Date:         Thu, 27 May 1999 12:54:11 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <synergx@IBM.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <synergx@IBM.NET>
Subject:      Parallel Batteries
Comments: To: Brent Christensen <bpchristensen@mindspring.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

I recently told Brent I thought it was a bad idea to wire batteries in
parallel, for reasons that I'm too tired to hash out now <g>.  However,
Brent's and my search of the literature has showed me that this is a
standard practice, always supposing that two conditions are met -- 1) the
batteries are matched.  Same size, same type, same capacity, *same age* and
number of charge-discharge cycles; and 2) the batteries are then treated
identically, i.e. always wired together and treated as a unit.  Brent's
application meets these conditions, whereas my family's boat does not.

So -- not that any of you care <g> -- I give it my blessing and probably
will do something similar when I get a few bucks.

david
David Beierl - dbeierl@ibm.net