DC Battery circuits - drawing 12V from a 48V battery bank

[Hastings]

I have 8x 12V 200Ah AGM batteries arranged as two 4x12V strings connected to each other in parallel to make a 48V supply. They power a 5kVA inverter/charger that powers the house.

 

The inverter/charger has died and I wondered if, to let me charge laptop and phones while getting it repaired/replaced, I can temporarily connect a small 12V 300W inverter I have to one of the 12V batteries while it is still connected to/within the 8 battery bank setup? Or must I disconnect it from its neighbour first?

 

I could of course disconnect each battery completely before using it but the connectors are secured by nuts and bolts and it's PITA to do so frequently. I want to keep the entire bank connected as a 48V unit so that I can continue charging it with my 48V wind turbine and its own charge controller.

Edited yesterday at 10:28 by Hastings
typo

[ProDave]

My only thought is you will discharge the battery you are connected to, so they will end up imballanced.  So connect it with large croc clips and periodically move it to the next battery so they all get discharged just a bit until you get the main inverter / charger sorted.

[DamonHD]

Avoiding getting the batteries out of balance is important, and what @ProDave suggests seems like a decent temporary workaround.

[Hastings]

So no need to disconnect each battery from the others while I'm using it?

 

Doesn't the charge spread out gradually between all the batteries in the group when connected back together?

[DamonHD]

No and no.