Battery Questions
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Battery Questions
1. How do I need to hook up multiple batteries to act as ONE? I am heading to Yellowstone with my 23' Hybrid. It normally just has a single 12v battery. I want to use 2 more, for a total of 3 on this trip, to get more time on battery.
I already have some 8 guage wires in 2 ft strips with high quality connectors to rig it up, but I don;t know Series or parallel.
2. I have an Expy with Factory Tow package, How can I wire into the plug to charge a battery while I am driving around, not towing. I saw a guy witha 7 pin plug hooked in to wires into the back of his truck to charge RV batteries while he was out and about, not sure how to do this.
Any help? These out to be easy ones!
I already have some 8 guage wires in 2 ft strips with high quality connectors to rig it up, but I don;t know Series or parallel.
2. I have an Expy with Factory Tow package, How can I wire into the plug to charge a battery while I am driving around, not towing. I saw a guy witha 7 pin plug hooked in to wires into the back of his truck to charge RV batteries while he was out and about, not sure how to do this.
Any help? These out to be easy ones!
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Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Whittier, CA
Originally Posted by afsigma21
1. How do I need to hook up multiple batteries to act as ONE? I am heading to Yellowstone with my 23' Hybrid. It normally just has a single 12v battery. I want to use 2 more, for a total of 3 on this trip, to get more time on battery.
I already have some 8 guage wires in 2 ft strips with high quality connectors to rig it up, but I don;t know Series or parallel.
I already have some 8 guage wires in 2 ft strips with high quality connectors to rig it up, but I don;t know Series or parallel.
http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html
Originally Posted by afsigma21
2. I have an Expy with Factory Tow package, How can I wire into the plug to charge a battery while I am driving around, not towing. I saw a guy witha 7 pin plug hooked in to wires into the back of his truck to charge RV batteries while he was out and about, not sure how to do this.
http://www.rvbasics.com/techtips/rv-travel-trailer-plug-wiring.html
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I was just about to post a simular question when I found this thread. Heres what I got, Ive got a car trailer and it has the break-away kit with a tiny 12v "lawn mower" type battery to power the brakes in a break-away situation. This battery is connected to the trucks electrical system through the 7 pin connector. This keeps the "lawn mower" battery constantly charged. Now, Ive added a winch to my trailer and instead of wiring it directly to the trucks battery I want to mount a regular car battery on the trailer to power the winch. In the mean time I will leave the break-away battery as it is but I would like to splice into it so the winch battery is charged from the trucks electrical system. Is this just as somple as splicing a wire from the break-away battery to the winch battery? Or would I need some sorta relay or voltage regulator so I dont melt wires? I hope all that makes sense.
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Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Whittier, CA
I was just about to post a simular question when I found this thread. Heres what I got, Ive got a car trailer and it has the break-away kit with a tiny 12v "lawn mower" type battery to power the brakes in a break-away situation. This battery is connected to the trucks electrical system through the 7 pin connector. This keeps the "lawn mower" battery constantly charged. Now, Ive added a winch to my trailer and instead of wiring it directly to the trucks battery I want to mount a regular car battery on the trailer to power the winch. In the mean time I will leave the break-away battery as it is but I would like to splice into it so the winch battery is charged from the trucks electrical system. Is this just as somple as splicing a wire from the break-away battery to the winch battery? Or would I need some sorta relay or voltage regulator so I dont melt wires? I hope all that makes sense.
Bill
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From: Northeast Nebraska
Personally I would not use two batteries so extremely mismatched. I can't give a solid technical reason for that, but there is no good reason to do it. Just get rid of the little battery and use the new deep cycle battery for everything. Your charging wire can remain the same, you won't melt it. But obviously your winch wires need to be much larger and should connect directly to the battery terminals.
Bill
Bill
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Of the next Riffraff East
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From: Concord NC
Remember, when hooking batteries in parallel, the set is only as good as the weakest battery. So you should try to keep the batteries similar size, type and age.
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Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Whittier, CA
I was thinkin about that too. Maybe I will just see how it goes running the winch on a stand alone battery and I will just make sure its got a fresh charge before I use it. Its not like I will be using it a lot. The break-away battery is brand new and Id hate to toss something thats new. The winch wires are good since they came with the winch and its all brand new. But if I do go with one big battery for the trailer and use the "hot" wire from the truck can it be connected directly to the battery without any kind of regulator or relay?
If you go with two batteries, a big one and a small one, they'll just be wired to each other in parallel. Nothing special needed. About #10 AWG wire works fine for interconnecting the two batteries. + to + and - to -. Keep your truck charge wiring connected to the small battery, and put your winch wires on the big battery.
Bill
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Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Whittier, CA
Yep, it's best practice with multiple batteries for them to be the same size, and when replaced, replace them all together. In this case, that little battery won't enjoy a long life. But then it's just going to be removed sooner or later anyway.
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Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Whittier, CA
Another thing to think about - that little scooter battery is barely enough to activate your break-away brakes. Really just enough to make the thing legal. I would not trust it to be big enough after even one year of use. A single big battery therefore will also be an upgrade to your emergency brakes.
Are you getting the feeling that a single big battery is best?
Sorry for 3 posts in a row. Don't want to bogart the thread.
Bill
Are you getting the feeling that a single big battery is best?
Sorry for 3 posts in a row. Don't want to bogart the thread.
Bill
Of the next Riffraff East
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From: Concord NC
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From: Northeast Nebraska
I had a problem with the links goin to ebay earlier. FTE "upgraded" their software and it seems to be a glitch. I wouldnt worry about it for now. Im sure they are workin on it.
Thanks for the info guys. For now I will use a stand alone battery for the winch but I will most likely ditch the little trailer battery and run a single big battery for the trailer setup. (bpounds, that was a good point about the dinky battery not holding up for much more than a year) One thing I do need to get right away is a fuse on the trailer power wire (pin #4) right now Ive got a 10 ga wire going from the 7 pin plug to the battery solenoid. And Im lookin for a plastic weatherproof toolbox that will fit between the trailer frame rails to store the battery and chains.
Thanks for the info guys. For now I will use a stand alone battery for the winch but I will most likely ditch the little trailer battery and run a single big battery for the trailer setup. (bpounds, that was a good point about the dinky battery not holding up for much more than a year) One thing I do need to get right away is a fuse on the trailer power wire (pin #4) right now Ive got a 10 ga wire going from the 7 pin plug to the battery solenoid. And Im lookin for a plastic weatherproof toolbox that will fit between the trailer frame rails to store the battery and chains.
Hotshot
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 17,398
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From: Whittier, CA
Bill