Buggies Gone Wild Golf Cart Forum - View Single Post - Batteries

BatteryZombiedotcom · 11-04-2013, 12:01 AM

Hi Rep!
I am a former Michigander myself! Now a happy FLA resident.

So are all of your batteries 12 volt? If the answer is yes, then the simple answer to your question is yes, you can charge them all at once with one charger. Simply wire them together in parallel- i.e. hook all the positives together, and do the same for the negatives. Think of it as now having one huge 12 volt battery... connect charger and away you go!
Like I said, that's the simple answer.
If I were doing it this way I would connect the positive (alligator clip?) of the charger to one end of your battery bank, and the negative (alligator clip?) to the opposite side of the battery bank. This should help to distribute those electrons a little more evenly across the batteries. Here's a (crude and badly drawn!) pic of what it should look like:

I noticed in your pic that some of the batteries are quite a bit smaller (less amp hours or "capacity") Keep in mind that electricity takes the path of least resistance and one "bad" battery in the mix will sabotage your efforts and could cause the others to be overcharged... Now we could get even further into properly doing this with diodes etc. and then take into consideration the sulfation of each battery, and which ones will be the "electricity hoggers", etc. etc. but in the effort of keeping it "real world" I would suggest that you separate the batteries into "banks" where their capacities are at least similar, if not matching.
Would I connect them in series regardless of capacities and use a small "trickle/float charger" for the winter with the batteries you have pictured? Yes, but I also feel it pertinent to explain that there are many, many variables to consider, and that it's not the optimal solution. I'd hate to see you get into a situation where one battery is badly damaged- therefore keeping the charger engaged- and possibly causing the dangerous gassing of another battery in the circuit.. The low amperage of a trickle charger make this somewhat unlikely, but still possible. Charge and test them all first, and monitor them often.
Hope I didn't make this too confusing!

11-04-2013, 12:01 AM	#2
BatteryZombiedotcom Not Yet Wild Join Date: May 2013 Location: New Port Richey, FL Posts: 42	Re: Batteries - Keeping LOTS of batteries charged Hi Rep! I am a former Michigander myself! Now a happy FLA resident. So are all of your batteries 12 volt? If the answer is yes, then the simple answer to your question is yes, you can charge them all at once with one charger. Simply wire them together in parallel- i.e. hook all the positives together, and do the same for the negatives. Think of it as now having one huge 12 volt battery... connect charger and away you go! Like I said, that's the simple answer. If I were doing it this way I would connect the positive (alligator clip?) of the charger to one end of your battery bank, and the negative (alligator clip?) to the opposite side of the battery bank. This should help to distribute those electrons a little more evenly across the batteries. Here's a (crude and badly drawn!) pic of what it should look like: I noticed in your pic that some of the batteries are quite a bit smaller (less amp hours or "capacity") Keep in mind that electricity takes the path of least resistance and one "bad" battery in the mix will sabotage your efforts and could cause the others to be overcharged... Now we could get even further into properly doing this with diodes etc. and then take into consideration the sulfation of each battery, and which ones will be the "electricity hoggers", etc. etc. but in the effort of keeping it "real world" I would suggest that you separate the batteries into "banks" where their capacities are at least similar, if not matching. Would I connect them in series regardless of capacities and use a small "trickle/float charger" for the winter with the batteries you have pictured? Yes, but I also feel it pertinent to explain that there are many, many variables to consider, and that it's not the optimal solution. I'd hate to see you get into a situation where one battery is badly damaged- therefore keeping the charger engaged- and possibly causing the dangerous gassing of another battery in the circuit.. The low amperage of a trickle charger make this somewhat unlikely, but still possible. Charge and test them all first, and monitor them often. Hope I didn't make this too confusing!