Battery Hook up-Introduction and Usage

Battery hook-up is a way of connecting more than one battery. This is important as every unit of connected batteries gets an equal amount of voltage and increased ampere-hour. There are three ways in which batteries can be hooked up, and that is series, parallel and series-parallel. In the series act, the positive terminal is connected to the negative terminal. In parallel, the positive terminal is connected to the positive terminal of the other battery and, finally, the series-parallel, which is a combination of both the series and parallel procedures.

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However, a poor or wrong connection of the batteries may cause damage which may include acid leak and battery explosion.

1. Battery Hook up Order

Battery hooks up is where two or more batteries are connected together through the series, parallel and series-parallel processes. Hooked-up batteries will help you run applications that need high voltage capacity and high amp-hour.

Below are explained hook up order processes;

Series

Batteries to be hooked up through the series process must have equal voltage and capacity rates. For instance, if you want to connect four 12Volt and 26Ah, then all the four batteries must contain 12Volt and 26Ah.

Batteries connected through this act do not increase the capacity but only the overall voltage. For example, if you are connecting two batteries with 6Volt and 10Ah, the end result should be 12Volt and 10Ah.

To configure the batteries, ensure the positive terminal of one battery is connected to the negative terminal of the other battery. Repeat the whole process until all the batteries are done. Afterward, connect a cable on the negative terminal of the first battery and to the positive terminal of the last battery.

NOTE: Use a charger that matches the battery system voltage when charging the series batteries.

Parallel

Parallel connection is when you connect more than one battery to increase the amp-hour. In parallel, the voltage capacity will always remain the same. For instance, if you connect four batteries with 6Volt and 50Ah, you will end up with 6Volts and 200Ah.

To hook up batteries, connect the positive terminal of one battery to the positive terminal of the other battery through the whole string. Repeat the same process on the negative terminals by connecting the negative terminal of one battery to the negative terminal of the other battery.

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However, parallel hook-up batteries are as much important as the series batteries, only that they take a long to charge.

Series-parallel

This process enhances an increase in both the capacity and voltage of the batteries. To illustrate, you can connect four batteries with 12Volt and 100Ah to attain 48Volt and 400Ah. Series-parallel will always contain two or more sets for the series and parallel sets.

2. Battery Hook up Positive First

It is not always easy to master the exact order in which the battery terminal is to be connected. It is very important to ensure you use the correct order to avoid associated danger and risks. When hooking up the terminal to the battery, start by connecting the positive terminal followed by the negative terminal. This is because starting with the positive terminal is always safer for your battery's health. For instance, nothing will happen to the battery in a case where you are fixing your car battery, and you use the wrench to tighten the terminal and accidentally touch the car with the wrench at the same time. If you connect the negative first and the same situation occurs, then the battery will suffer from a short circuit which might cause it to explode.

Note: Red cable is positive (+), and black cable is negative (-).

When disconnecting the terminals, it is recommended to start with the negative to avoid endangering the battery, as discussed above. Connecting the positive terminal generally decreases chances of shorting the battery hence increasing its life span

3. Battery Hook up on Travel Trailer

A travel trailer uses more electricity when not connected to power. Electricity is used whenever you turn on any device that consumes power, such as the water pump, fan, light, and furnace. However, it is not right to drain the batteries completely, no matter the type of batteries you are using. For instance, lithium acid and lead-acid batteries get damaged if drained beyond 20% and 50%, respectively.

A generator can be an option to ensure a consistent flow of energy, but it's better to have a lot of stored power so as to use as much electricity as needed to avoid damaging the batteries. One of the easiest ways to ensure consistent power in your travel trailer is to hook up more batteries.

First, you need to have a good wire to connect the batteries, preferably copper wire of between size 6-4 AWG. A 4 AWG is highly considered since power is efficiently transferred from one battery to another if the connection is less resistant. You can as well get a long wire if you are planning to connect more batteries or need distance between the batteries.

Hooking up batteries on a trailer can be done in two ways, and that is parallel and series. Parallel doubles the power that the batteries consume on trailer appliances while series pulls equal power from both batteries allowing them to run for longer hours.

How to Maintain a Battery

I) Charge the Battery Before it Dies Completely

It is important to charge your battery before it drains below 20%. This helps prevent overheating and damaging the electric circuit of the battery resulting in an increased life span.

II) Allow the Battery to Cool After a Charge

It is necessary to charge the battery fully to reduce the number of times you change your battery hence increasing its life cycle. Always allow your phone to charge 100% and give it time to cool before using it.

III) Clean the Battery If Overfilled

When the battery is overfilled, it is necessary to clean it immediately. The filled battery may lead to battery acid leakage on the surface of the battery, which will suddenly corrode the battery.

Conclusion

Battery hook-up is necessary when you need a high consistent power supply. However, it is important to use the right procedure when hooking up the batteries to avoid damaging the battery, as explained in the article above.