171 - Mod - Dual Battery

We do alot of Dry Camping and seem to run low on power, so we pulled the single battery out and bought 2 12 Volt Batteries.  They are the Deka DC24 Battery.   We also picked up some 4 gauge battery wires already made ane another battery box.

Our Parts:

.

The batteries:

.

I Made sure to drill holes in the bottom of the box to allow water to drain

.

Placed the two boxes and batteries on the frame:

.

Wired the batteries in Parallel and hooked up a switch to shut off the pack:

.

Dressed up all the wires and closed them up :

.

Connecting in Parallel
When connecting in Parallel you are doubling the capacity (amp hours) of the battery while maintaining the voltage of one of the individual batteries. Use a jumper wire between the positives of both batteries and another jumper wire between the negatives of both batteries. Connect your positive and negative wires to the same battery to run to your application.


.

Important notes: When connecting batteries in a pack there are some important things to keep in mind - - Find out the requirements of your application. For example: Don't double the capacity on your Power Wheels vehicle if you're not supposed to...you could burn up the engine. Follow the recommended guidelines for your application. - Don't use two different chemistries when connecting a pack. Usually the voltages will be different, but more importantly the charge rates will be different and the capacities may be different, thus resulting in a shortened life span. - Try to match capacities as much as possible. When connecting batteries in a pack you should try to match the capacities as much as possible to avoid discharging one battery quicker than another. A pack operates at a combined voltage so your one cell that discharges quicker will likely discharge deeper than it may be able to recover from.