mixing types of batterys?

  I know you should avoid this but...

 What would happen if you had a 12 volt bank of jell type batteries, all
wired in parallel.
 Then added a wet cell  battery to the bank with the charge controller set
on jell?
 I know there would be no equalization charge and possibly weird charge /
discharge curves between the two types.
 Anything really bad?

  Merlin-7 KI4ILB wrote:

For a start, paralleling sets of batteries is never a good idea although
*maybe* two in parallel *might* be acceptable....... but then adding a
totally different type of battery to the mix is really asking for
strife. Since you know you should avoid this then do (-:

 Why is it not good idea to hook batteries up in parallel? Everything I
have seen is that this is the norm. So what you are saying is that you
should only have one battery unless you are trying to increase the
voltage?

 chris@chrisbreier.com wrote:

Most off grid homes have a series parallel battery pack. In theory it's
not a good idea. In real life it's done every day in order to get the
right voltage/ah capacity needed. Ours is a 2x3 pack of T105's for 12vdc
at 675 ah.

read http://www.amplepower.com/pwrnews/parallel/index.html

--
Steve Spence
Dir., Green Trust, http://www.green-trust.org
Contributing Editor, http://www.off-grid.net
http://www.rebelwolf.com/essn.html

 

Steve Spence wrote:

Yes it is done, mostly by people who have no idea what they are doing.

The main reason for doing so is to save money over the cost of a decent
set of batteries.

They then convince themselves that what they have done is correct and
try to argue the point in the face of best practise.

If you are desperate for money you can do it. 2 parallel strings, second
best solution. 3+ parallel strings, a mugs game. T105s doubly so.

Wherever possible a single string of the correct Ah capacity is the best
choice. If you can not get the Ah capacity you need from a single
string, i.e. @ 12 or 24 Volts choose the next highest Voltage. i.e. 24
or 48 Volts for your system.

A set of premium batteries should last you 15 to 20 years with proper
maint.

Having said this you can expect the usual suspects to post a mountain of
rubbish about parallel strings. Sorry about that but the above
information is correct.

You may of course disregard this information. When it all goes pear
shaped, remember you were told.