??? about hooking together batteries for inverter

In parallel, as others have said. However, if this is a long term hookup, make
sure they are similar batteries of the same age. And make sure the connections
are clean and well made, because if there is a bad connection, it will have all
the appearances of a good setup, but will only have half the power.



<dh_ld.RemoveThis@nomail.com> wrote in message
news:rai7h0p255aeer87ttoo5ss1f6e94sl457@4ax.com...
 > How should more than one battery be hooked together
 > as a supply for an inverter? Does it matter which battery
 > in the group the battery charger is attached to? It will
 > be an automatic charger. Will all of the batteries drain
 > down and build back up pretty much as one big battery,
 > if they're connected in the right way?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: ??? about hooking together batteries for inverter 

Jeff is correct. If they are different sizes and different ages, you could
possibly undercharge one and overcharge the other. Do a Google search on
marine batteries. Lots of good info.

--
Bill
Chesapeake, Va


"Jeff Morris" <jeffmo.TakeThisOut@nospam-at-all-sv-loki.com> wrote in message
news:BNadneSBo7IxRI7cRVn-tA@comcast.com...
 > In parallel, as others have said. However, if this is a long term hookup,
make
 > sure they are similar batteries of the same age. And make sure the
connections
 > are clean and well made, because if there is a bad connection, it will
have all
 > the appearances of a good setup, but will only have half the power.
 >
 >
 >
 > <dh_ld.TakeThisOut@nomail.com> wrote in message
 > news:rai7h0p255aeer87ttoo5ss1f6e94sl457@4ax.com...
  > > How should more than one battery be hooked together
  > > as a supply for an inverter? Does it matter which battery
  > > in the group the battery charger is attached to? It will
  > > be an automatic charger. Will all of the batteries drain
  > > down and build back up pretty much as one big battery,
  > > if they're connected in the right way?
 >
 ><!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: ??? about hooking together batteries for inverter 

If connected in parallel then they will act as one battery and will charge
and discharge at the same time keeping both batteries equal.
Connect + to + and - to - on the batteries. Connect your equipment to
either battery + and -. Connect your charger to either battery + and -.

--
Tony
my boats at <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com" target="_blank">http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com</a>

<dh_ld.TakeThisOut@nomail.com> wrote in message
news:rai7h0p255aeer87ttoo5ss1f6e94sl457@4ax.com...
 > How should more than one battery be hooked together
 > as a supply for an inverter? Does it matter which battery
 > in the group the battery charger is attached to? It will
 > be an automatic charger. Will all of the batteries drain
 > down and build back up pretty much as one big battery,
 > if they're connected in the right way?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: ??? about hooking together batteries for inverter 

If it's a 12=volt DC to 110 AC inverter and you are using more than one 12-volt
battery, just go bat + to bat + to inverter +

If you are using 6-volt batteries to make a 12-volt, then go bat+ to second bat
- and then connect the empty + terminal to the inverter + and the empty -
terminal to the inverter -
 >> Stay informed about: ??? about hooking together batteries for inverter 

DH,

You got lots of answers that more or less agree, but there is a small
problem. They are not really complete.

If you need to supply more load than one battery can handle, putting
several in parallel is a good idea.
Problem - even if the batteries are out of the same manufacturing lot,
they are not actually identical in all respects. This means they will
not chargwe the same and if two are in parallel only one will get to
recharge to full capacity. If you want them to all come back to full
capacity, they must be separated and charged individually. This is not
difficult, it just takes switches and thinking to accomplish. Oh, and
probably an individual charger circuit (multi-battery chargers are
available).

Where did I learn all about this? From a man that was a submariner of
WWII. His life had depended on getting the most out of the batteries
and keeping them in good health.

Matt Colie

dh_ld.RemoveThis@nomail.com wrote:
 > How should more than one battery be hooked together
 > as a supply for an inverter? Does it matter which battery
 > in the group the battery charger is attached to? It will
 > be an automatic charger. Will all of the batteries drain
 > down and build back up pretty much as one big battery,
 > if they're connected in the right way?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: ??? about hooking together batteries for inverter 

On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 12:50:31 -0400, Matt Colie
<m2colie.TakeThisOut@provide.nospam.net> wrote:

 >If you want them to all come back to full
 >capacity, they must be separated and charged individually. This is not
 >difficult, it just takes switches and thinking to accomplish. Oh, and
 >probably an individual charger circuit (multi-battery chargers are
 >available).

===============================================

All of that is theoretically true but in actual practice there are
many parallel battery installations that work just fine without any
special provisions for separate charging. One safety precaution that
seems worthwhile to me (but have never seen implemented) is a high
capacity fuse in the parallel strap. This would offer some protection
in the case of one battery developing a shorted cell, leading to
massive discharge of the other battery.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: ??? about hooking together batteries for inverter