I am really interested in creating a hybrid battery bank using the SuperPacks on my sailboat. I am surprised at how little information or forum threads there are on this, because it seems like a really efficient solution to gaining more capacity while not having to refit my boat with a new charger or alternator, and still being able to start my diesel or run my windlass with my legacy AGM batteries. Not to mention the redundancy and safety of a 2-bank system.
My house bank has a Guest battery selector switch with options for 1, 2, off, or both. I will leave bank 1 as 100Ahr house AGM which receives a charge through my 75Ahr starter AGM when the engine is running or connected to shorepower. I want to make bank 2 a single 100 or 200Ahr SuperPack, which will be charged via the Orion DC-DC charger connected to bank 1. I would like to manually activate the charger via a switch on my main panel-I don't want any automation. Would there be any concerns with this? Would the Orion allow me to asses SOC and status of the SuperPack? It seems as though this is the intended use of the products, however I don't see many installs like this in the sailing community. Seems like most convert entirely to Lithium, and upgrade all electronics/wiring. I don't want to do this at this time, as my AGMs are in decent shape and I like the simplicity of my system.
My only concern is if someone switched my selector to "BOTH" batteries, which would connect the AGM and SuperPack in parallel. While I plan to place a label on the selector which says "DO NOT COMBINE" I am wondering if there would be any risk if this happened inadvertently. Wouldn't the BMS just shut down the SuperPack? If so, is it recoverable from that condition? Are there any other pieces of equipment (Victron products, breakers, fuses, etc) I should install on the SuperPack as a safety precaution?
Thank you for your advice. Kyle
