Hi Gang,
I just wanted to touch base on something that has been a re-occurring issue here at the shop as of late. This is where I get most of "rant" material from so why would today be any different?
The issue is we are running into is that there is a widespread mis-understanding about how to correctly wire up a dual battery system. This is not limited to owners but also I have seen dealerships making the same mistake all over the country. Here is the scenario:
The client comes in with a complaint that they are going through batteries fairly quickly and when the batteries are new, they dont seem to last very long compared to their neighbors around them. Nine times out of ten, when we investigate, we find that the batteries are not wired correctly. The problem we are finding is that when the second battery is installed, its not wired into the bank as a part of the complete system. The person doing the installation made the mistake of just adding leads from one battery to the other rather than wiring them in parallel as a "bank" of power. The problem with this type of wiring is that the second battery is not getting charged in the same rate as the first and never fully reaches full charge. The other issue is that one of teh batteries is almost always getting over charged because its bearing the main load of the charge. This type of wiring greatly shortens battery life and does not fully utilize the second battery.
The correct wiring type is called "parallel" wiring and brings both batteries into the system so they charge and discharge at the same rate. This will greatly increase the amount of power available during use while camping as well as prolong the life of the batteries themselves. An example of how to correctly wire batteries in Parallel is shown here at the top corner of the page.
I hope this helps and as always, if you have questions or wish to contact me you can at info@murrietacreekrv.com
Happy Camping!
Michael Kahle
Murrieta Creek RV
www.murrietacreekrv.com
