Battery wiring

[bbeatie]

Do all the cables that power the R.V. Connect to only one of the two 6 volt batteries in series?

[bikendan]

Hi and welcome to FRF!
It would help if you posted year, make and model of RV you're asking about, since you don't have it listed in your profile.

[Jim3]

Originally Posted by bbeatie

Do all the cables that power the R.V. Connect to only one of the two 6 volt batteries in series?

Hi - If you want to wire two 6-volt batteries in series to produce 12-volts, you normally would connect the load to the positive terminal of battery # 1. Connect the negative terminal of battery # 1 to the positive terminal of battery # 2. Ground the negative terminal of battery # 2.

In other words, the wires going out to your RV (or charger) are from batt 1 positive and batt 2 negative.

[cavie]

takes 2 batteries to make 12 volts. positive on one, negative on the other

[Flybob]

Connect as shown.

[formerFR]

items can be 'attached' to either of the 6v batteries, since they are both 'one' battery bank with the 'series' wiring scheme.

[SeaDog]

welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. I like to think of a two six volt batteries when put in series as one big battery so I connect positive to one battery and neg cable to the other battery.

[Flybob]

Originally Posted by formerFR

items can be 'attached' to either of the 6v batteries, since they are both 'one' battery bank with the 'series' wiring scheme.

This would be true if they were connected in parallel. OP is asking about a series connection using two 6V batteries.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by formerFR

items can be 'attached' to either of the 6v batteries, since they are both 'one' battery bank with the 'series' wiring scheme.

The wording in this post is a bit confusing although I know formerFR knows how a series set up works... but... that would be OK for a parallel setup.

In a SERIES setup you can't 'attach' items to EITHER battery... you MUST attach load items to the positive of one battery and the ground(s) to the OTHER battery.

See the schematic in post # 5.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by bbeatie

Do all the cables that power the R.V. Connect to only one of the two 6 volt batteries in series?

No.

See the schematic in post # 5.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by formerFR

items can be 'attached' to either of the 6v batteries, since they are both 'one' battery bank with the 'series' wiring scheme.

No, to get 12 volts one has to attach to the positive of one battery and the negative of the other. hook to one battery and you only get 6 volts.

You need more coffee.

[Chuck_S]

Forget there are two batteries. Once connected in series there is only one (1) battery. And there's only one connection to that battery. See message 5.

Going down the rabbit hole only a little ways: A 12v battery has six (6) cells usually with fill caps; a 6v battery has three (3) cells and caps. Putting two 6v batteries in series duplicates the 6 cell arrangement. Again forget there are 2 boxes, there's only 1 battery.

-- Chuck

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by cavie

takes 2 batteries to make 12 volts. positive on one, negative on the other

For any that are still confused:

[BehindBars]

Originally Posted by Chuck_S

Forget there are two batteries. Once connected in series there is only one (1) battery. And there's only one connection to that battery. See message 5.

Going down the rabbit hole only a little ways: A 12v battery has six (6) cells usually with fill caps; a 6v battery has three (3) cells and caps. Putting two 6v batteries in series duplicates the 6 cell arrangement. Again forget there are 2 boxes, there's only 1 battery.

-- Chuck

Now let’s go down the rabbit hole farther and get more off topic: Given the definition of “battery” as a set, series, or group of similar things, it makes sense that a 6 or 12 volt battery is a group of 3 or 6 electrical cells. A 12 volt battery, for flooded lead acid type, is a battery of 6 cells. A 6 volt FLA battery is a set, or battery, of 3 cells.

Now, why on earth a single cell electrochemical storage device became known as a “battery” makes no sense to me. If it’s only a single cell, it’s not a set, series, group, or battery of similar things.

[Theo]

And, looking up at BehindBars from the bottom of the rabbit hole, why is the positive terminal shown in red?

I realize that it is "traditional" to think of positive as the "hot" side, but that does not accurately describe true electron flow. Unless physics has changed in the last 65-years, I know electrons to travel from the negative side of the battery through the load and return to the positive side. Wouldn't the terminal that dumps electrons into the circuit be considered the "hot" side?

I realize I'm bucking "convention" here. I blame Ben Franklin's misunderstanding and the subsequent "conventional-flow" theorists!

[SeaDog]

Most folks don't have your scientific background but they do understand sparks thus the red color. you touch neg to frame normally no sparks you touch positive to frame sparks. this is just my simple reasoning for the color nothing scientific LOL

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by TitanMike

For any that are still confused:

Interesting that 6V batteries still need 2 cell covers.

[pgandw]

Originally Posted by bubbles

Interesting that 6V batteries still need 2 cell covers.

They don't. 6V batteries only have 1 cell cover (or 3 if each cell is separate). But isn't this being a little picky? The diagram conveys the meaning it needs to convey.

In marine and automotive 12V wiring, red is used for positive, black is used for negative. In the US, "negative ground" is universal on all 12V systems. Lucas (British company) and British car and motorcycle manufacturers that used Lucas (Lucas = Prince of Darkness) components used positive ground. When I towed my MGA with my Toyota, I had to unhook the MG's batteries (yes, there were 2 6V batteries, one under each seat) to reconfigure the electrical to negative ground. Only the tube radio was polarity sensitive (the electric gas pump might have been too but didn't apply while towing), so as long as it was turned off while towing the MG, I was fine.

Of course, we won't mention other examples of fine British engineering like the knock-offs that held the wire wheels on were left-hand threaded on the driver's side (my MGA was a made-for America with left hand drive). Or the many Whitworth-threaded screws holding everything together. Or the vacuum drive for the windshield wipers and turn signals. Or the lack of a starter solenoid. Or the omission of synchros for 1st gear. Or dual carbs on a 4 cylinder engine.

Fred W

[cavie]

Originally Posted by Theo

And, looking up at BehindBars from the bottom of the rabbit hole, why is the positive terminal shown in red?

I realize that it is "traditional" to think of positive as the "hot" side, but that does not accurately describe true electron flow. Unless physics has changed in the last 65-years, I know electrons to travel from the negative side of the battery through the load and return to the positive side. Wouldn't the terminal that dumps electrons into the circuit be considered the "hot" side?

I realize I'm bucking "convention" here. I blame Ben Franklin's misunderstanding and the subsequent "conventional-flow" theorists!

Please do not confuse the newbies with the scientific jargon. The Hot side is the positive side. Just leave it at that.

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by pgandw

They don't. 6V batteries only have 1 cell cover (or 3 if each cell is separate). But isn't this being a little picky? The diagram conveys the meaning it needs to convey. Fred W

Of course it is but it's no more of a tangent from the OP's original question than the majority of the other post's.