Community Forums

twinboat · 10-19-2015, 03:16 PM

That is all wrong. 12 volt batteries are not hooked in series.

Use positive to positive and negative to negative, unless you have a 24 volt Battery Tender.

Forest Grump · 10-19-2015, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

That is all wrong. 12 volt batteries are not hooked in series.

Use positive to positive and negative to negative, unless you have a 24 volt Battery Tender.

Huh? You talking about tgdamaron?

BFlinn181 · 10-19-2015, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinboat

That is all wrong. 12 volt batteries are not hooked in series.

Use positive to positive and negative to negative, unless you have a 24 volt Battery Tender.

The only thing puzzling is why hook the negative to the second batteries negative. Doesn't hurt, but it doesn't do anything different from hooking the charger to the (+) and (-) on the same battery.

If you hooked up the two 12 volts in series as above, then you'd produce 24 v , not 12 v.

Starsekr · 10-19-2015, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgdameron

I use the cable from the coach to hook positive of one battery to the positive of the other battery as well as the negative to the negative (12v batteries are hooked up in parallel). The Battery Tender is then hooked the positive of battery one and the negative of battery two.

By hooking the + of the battery tender to Pos Batt 1, and the -of the battery tender to Neg of Batt 2, voltage drop across the resistance of the two connecting cables is about equal and applied voltage across each battery is equal. This is a good practice when connecting the batteries to the RV converter, or charging them; but with the low current from the battery tender probably a nice to do, not a necessary to do, sort of thing.
E= IR, E= .1 amp x .5 ohm, E = .05 volt

mel s · 10-19-2015, 03:52 PM

[QUOTE=t55watson;2790460]Well Michguy maybe a SPARTAN can give you an answer. If you only have one battery disconnect switch that is for the house only. The chassis batteries are still connected and a draw-down is possible. Soooo add another disconnect switch. Or disconnect battery. Positive cable first (red 1 )then the ground (black 1 ). When reconnecting, red first then black.[/QUOTE]
t55watson
Where did that idea come from?

twinboat · 10-19-2015, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tgdameron

Since batteries are so expensive and getting more so, I always take my batteries out and store them in the garage with a smart charger on them such as Battery Tender. I have 12v batteries. If you have two batteries, I do, I use the cable from the coach to hook positive of one battery to the positive of the other battery as well as the negative to the negative (12v batteries are hooked up in parallel). The Battery Tender is then hooked the positive of battery one and the negative of battery two. It produces enough amps to keep both batteries charged.

This post was changed, after my post, correcting it.

I'm not crazy !?

Starsekr · 10-19-2015, 05:03 PM

Ah, was that a statement or a question?

dennis45 · 10-19-2015, 05:11 PM

Tony, there is only one Positive and one Negative terminal for each bank of batteries no matter how many batteries are in the set.

powderman · 10-19-2015, 05:38 PM

Well if the OP wasn't confused when we started, he sure should be now. Just take the negative cable loose on each battery and then connect a trickle charger to each battery.

BFlinn181 · 10-19-2015, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by powderman

Well if the OP wasn't confused when we started, he sure should be now. Just take the negative cable loose on each battery and then connect a trickle charger to each battery.

The OP said he was storing his RV "for a couple months outdoors in Hot Springs, Arkansas." I think he was inferring he had no power at the place he was storing it, so how could he hook up a trickle charger? Plus, if the batteries are charged up and a negative cable is removed, they should survive with no other attention needed. I've done it for many Ohio winters in boats and RVs.

powderman · 10-19-2015, 06:40 PM

Harbor freight has solar trickle chargers cheap.

Ray,IN · 10-19-2015, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t55watson

If you touch the red cable to the positive post when the black cable is connected you will get a spark. Sometimes a BIG spark. This introduces the possibility of big BANG

from the gasses that are given off of a battery.

Tony stated it correctly. I had to re-read his post 3 times to clarify myself as to what he actually said.

dennis45 · 10-19-2015, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFlinn181

The OP said he was storing his RV "for a couple months outdoors in Hot Springs, Arkansas." I think he was inferring he had no power at the place he was storing it, so how could he hook up a trickle charger? Plus, if the batteries are charged up and a negative cable is removed, they should survive with no other attention needed. I've done it for many Ohio winters in boats and RVs.

Mitchguy, pay attention to this post. It is the only one that makes sense. Remove or disconnect the Negative cable from the House battery set and the Negative cable from the chassis battery set. Forget about trickle chargers since you don't have power. You will be just fine for a couple months. Hook up the two Negative cables when you're ready and away you go.
This is Very Simple, don't overthink it.

okcnewbie · 10-20-2015, 05:03 AM

Just to keep this going somewhat off topic.....

Beware when using your trickle charger. Some of them can still overcharge your batteries. Almost all walmart chargers aren't good for our batteries.

The Iota battery chargers and this expensive trickle charger are sufficient.

Battery Minder Battery Chargers