DanRT66 Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I have been re-doing my '91 Warrior for some time. Over the winter, I installed a 100-watt solar panel and 30-amp controller, and hooked it to my one 12 volt deep-cycle coach battery. Because I later settled on adding a 1500 watt inverter, I decided to switch to two 6-volt deep-cycle batteries. I took it in to the RV shop I've been using for stuff I couldn't handle for some wood-rot work, and decided to have them do the new battery and inverted hookup too. They had the damn thing for five weeks - I kept getting shoved to the back of the queue, apparently. So I went to pick it up and, instead of removing the 12-volt battery as I had discussed with the owner, they hooked the 2 6-volt into the coach charging system and hooked them to the inverter, using cables I had supplied. They didn't connect them to the solar controller, and they left the 12-volt one there and hooked to the solar and everything else. I told them I'd intended for the new batteries to be charged by the solar panel (duh) and they got that taken care of. I asked them if it was not a mistake to have a 12-volt and two 6-volt batteries all hooked together in the same system, but they didn't miss a beat, and said it would be fine. So now, the solar panel is charging all three. Is this okay? Should I get the 12 volt battery out of there? I like the idea of more electrical storage, but I don't want to screw up the system. Any advice appreciated. Thanks, Danny PS the shop did a mediocre job on the wood repair, and I will be taking the RV back to them for more work approximately never. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Not really harmful, but its unlikely that the batteries will be fully charged. The weakest battery will charge first and prevent the other one from reaching full charge. I'm talking like the 2 6v are a single 12v. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanRT66 Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 Ah - I see. The 12-volt is a couple years old, so I guess it may be the weaker of the set. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 Before changing anything, I'd monitor the voltage of you 'two' batteries to see how evenly they charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanRT66 Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 Good plan, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 I like simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 The voltage is the key it does not matter how many amps as long as the voltage matches. Batteries will equal out so if you have a weak one the other ones we try to make it equal. discharging them so if every one is about 12.7 resting all is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanRT66 Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 Simple rocks. Thanks, guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 I asked them if it was not a mistake to have a 12-volt and two 6-volt batteries all hooked together in the same system, . It doesn't make a damn bit of difference. A "12 volt" battery is just six battery cells, wired in series, and stuck in a box. A "six volt" battery is three battery cells, hooked in series, and stuck in a box. Hooking two 6 volt batteries together is series just makes on big 12 volt battery. Age is more of a factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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