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Old 12-15-2019, 09:28 AM   #1
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What exactly is a " Battery Bank"

Please be gentile with me, I'm fragile..

Everyone talks about their "battery bank". I think I have one, or maybe two on my boat. Maybe even three, But I'm not sure.

Allow me to explain my ignorance..

I have a single starting battery for my diesel. It is stand alone. Is it a "bank"?

I have four deep cycle batteries connected together for my house batteries, still making 12 volts. Is this also a bank?

Three deep cycle batteries connected for the inverter, still 12 volts. Is this a third bank?

My new battery charging system says it will charge and maintain two deep cycle banks and one starting battery bank. Does that mean it will charge and maintain all eight batteries?

BTW..Whoever monitors and sets up the weekly newsletters and does all the other assorted work of keeping this website running..CONGRATULATIONS !! Job well done. I can't tell you the number of things I have learned here and the hours I have spent enjoying the website while my boat is on the hard!!

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Old 12-15-2019, 09:38 AM   #2
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You'll get a lot of answers, but here is my $.03

A bank is a group of batteries connected in a variety of ways to act as a single source of power, ie at the end there's two wires coming out, a positive and a negative.

Subject to a number of physics laws batteries can be of a variety of types, voltages and capacities and can be combined in series and/or parallel to create the desired voltage and capacity. Generally the banks consist of similar batteries.

I would not call a single battery a bank, but some may do so.

In your case I would call it a start battery, house bank and inverter bank.

It sounds like your charger would take care of the start battery and two banks and thus yes, of all batteries. Without looking at the specs I can't tell you how WELL it will do that.

If it is an existing setup and it works..... then you're good to go.

Hope this helps.
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Old 12-15-2019, 09:39 AM   #3
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As far as I'm concerned, a bank is a group of 1 or more batteries connected together. My boat has 3 banks. Start 1, start 2 and house. Start 1 and start 2 are each just a single group 27 deep cycle. House is 2x 6v L16 AGMs in series for 12v. All 3 banks are charged by a 3 bank Blue Sea P12 charger. The 3 banks aren't connected to each other (unless the engine or generator start switches are used to parallel start 1 and start 2 or unless the engines are running, where ACRs connect the start 1 and start 2 to house).
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Old 12-15-2019, 10:15 AM   #4
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The answers above are correct. You have three "battery banks", one for starting battery bank and two deep cycle banks- one for house and another for inverter. This is not the best situation. Why?

Even though your new battery charger will charge all three, do they all three get charged by your propulsion engine's alternator. There are ways of doing this but it requires two ACRs or combiners. If you combine the two deep cycle banks permanently then you can do it with one ACR or combiner.

Also putting all of your deep cycle eggs in one basket is better because it distributes the loads between the two sets of batteries. If house loads are heavy and discharges the separate bank below 50%, that isn't good for it. But if the house and inverter banks are combined, then if inverter loads are light you can use the inverter bank's capacity to stay above 50%. And visa versa.

As far as I can see there is no upside to separating the banks, only downsides.

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Old 12-15-2019, 10:19 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete Meisinger View Post
I have a single starting battery for my diesel. It is stand alone. Is it a "bank"?

I have four deep cycle batteries connected together for my house batteries, still making 12 volts. Is this also a bank?

Three deep cycle batteries connected for the inverter, still 12 volts. Is this a third bank?

My new battery charging system says it will charge and maintain two deep cycle banks and one starting battery bank. Does that mean it will charge and maintain all eight batteries?

Yes. Yes. Yes. And yes.

But as you can see from other replies, some choose to refer to a single battery as a battery, and multiple batteries connected together as a bank. But then to others, any single or multiple can be a bank.

Another factoid: in product manuals, it's not uncommon to see "battery" even if the writer can mean a "battery bank" as a source. So you connect your 3-bank charger to battery 1 (maybe a single), battery 2 (maybe a bank of four), and battery 3 (a bank of 3).

It's all good, and you can bank on that.

-Chris
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Old 12-15-2019, 10:28 AM   #6
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One could make the argument that 1 battery is made up of a group of individual cells therefore it is a battery bank. Battery chargers are rated by how many battery banks they can mange. Most chargers today either manage 1 bank or 3 banks. Chargers don’t care if there is only 1 battery it’s still labeled as a bank. I have a house bank and a starting bank. In these cases there are multiple batteries involved. I also have a generator starting battery. I have never referred to it as a bank. It is however connected to bank 3 on my backup battery charger.
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Old 12-15-2019, 10:35 AM   #7
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1530s, "action of battering," in law, "the unlawful beating of another," from Middle French batterie, from Old French baterie "beating, thrashing, assault" (12c.), from batre "to beat," from Latin battuere (see batter (v.)).

Meaning shifted in Middle French from "bombardment" ("heavy blows" upon city walls or fortresses) to "unit of artillery" (a sense recorded in English from 1550s). Extension to "electrical cell" (1748, first used by Ben Franklin) is perhaps from the artillery sense via notion of "discharges" of electricity. In Middle English, bateri meant only "forged metal ware." In obsolete baseball jargon battery was the word for "pitcher and catcher" considered as a unit (1867, originally only the pitcher).
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Old 12-15-2019, 10:44 AM   #8
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The short/simple answer is; A battery is a method to storing energy until needed. It will be made up with individual cells.
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Old 12-15-2019, 11:23 AM   #9
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Can you spell redundant?
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Old 12-15-2019, 12:22 PM   #10
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This new boat has many batteries plus it has a step up transformer and a step down transformer, it has two inverters (bot 24v and 12v). The previous owner didn’t know what all this equipment did, he just said turn these switches on. It’s worked for two years. LMAO
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Old 12-15-2019, 12:24 PM   #11
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Redundant is my middle name!!

Did you know if you say gullible real slow and in a low voice it rhymes with "orange". try it

pete
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Old 12-15-2019, 12:51 PM   #12
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Redundant is my middle name!!


pete
You must have worked in the Department of Redundancy Department.
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Old 12-15-2019, 01:57 PM   #13
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I am surprised everyone got the "battery bank" concept wrong. A battery bank is a place you go to either in person, through a credit card, through a wallet, or other means of funds transfer. These funds are required because even though you read and had explained all the precautions you should take to extend battery life, you chose to ignore them, the sad results of ignoring said instructions happen to others but not to you.

Alas, they do happen to you thus necessitating a visit to the battery bank for funds for your batteries and supporting gear. Ignore all other definitions.
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Old 12-15-2019, 04:35 PM   #14
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Quote:
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Redundant is my middle name!!

Did you know if you say gullible real slow and in a low voice it rhymes with "orange". try it

pete

Pete. How slow do you have to say “gullible”? I tried for hours and can’t say it any slower and it never rhymes with “orange”. BTW what does gullible mean?
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Old 12-15-2019, 05:36 PM   #15
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Pete. How slow do you have to say “gullible”? I tried for hours and can’t say it any slower and it never rhymes with “orange”. BTW what does gullible mean?
good post.
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