How to charge my 51.2v rack batteries

[DBarr]

There are no stupid questions,
In my case only stupid people asking questions!

I have a 51.2v rack battery hooked to a solar charge controller, and in turn to a inverter that is powered by the battery.
I leave this going all the time. Powering circuits in my home and charging from the sun when it is out.
The battery rarely drops below 52v.
Questions: Do I need to disconnect the solar and discharge the battery every now and then?
Can I just leave it like it is, charging and discharging everyday?
Does it harm the battery to NOT discharge below 20% DOD?

I have read to either use 100% DOD or 80% DOD.
Just looking for some educated advise so I don't hurt my investment.

 

[rodrick]

You will not hurt the battery by only using 20% dod actually it will extend the life most likely but I do question how you figure you dod if you are going on voltage you are not getting a true dod

 

[DBarr]

You will not hurt the battery by only using 20% dod actually it will extend the life most likely but I do question how you figure you dod if you are going on voltage voltage you are not getting a true dod

You are correct, I can only guess at the DOD as I only have a way to look at voltage. My battery is always connected to solar and stays at a voltage range per chart of 70 to 80%.

 

[hwy17]

You want to get them to 100% for a few hours a week or so, if not daily. They can only internally balance themselves once they're about 95%+ charged. So hanging out in 20-80% all the time would let them go out of balance. If they go out of balance it is fixable, only causes temporary capacity loss until they get balanced again.