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I'm sure this has been answered before but I can't seem to find it, and I'm getting myself confused. My daily Ah draw is estimated to be around 45, conservatively I'm planning on 60Ah/day. We drive at least 30-40 minutes a day to trailheads, breweries, etc so I'm looking to maximize my charge time by getting a dedicated battery to battery smart charger. I want to keep solar open as an option for the future if I find it necessary but until then I'm looking to do a 250Ah -ish house battery, battery-battery charger, 1500-2000w inverter, and the ability to attach to shore power.
I understand an Inverter off the van battery can be used to power a 3 stage charger connected to the coach batteries but I don't think I want to go this way primarily in fear of forgetting to turn the inverter on, killing the van battery, and the 15% efficiency loss.
In researching different batteries it seems two 6V wired in series may be better then a 12v in terms of longevity and ease of finding a replacement. The batteries I'm looking at is the Rolls S6-275AGM which is rated at 250Ah. In the spec sheet from Rolls it says the recommended charge is 50amp with a max of 87.5A. The charger I'm looking at is the Sterling BB1250 which is rated at 50amp. Is the 50amp rating the number I'm trying to match to the battery spec? For example, if I went with the Rolls S6-370AGM (335Ah) which has a recommended charge rate of 77A I would need something like the Sterling BB241235 which at 12v is rated 70A?
Is the Ah rating of the battery fairly universal for what Amperage charger is required or are there 250-300Ah batteries that require a lower rated charger like 30A? What's the difference? Charge time?
Links to the batteries and chargers I'm talking about
Rolls S6-275AGM- http://rollsbattery.com/wp-content/uploads/batteries/S6-275AGM.pdf
Rolls S6-370AGM- http://rollsbattery.com/wp-content/uploads/batteries/S6-370AGM.pdf
Sterling BB1250- http://www.sterling-power-usa.com/SterlingPower12volt-12volt45ampbatterytobatterycharger.aspx
Sterling BB241235- http://www.sterling-power-usa.com/S...-12volt-dc-to-dc-batterytobatterycharger.aspx
I'm sorry if these are repetitive questions, I keep getting hung up on them though and I can't seem to find a straight answer with the search function. One last question, how do the chargers from Ctek compare to the Sterling? Are they also battery to battery? I like the idea that the sterling is automatic and that they also advertise it will charge up to 5x faster then simply using the alternator.
I understand an Inverter off the van battery can be used to power a 3 stage charger connected to the coach batteries but I don't think I want to go this way primarily in fear of forgetting to turn the inverter on, killing the van battery, and the 15% efficiency loss.
In researching different batteries it seems two 6V wired in series may be better then a 12v in terms of longevity and ease of finding a replacement. The batteries I'm looking at is the Rolls S6-275AGM which is rated at 250Ah. In the spec sheet from Rolls it says the recommended charge is 50amp with a max of 87.5A. The charger I'm looking at is the Sterling BB1250 which is rated at 50amp. Is the 50amp rating the number I'm trying to match to the battery spec? For example, if I went with the Rolls S6-370AGM (335Ah) which has a recommended charge rate of 77A I would need something like the Sterling BB241235 which at 12v is rated 70A?
Is the Ah rating of the battery fairly universal for what Amperage charger is required or are there 250-300Ah batteries that require a lower rated charger like 30A? What's the difference? Charge time?
Links to the batteries and chargers I'm talking about
Rolls S6-275AGM- http://rollsbattery.com/wp-content/uploads/batteries/S6-275AGM.pdf
Rolls S6-370AGM- http://rollsbattery.com/wp-content/uploads/batteries/S6-370AGM.pdf
Sterling BB1250- http://www.sterling-power-usa.com/SterlingPower12volt-12volt45ampbatterytobatterycharger.aspx
Sterling BB241235- http://www.sterling-power-usa.com/S...-12volt-dc-to-dc-batterytobatterycharger.aspx
I'm sorry if these are repetitive questions, I keep getting hung up on them though and I can't seem to find a straight answer with the search function. One last question, how do the chargers from Ctek compare to the Sterling? Are they also battery to battery? I like the idea that the sterling is automatic and that they also advertise it will charge up to 5x faster then simply using the alternator.