Found this thread as I have been having similar issues with my batteries I believe being out of balance charge wise. Noticed, a few weeks back my wait light had been intermittent and hard starts happening. I am well versed on the potential control box/sensor, issues, etc, however, when I charged with my 24 volt NOCO charger via slave port, everything was fine. I have two less than 1 yer old NAPA 6TLs and this week I noticed same thing happening again even after being on charger for 24 hours And showing full charge. When running volt meter is reading in yellow. I have several 12 volt accessories running off of one battery and i read above that this amongst other things can cause imbalance in the series.
My question here is, my NOCO can go 12V...can I charge each battery independently using the terminal clamps instead of the slave port, one at a time? Do I need to disconnect the negative wire in the series?
Beating a dead battery to death thread.
60 Amp alternator trucks (or 200 Amp
without the 14 Volt lead connected)
IMO....... One is asking for trouble when "half tapping" the 24 Volt system to pull 12 Volts. It is
impossible to equalize the charging and discharging across both batteries when going this route. Make the mistake and leave the 12 Volt circuit ON (or parasitic drain)... and one is going down the rabbit hole to a big headache. Batteries, start boxes, stranded on road, no fun.......
The smart way out if only a 60 Amp alternator truck is with a 24 Volt to 12 Volt battery equalizer. Then one can pull 12 Volts off the 12 Volt battery (within reason) while maintaining battery balance. OR use it to provide the 12 Volts to just the 12 volt equipment staying within its design.
Use a commercial quality 40 - 100 Amp device. Not cheap and can be a bolt on solution to 60 Amp rigs. I run a ton of 12 Volt radio gear off my 60 Amp alternator using a 100 Amp equalizer unit with NEVER a problem with battery fail or starting issues.
SEE >
https://www.eaton.com/us/en-us/cata...ery-equalizer-21060E00-21080E00-21100E00.html
OR go with the 200 Amp 24 / 14 volt alternator set-up with the 14 Volt lead connected. Later issue and very reliable. (must have been a reason LOL???)
Balance is the key word. Tenths of volts is critical.
You can charge each battery with a 12 volt charger to bring them up to the level at which they are wiling to take. Doesn't mean they will be balanced or play nice in the 24 Volt system if damaged cells, individual chemistry, internal resistance, mismatched capacity, etc. The deal here is best to have matches batteries from the get-go in the 24 Vols system. Once one begins to fail for any reason or the
goofy 12 volt connection takes its toll... all bets are off for a reliable system. Check voltage of each battery one at a time to determine an equal voltage at each battery, as in balanced across the pair when charging in a 24 Volt system. Individual load test-dump will work too. Make sure all connections are correct at ALL connection points thru-out the system.
It's a
fine balancing act that requires a little thought to the juice boxes, CAMO