Maybe not all of us but using the forum search I was unable to find any mention of it previously so I wanted to share it.
My 1st question to PowerMax was actually my stating what my situation is in preparation for my second question but I got an answer I did not expect:
ME: So if I'm running a 56 Amp 24V trolling motor on a pair of 12V batteries wired in series I know I need a 12V converter hooked up to each battery individually, right?
PowerMax NO. That's not actually right. If you are charging a 24V system, the right way to do it is to charge with a 24V.
ME: But your 24V converters aren't available with enough amps to operate my Minn-Kota.
PowerMax No sir. That's why you will need to use two 12V converters of an amperage higher than that of your trolling motor wired in series the same way your batteries are. Run your negative output of one converter to the negative post of one of your batteries and the positive output of the other converter to the positive post of the other battery and use a jumper between the remaining negative and positive outputs of the two converters just as you do on the remaining two posts on your batteries. Our converters are made to be utilized in series. I don't know about other manufacturers but ours are. If you step up to a 36V system its done the same way except there's another battery and converter in each of the series. Converters and batteries both charge and discharge differently so charging the batteries within 24V or 36V series individually from 12V converters will shorten the life of your batteries and the converters as well as pose a risk to sensitive equipment. Just as your batteries have to be the same voltage and amp hours so do your inverters need to be the same voltage and amps. Best to keep both batteries and converters identical to each other. Be sure to always use inverter type generators. They are the only type that won't damage the boards within our units.
So I took all my "what"s and "duh"s out of it and probably condensed it some but that's basically the way it went. If interested, my second question was regarding any need to somehow protect the converters from other dc sources to the battery and the answer was no. First, any voltage above that the converter would expect to register will simply shift the converter into a float or trickle mode depending on the voltage and even spikes or higher voltages are buffered at the converter so no worries there.
He did mention that the new bowfishing PowerMax model released does not have a trickle mode so it's only a two stage converter. It sounds like these units move to float and then trickle mode after 15 minutes of bulk and to prevent that from happening they simply removed the last stage. He also stated emphatically that PowerMax converters are not damaging trolling motors. He told me that operating trolling motors for hours on end is what damages them. They're not made for that intense a duty cycle.
My 1st question to PowerMax was actually my stating what my situation is in preparation for my second question but I got an answer I did not expect:
ME: So if I'm running a 56 Amp 24V trolling motor on a pair of 12V batteries wired in series I know I need a 12V converter hooked up to each battery individually, right?
PowerMax NO. That's not actually right. If you are charging a 24V system, the right way to do it is to charge with a 24V.
ME: But your 24V converters aren't available with enough amps to operate my Minn-Kota.
PowerMax No sir. That's why you will need to use two 12V converters of an amperage higher than that of your trolling motor wired in series the same way your batteries are. Run your negative output of one converter to the negative post of one of your batteries and the positive output of the other converter to the positive post of the other battery and use a jumper between the remaining negative and positive outputs of the two converters just as you do on the remaining two posts on your batteries. Our converters are made to be utilized in series. I don't know about other manufacturers but ours are. If you step up to a 36V system its done the same way except there's another battery and converter in each of the series. Converters and batteries both charge and discharge differently so charging the batteries within 24V or 36V series individually from 12V converters will shorten the life of your batteries and the converters as well as pose a risk to sensitive equipment. Just as your batteries have to be the same voltage and amp hours so do your inverters need to be the same voltage and amps. Best to keep both batteries and converters identical to each other. Be sure to always use inverter type generators. They are the only type that won't damage the boards within our units.
So I took all my "what"s and "duh"s out of it and probably condensed it some but that's basically the way it went. If interested, my second question was regarding any need to somehow protect the converters from other dc sources to the battery and the answer was no. First, any voltage above that the converter would expect to register will simply shift the converter into a float or trickle mode depending on the voltage and even spikes or higher voltages are buffered at the converter so no worries there.
He did mention that the new bowfishing PowerMax model released does not have a trickle mode so it's only a two stage converter. It sounds like these units move to float and then trickle mode after 15 minutes of bulk and to prevent that from happening they simply removed the last stage. He also stated emphatically that PowerMax converters are not damaging trolling motors. He told me that operating trolling motors for hours on end is what damages them. They're not made for that intense a duty cycle.
