Battery Charging Question

[Kim Becker]

Does anyone know if when you have two batteries hooked in series {+ to + and - to - ] to achieve 12 volts, if you can charge them while in series, or must you unhook them first ?

I have heard several stories but not from anyone I can trust. The members here I trust. Thanks in advance.



Beck

 

[Ronald (BigRon) Kane]

I have charged batteries with this setup for three years with no ill effects. I connected the charger to the postive of one battery and the negitive of the other.

 

[Jim B]

What kind of charger do you have? I had a three bank guest on my old boat and had two batteries hooked in parallel and it was fine. each battery had its own bank on the charger. if you have only a one bank charger you may want to charge one at a time because you may not have enough amperage to charge both at the same time.



btw the setup you have is a parallel configuration not series, a series would be a 24v configuration.

 

[Bryan McDonough]

Most chargers will handle this as long as the banks are on different circuits. I have 3 batteries in a series using a Dual pro charger.

 

[JAMES MOORE]

I used to charge both batteries in parallel with one charger.

It just takes longer. The batteries will tend to equalize charge between each other until they become fully charged. Your right ++, --

 

[Staci Matheis]

+ to + and - to - is "parallel".