Battery Banks

[Sherdy]

Hi

 

I have a 2nd leisure battery I wish to install, it is not the same rating and the current one which I know is not ideal.

 

I cannot get access to the charger terminals as it is really buried which is very annoying, is there any way I can hook the 2nd battery up to the terminals on the existing battery?

 

If so is there any kind of controller I should maybe put between them?

 

The 2nd battery is going to be very low usage, it is really the feed for my inverter. I also want to connect up my solar panel so the same question applies to that.

 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

 

Paul

 

[StuartO]

It's quite common to have two or more leisure batteries connected in parallel, so nothing wrong with connecting them in parallel locally, you are simply making the two or three batteries behave as one from the viewpoint of the motorhome chargng system, which is why matching the battery type and age in the bank of batteries should not be ignored lightly. Different types, sizes and ages of battery have very different charging requirements and responses to charging.

 

Adding an extra battery of a different type which you just happen to have, or a physically smaller battery because that's all there is space for is a bad idea and would be false economy if you end up damaging your charger. In a word, don't.

[pepe63xnotuse]

Here are a couple of 'sites that may be of use;

 

http://www.motts.dsl.pipex.com/second%20leisiure%20battery.htm

 

http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/batt_con.html

[StuartO]

Those are very interesting links; I had no idea the method of connection could make so much difference to the sharing of load between the batteries.