Creating a Bank of Batteries

Today we are going to look at the basic rules to follow when creating a leisure battery bank. Creating a bank of batteries is a great way to increase the amount of energy that your batteries can store and produce. There are 2 ways a battery bank can be wired up, either in series or parallel but for this article, we won't be looking into these too much so for more information check out our knowledge centre article here. Instead, we are going to look at the often overlooked items to note when wiring 2 batteries together. 

Rule 1: Batteries should match each other

The first rule of creating a battery bank is to make sure your batteries match. This is not just a case of adding a similar battery, it would need to be of the same type and capacity (ideally the same brand and model) as the 1st battery in the bank. This is because both batteries need to stay balanced to perform at their best and by mixing and matching you can cause serious imbalance and performance drops.

Rule 2: Use batteries that are the same age

Imbalance in the battery bank can also be affected by age as over time, a battery's ability to store energy drops. As a result, an older battery may not be charging at the same rate as a newer battery which would cause an imbalance. 
When looking to create a battery bank we always recommend starting with new batteries even if the old battery is still working, as this will keep the system in balance and working as it should for the full life span of the batteries. 

Rule 3: Cable sizing 

Buying cable to connect batteries can cause some confusion but thankfully it can be made a little easier. To help make sure your appliances can draw power evenly from all the batteries in the bank, you will want to make sure that all interconnecting cables are the same length and gauge. This simple rule of thumb means all the batteries will be evenly used to power your equipment. 

If you follow these 3 basic rules you should have no problems with your battery bank during its life span. We hope you have found this helpful but if you have any more questions please get in touch with our support team who will be happy to assist.