Voltage Drop

[svencool]

Hi Mike
disconnect the batteries from each other and inverter and measure each batterie voltage individualy if voltage varies a lot (more then a 1/4 volt )

I disconnected the batteries and they read 13.06v, 12.99v, 13.06v, 13.03v

I was going to hook up my 12v Inverter and plug in a heat gun for the load and test each battery. Its 1500w so what should I expect when testing? What would be a good test? A certain time frame like 30secs? That way the test load should be about the same for all four batteries..... Ideas?

[Westbranch]

assuming 2 parallel battery banks, if you find one string (bank) has lower Voltage and Amps you have a loose connection.

I found this doc which does a much better job explaining than I can,
http://www.fluke.com/fluke/uses/comunidad/fluke-news-plus/articlecategories/electrical/diagnosevoltdrop

see the section on Resistance Restriction about 1/2 way down..

[Taos]

I dont know if you would use the amp clamp to check for a loose connection ,but since you have a fluke multimeter you could do a voltage drop test at each connection , first you load your batteries by putting a heavy load on your inverter , then while this is going on you would place your positive lead on the most positive side of the connection then the negative lead on the other part of the connection your testing . Oh make sure you had put your multimeter on auto dc volts before touching the leads to the connection your testing . I think you shouldnt have more then .5 volt ,anymore and its a bad connection .  The amp clamp  can be used for measuring amps when testing your batteries ,by loading your batteries with the inverter hooked up to two of your batteries with heavy load on it , since you have a 24 volt inverter , and measure volts and amps , not sure if your amp clamp is used on the multimeter or is a total separate tool , i didnt look up the amp clamp you bought , but anyways you need to measure the amps and voltage of each combination of batteries to see if one or more are bad . Read the instructions on the amp clamp you bought , most have a arrow on the clamp that must be pointed in the right direction to measure a negative load or positive charge going into the battery .
Don

[svencool]

Hi Mike
disconnect the batteries from each other and inverter and measure each batterie voltage individualy if voltage varies a lot (more then a 1/4 volt )

I disconnected the batteries and they read 13.06v, 12.99v, 13.06v, 13.03v

Ok like I said from above,
I disconnected the batteries and they read 13.06v, 12.99v, 13.06v, 13.03v
I also put a 1500w heat gun on low and the load on the batteries for 45 seconds and got these values 67.1amps, 66.2amps, 66.4amps, 67.5amps

So are my batteries ok? values taken from left to right

[svencool]

This is what I'm seeing when your talking about hooking my batteries to a buss bar type setup. Is this correct or no? All cables are exact same length and copper stranded wire 2 gauge. Thanks for any input....

Mike

[Westbranch]

all the cable between batteries should be equal and also those to the buss bars, as should the ones from the bars to the inverter or CC.. so B = Batt,  b = buss then: there are 3 section lengths....
B to B, =  ; B to b , =  ;  b to CC /Inv , =.....  but each individual section does not have to be the same length.

[ClassicCrazy]

This is what I'm seeing when your talking about hooking my batteries to a buss bar type setup. Is this correct or no? All cables are exact same length and copper stranded wire 2 gauge. Thanks for any input....

Mike

How many watt inverter are  you using ?
The interconnecting battery wires should  be the same gauge as those going to the inverter.

Larry

[svencool]

Copy! In the picture below was my old setup. So is the above setup more efficient than this one below? or better on the batteries? The cables that went to the inverter were not the exact same length in my old setup.

[Westbranch]

Roughly, if you connected to the mid point of the 2 long cables, (+ & - )  in 'Old Setup',  above and below your batteries, you would have  a very close replication of the other diagram. 

The buss bar would be in the 'middle' of that connecting cable and then they would be very close to = .... you can make one a bit longer to match the other..

In my minds eye, I would have 2 parallel sets of batteries, shown vertically, rather than side to side as  in your layout.  No difference , just how I have had banks in the past.
hth