6 Volt Battery Wiring Check

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

Hello MaineSail,

I toasted by 4Ds this winter due to neglect. Kind of stupid but I wasn't paying attention because I planned to replace them anyways before we head out cruising. Biggest issue was when I put them in series they weren't age or wear match and were a ticking time bomb. Oh well.

I plan to replace my 2 4Ds that are in series as my primary bank with 4 6volt golf cart batteries. I also have a group 24 12volt as a reserve battery. I plan to use the Duracell EGC2 from Sam's Club as my 6 Volt batteries.

I know I need to make sure I get all 4 date matched for best results in this type of use.

I wanted to make sure I am planning to wire them correctly. I have attached a wiring diagram on how I plan to do the work. I have 1/0 gauge tinned wire I plan to use for jumping in between the batteries. I think I have the wiring correct on how to have them in parallel and in series to give me the full Ah at 12 volts. I also wanted to make sure I had the battery monitor wired correct and the temp sensor for the shore power charger on the correct post.

Also, do you know the Peukert exponent for these batteries? I know you recommended them in the past so I thought you might have that info.

Could you please let me know if you see any problems with how I plan to wire these or if you have any other recommendations.

Thanks,

Jesse

 

[Stu Jackson]

Golf Cart 6V Battery Wiring http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,7162.0.html

 

[Solstice]

Hello MaineSail, I toasted by 4Ds this winter due to neglect. Kind of stupid but I wasn't paying attention because I planned to replace them anyways before we head out cruising. Biggest issue was when I put them in series they weren't age or wear match and were a ticking time bomb. Oh well. I plan to replace my 2 4Ds that are in series as my primary bank with 4 6volt golf cart batteries. I also have a group 24 12volt as a reserve battery. I plan to use the Duracell EGC2 from Sam's Club as my 6 Volt batteries. I know I need to make sure I get all 4 date matched for best results in this type of use. I wanted to make sure I am planning to wire them correctly. I have attached a wiring diagram on how I plan to do the work. I have 1/0 gauge tinned wire I plan to use for jumping in between the batteries. I think I have the wiring correct on how to have them in parallel and in series to give me the full Ah at 12 volts. I also wanted to make sure I had the battery monitor wired correct and the temp sensor for the shore power charger on the correct post. Also, do you know the Peukert exponent for these batteries? I know you recommended them in the past so I thought you might have that info. Could you please let me know if you see any problems with how I plan to wire these or if you have any other recommendations. Thanks, Jesse

Jesse,
I think you mean you had your 4D's in Parallel (at least I hope so). I'm sure MS will validate, but looks good to me. One thing to consider is to put different color shrink wrap on each end of the series connections. Red for the positive connection and yellow/black for Neg. This way there is no confusion due to cable color being attached to the 'wrong' post...

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

Yup. Keep messing up that term for what ever reason. Maybe someday I will get through my thick head.

Thanks,

JK

 

[Charles Erwin]

Jesse - here is what Maine Sail taught me - hope I listened.

1. The shore charger bonding (green) should be the same size as the 12 volt charge leads. One size less is OK but no smaller. Fasten the motor end together with the DC negative - to the same motor block bolt - or just terminate it at the negative buss instead.

2. Check the house load cable size. There is no separate fuse protecting that lead so the only protection for the house lead are the 250A fuses. That is probably too much fuse for the house lead so consider a lesser value fuse for the house lead at/near the main switch.

3. Be sure to fuse the battery monitor 12 volt positive lead. Victron furnishes an in-line fuse for that.

4. The buss/fuse assemblies are supposed to be located within 7 inches of a battery bank. If that is not possible locate them as close as possible.

By the way why different fuse values in the ACR charge leads? 80A would work for both leads.

Charles

Edit - If the house bank adds up to 400 amps then a 50 amp alternator is probably not enough to avoid chronic under charging.

 

[Bob J.]

Stu,

Was looking at redirect to the Catalina site. Something discussed at another site regarding 12 Volt battery wiring that might warrant consideration.

If you take the positive off one battery, take the negative off the battery to ground at the far end of the bank. This ensures equal flow thru all the batteries for not only discharge but also charging. When I first saw it, reminded me of a reverse return piping system that ensures equal flow thru multiple boilers or storage tanks.

I assume electricity flows the same way.

Bob