6v in a series? It would total 12v to charge off of a car. I think schematically, it would be the same as a 12v. Each cell is 1.5 volts, so a 6v has 4 cells and a 12v has 8 cells. I know a household 6v is simply packed with AAA batteries. Just add a third jumper between the batteries from + to -. I'd check with someone else first, but I think this would work.
Click to expand...

6 Volt Inverter batteries (Lead Acid) have 3 cells, 2 volts each.

Regular AA and AAA batteries are 1.5 volts per unit.
Rechargable AA and AAA batteries are 1.2 volts per unit.



"R"
 
W

windeguy

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Jul 10, 2004
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Running a male to male connection from another circuit is a bad idea. It could be a horrible idea. First thing that will do is blow up the output stage of your inverter if you don't disconnect it on the AC side. As others have mentioned, when street power comes back up you could also have another melt down in the wiring.

Any connection to power should be correctly made at the input to the inverter, which takes an electrician to install.

You could charges 6 volt inverter batteries 2 at a time from 12 volt car system, but idling a car engine for 4 or more hours to charge them is not the best thing to do.

Buying or renting a small generator for emergency use and having it hooked up with a knife switch to switch between street power and the generator is the option I recommend.
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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dv8 said:
you could maybe rent a small generator just to power up the batteries? it should only take few hours...
Click to expand...
This is what we do. We have a 4kw gasoline generator hardwired to the inverter specifically for charging when the batteries are low and street power off.
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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Derfish said:
Good long term solution, but he is emergency omde at the moment, and an emergency solution is what I was trying to offer.
Der Fish
Click to expand...
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

I guess he could hook us his 6v's in series (12v) to his car battery cables, although charging a deep cycle battery with a car alternator doesn't do the batteries much good.
 
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Lothario666

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cobraboy said:
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

I guess he could hook us his 6v's in series (12v) to his car battery cables, although charging a deep cycle battery with a car alternator doesn't do the batteries much good.
Click to expand...

Why not?
What is the source of your information?

It you fully charge them there should be no difference.
Both car batteries and deep cycle batteries are lead-acid batteries that use exactly the same chemistry for their operation.



"R"
 
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Givadogahome

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Sep 27, 2011
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Alot of this seems like it may void guarantee on the batteries and so it looks like a small generator is the way to go. This is going to be expensive isn't it!:(
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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Lothario666 said:
Why not?
What is the source of your information?

It you fully charge them there should be no difference.
Both car batteries and deep cycle batteries are lead-acid batteries that use exactly the same chemistry for their operation.



"R"
Click to expand...
Charging curve.
 
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Lothario666

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Alternators:

In general car or van Alternators work reasonably well with Lead Acid and AGM batteries (not GEL). They are not battery chargers however and will never fully charge a Deep Cycle battery to 100%, so it's best to use a battery charger when mains power is available to top up the battery charge and avoid reduced battery life from sulphation.



"R"
 
cobraboy

cobraboy

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Jul 24, 2004
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Lothario666 said:
Alternators:

In general car or van Alternators work reasonably well with Lead Acid and AGM batteries (not GEL). They are not battery chargers however and will never fully charge a Deep Cycle battery to 100%, so it's best to use a battery charger when mains power is available to top up the battery charge and avoid reduced battery life from sulphation.



"R"
Click to expand...
Charging curve.

Fully charging a battery removes much sulfide from the plates. That's why deep cycle batteries have an equalization cycle which puts a mega-current through it to whack the plates.

A car alternator won't do that. You can use one for a few cycles, but it will never fully charge a deep-cycle battery and can definitely shorten the life of that battery.

The plates of a "car" battery are very thin allowing for more output amperage on demand. The plates on a deep-cycle battery are very thick and don't allow as much output amperage on demand.

Dogs and cats. They each need a different type of charge.
 
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