Battery wiring - This looks wrong |
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Podster
Senior Member Joined: 16 Sep 2014 Location: San Antonio Online Status: Offline Posts: 1108 |
Topic: Battery wiring - This looks wrong Posted: 30 Oct 2014 at 11:07am |
Agreed, it is an issue of balance and efficiency.
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Cliff & Raelynn
Ranger 4.0/178 (1/2 ton 5,800lb tow capacity) |
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Luv2Q
Senior Member Joined: 30 Aug 2014 Location: Central TX Online Status: Offline Posts: 309 |
Posted: 30 Oct 2014 at 5:53am |
Doug, Mark, John: thanks for sharing your observations. Much appreciated, I assure you.
My take-away from the discussion:
Thanks again, y'all. |
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John & Teri
Tundra 5.7L V8 / RP 180 E2 WDH / Integrated controller (POS) replaced by Tekonsha P3 |
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JStrube
Groupie Joined: 11 Aug 2014 Location: Atwater, CA Online Status: Offline Posts: 90 |
Posted: 29 Oct 2014 at 5:51pm |
That is how mine are wired, also how my Diesel F250's batteries came wired from Ford.
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2012 181G
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Location: Central KY Online Status: Offline Posts: 6128 |
Posted: 27 Oct 2014 at 11:35am |
ALL my EE friends tell me that there is no functional issue with having them that way. If it was a larger battery bank, possibly a problem, but with just 2 12v's, 4 out of 4 say the lifetime "damage" done by having two batteries wired like that will not be measurable.
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 27 Oct 2014 at 11:30am |
You only need to worry about the connection to the pod. In your case you have 3 positive and 3 negative connections, I assume due to an electric tongue jack. You can leave the one that runs to the other battery. You could even leave the one to the tongue jack, since it doesn't have any "phantom load" when not in use. There's an outside chance its switch could fail so that is your call. Personally if you are adding a disconnect switch or fuse there isn't any extra work to include the tongue jack connection so I would. The most important one to disconnect between trips is the heavier red wire which runs to the converter and then to the rest of the loads in the pod. The LPG detector and fridge control board both use power and will kill the battery in a week or two if you don't.
Reconnect the battery to the pod, and then connect the pod overnight, at least every 30 days. Also before and after any trip.
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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Luv2Q
Senior Member Joined: 30 Aug 2014 Location: Central TX Online Status: Offline Posts: 309 |
Posted: 27 Oct 2014 at 10:41am |
Thanks, Dane & Doug. Makes sense.
On disconnecting between trips, should both positives (or both negs) be disconnected? I read somewhere that this prevents discharging one battery thru the other. Or is this now fine-tuning battery maintenance beyond what's really necessary? Thanks again, gents. This sure is helpful.
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John & Teri
Tundra 5.7L V8 / RP 180 E2 WDH / Integrated controller (POS) replaced by Tekonsha P3 |
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techntrek
Admin Group - pHp Joined: 29 Jul 2009 Location: MD Online Status: Offline Posts: 9059 |
Posted: 27 Oct 2014 at 8:46am |
Technically they are wired correctly because they will give you 12 volts, with double the amperage. However, you are right that they should not be connected that way, and should be connected with the (+) on one and the (-) on another. The resistance in those black wires, however minimal, will still be enough to prevent the battery on the left from charging fully, or discharging as much as the one on the right. Eventually the right one will fail before the left one.
See the 2nd diagram on this page: http://caravanchronicles.com/guides/how-to-connect-two-batteries-in-parallel/
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Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ Pod instruction manual
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dsmiths
Senior Member Joined: 10 Oct 2011 Location: Southern Ind Online Status: Offline Posts: 866 |
Posted: 26 Oct 2014 at 10:46pm |
No that is correct, when the batteries are in parallel the voltage is the same 12 volts, but the current is doubled. you can do a battery disconnect by disconnecting the positive wire that feeds the pod.
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Dane and Donna Smith
2011 RP-172 2008 Chevrolet Trailblazer 4X4 lift kit prodigy wireless brake controller |
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Luv2Q
Senior Member Joined: 30 Aug 2014 Location: Central TX Online Status: Offline Posts: 309 |
Posted: 26 Oct 2014 at 9:05pm |
Here's the way our two 12s were wired (in parallel) as delivered. What looks wrong to me is that the (+) and (-) to the trailer are both coming off the same battery. I would have thought the (+) should come off one battery and the (-) should come off the other. I'm thinking I've seen something to this effect in a previous post (maybe by CharlieM?) This way seems to work ok but is it the "correct" way?
Next question: With the two batteries wired in parallel, do I need a separate battery disconnect for each battery? Sure will appreciate some informed opinions. |
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John & Teri
Tundra 5.7L V8 / RP 180 E2 WDH / Integrated controller (POS) replaced by Tekonsha P3 |
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