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Are 12V batteries hooked up in series or parallel?


Bobfirst

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Parallel for 12 volt.  But to make sure that it's confusing, if you get the AGMs, then they're 6-volt and will be paired, two each in series then the two sets are paralleled.

 

There's a diagram in the back of the manual that shows exactly how they should be connected.

 

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A 6 volt battery has 3 cells in series @ ~2 volts.  A 12 volt battery has 6 cells in series.  Same as hooking 2 6 volt batteries in series.  The voltage adds as cells are added in series.  The amp-hour capacity stays the same.  Two 6 volt 100 amp-hour batteries in series will be 12 volts 100 amp-hours.  Two 6 volt 100 amp- hour batteries in parallel will be 6 volts 200 amp-hours.  I say ~ 2 volts per cell because at full charge and rested a 6 volt battery is really closer to 6.3 volts and a 12 volt battery is closer to 12.6 volts or ~ 2.1 volt per cell.

 

A good resource is Harold Barre’s book <u>Managing 12 Volts - How to Upgrade, Operate and Troubleshoot 12 Volt Electrical Systems.</u>

 

-Randy

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"Are 12V batteries hooked up in series or parallel?"

 

12 Volt batteries are always hooked up parallel if your intention is to keep the system at 12V.

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