RV Battery Wiring

I have a eight year-old Nash 5th wheeler. I have one completely dead battery in it now. I want to replace it with two, (Group 24), 12-volt batteries. I'm not sure how to hook them up. There is not enough room for two, small 6-volt batteries, as the space is quite small. Can you help me? I love your weekly feature on the RV Travel newsletter every Saturday. S. Stepnowski (no city/state)

Stan, parallel 12-volt batteries are interconnected by routing a battery cable from the positive post of one battery to the other positive post on the other battery. Same for the negative cable; negative to negative. The positive side of the load is then connected to the positive post of one battery and the negative side of the load is connected to the negative post on the other battery. That’s the best scenario for a two-battery bank.

But if you have room for two, 12-volt batteries, you will have room for two, 6-volt batteries wired in series. Typically, two 6-volt batteries wired in series will yield a little more storage capacity than two, 12-volt batteries wired in parallel; assuming the batteries have the same footprint. But it’s certainly your choice!

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