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Date:         Mon, 29 Jul 2002 21:51:35 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Batteries in parallel?
Comments: To: jbrush@AROS.NET
In-Reply-To:  <200207300127.g6U1R4f3045056@mail.aros.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 07:36 PM 7/29/2002, John Brush wrote: >Car batteries have no chance of surviving such an application, as you say, >but decent deep cycle, not marine, batteries are used in this manner all >the time. I'm pretty sure that is what the original poster was asking >about. > >If the batteries are not exactly matched, and they never will be, >equalization charge cycles will bring them close enough to where it >doesn't matter.

Routine method in golf carts AFAIK. Big six-volt honkers in permanent series-parallel circuit.

Recent thought re marine battery banks is that it's better to have one massive one plus a small starting battery rather than two smaller ones -- at least if you are instrumented to be able to determine state-of-charge without having to let the battery sit 24 hours and then measure open-circuit voltage. Major reason is that Peukert effect dictates that for a given current draw, a battery (bank) of capacity 2X will give more than twice the capacity of two banks of capacity X. The higher the drain the more advantage you get.

Wiring should be done so the positive feed comes from one battery, and the negative from the other. This helps ensure that each battery is drained equally.

david

-- David Beierl - Providence, RI http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/ '84 Westy "Dutiful Passage" '85 GL "Poor Relation"


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