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bubblerboy64

03-20-2008, 13:40
I guess the battery isn't stupid but rather its owner but I am a
little turned around on this. I have four batteries in my system
hooked in series. They are 6 volts batteries producing 12 volts
(right?) Now if I want to charge them directly (not by plugging in
the shore line of the bus) Can I disconnect the positive lead and
connect my battery charger to the bank of batteries, positive lead to
the positive terminal on the first battery and negative lead to the
negative terminal on the last battery in series? And then what do I
set the charger on 6 volts or 12 volts? Why am I doing this you
ask? I am not certain if my house charging system is working and I
want to work around it so that I know that I have a fully charged
battery bank and then drive the bus tomorrow. If the batteries stay
charged I know the bus is charging the batteries on the road. I am
trying to separate out systems so I can start to figure out my
problem. I assume the batteries are done for but if they would take
a charge directly off the charger perhaps not. And if I get new
batteries I'd like to know that the rest of the system is in order.
Any information or direction towards information would be
appreciated. Much to learn.

John Heckman
central Pa
1973 FC

mbulriss

03-20-2008, 13:57
John,

Not sure how you are wired, but on my 83 PT, the batteries were
actually hooked in series and parallel fashion. Four six volt
batteries, each pair of two hooked in series to form 12 volts, and
then the two series hooked in parallel.

In that case, then yes, you can hook up the 12 volt battery charger to
the end battery positive and negative connections. On the PT there
were jumper studs on the door frame to hook jumper cables to so you
didn't even have to touch the batteries.

You shouldn't need to disconnect cables to charge them. You wouldn't
disconnect them to have your on-board charger charge them when plugged
into shore power.

Hope this helps,

Mike Bulriss
1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan"
San Antonio, TX

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "bubblerboy64"
wrote:
>
> I guess the battery isn't stupid but rather its owner but I am a
> little turned around on this. I have four batteries in my system
> hooked in series. They are 6 volts batteries producing 12 volts
> (right?) Now if I want to charge them directly (not by plugging in
> the shore line of the bus) Can I disconnect the positive lead and
> connect my battery charger to the bank of batteries, positive lead to
> the positive terminal on the first battery and negative lead to the
> negative terminal on the last battery in series? And then what do I
> set the charger on 6 volts or 12 volts? Why am I doing this you
> ask? I am not certain if my house charging system is working and I
> want to work around it so that I know that I have a fully charged
> battery bank and then drive the bus tomorrow. If the batteries stay
> charged I know the bus is charging the batteries on the road. I am
> trying to separate out systems so I can start to figure out my
> problem. I assume the batteries are done for but if they would take
> a charge directly off the charger perhaps not. And if I get new
> batteries I'd like to know that the rest of the system is in order.
> Any information or direction towards information would be
> appreciated. Much to learn.
>
> John Heckman
> central Pa
> 1973 FC
>

dpinkowski@...>

03-20-2008, 14:09
John,

Put a volt meter on the batteries with the engine running. It should read >12V,
probably around 14V. The meter will only read 12V with the engine off (and
obviously disconnected from shore power)

Dave

>From: mbulriss <mbulriss@...>
>Date: 2008/03/20 Thu PM 07:57:06 CDT
>To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: Stupid Battery question

>
>John,
>
>Not sure how you are wired, but on my 83 PT, the batteries were
>actually hooked in series and parallel fashion. Four six volt
>batteries, each pair of two hooked in series to form 12 volts, and
>then the two series hooked in parallel.
>
>In that case, then yes, you can hook up the 12 volt battery charger to
>the end battery positive and negative connections. On the PT there
>were jumper studs on the door frame to hook jumper cables to so you
>didn't even have to touch the batteries.
>
>You shouldn't need to disconnect cables to charge them. You wouldn't
>disconnect them to have your on-board charger charge them when plugged
>into shore power.
>
>Hope this helps,
>
>Mike Bulriss
>1991 WB40 "Texas Minivan"
>San Antonio, TX
>
>--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "bubblerboy64"
>wrote:
>>
>> I guess the battery isn't stupid but rather its owner but I am a
>> little turned around on this. I have four batteries in my system
>> hooked in series. They are 6 volts batteries producing 12 volts
>> (right?) Now if I want to charge them directly (not by plugging in
>> the shore line of the bus) Can I disconnect the positive lead and
>> connect my battery charger to the bank of batteries, positive lead to
>> the positive terminal on the first battery and negative lead to the
>> negative terminal on the last battery in series? And then what do I
>> set the charger on 6 volts or 12 volts? Why am I doing this you
>> ask? I am not certain if my house charging system is working and I
>> want to work around it so that I know that I have a fully charged
>> battery bank and then drive the bus tomorrow. If the batteries stay
>> charged I know the bus is charging the batteries on the road. I am
>> trying to separate out systems so I can start to figure out my
>> problem. I assume the batteries are done for but if they would take
>> a charge directly off the charger perhaps not. And if I get new
>> batteries I'd like to know that the rest of the system is in order.
>> Any information or direction towards information would be
>> appreciated. Much to learn.
>>
>> John Heckman
>> central Pa
>> 1973 FC
>>
>
>

Pete Masterson

03-20-2008, 14:50
Not a stupid question at all. For a grand discussion see the Poop Sheets by Phred at:
<http://www.phrannie.org/phredex.html> and look at #5. Batteries and Other Electrical Stuff.
The house electrical system is 12 volts. If you have four 6-volt batteries you have 2 pairs wired in series and the pairs wired in parallel so you have the equivalent of two 12-volt battery equivalents.
If you carefully study the way they're wired together, you'll see the set up.
You can disconnect the positive wire from the set, then attach a 12-volt charger to the main positive/negative cables and charge all at once (if the charger can handle the load). Or, you can isolate each battery and charge then one at a time at 6 volts. Or, you can separate the pairs and charge them as pairs at 12 volts.
The older 'birds have notorious 'battery boiler' chargers, so you may wish to look into a modern "3 -stage" charger. Iota is a good brand.
Since you're trying to trouble shoot an electrical problem, you may have one or more bad batteries. A single 'shorted' cell in this set up could bring all the batteries down or keep them from charging correctly. In view of that possiblity, I'd first check the status of the batteries with a hydrometer and use a multi-tester to check the individual voltage of each battery.
Pete Masterson
'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
El Sobrante CA
"aeonix1@mac.com"
On Mar 20, 2008, at 5:40 PM, bubblerboy64 wrote:
I guess the battery isn't stupid but rather its owner but I am a 
little turned around on this. I have four batteries in my system 
hooked in series. They are 6 volts batteries producing 12 volts 
(right?) Now if I want to charge them directly (not by plugging in 
the shore line of the bus) Can I disconnect the positive lead and 
connect my battery charger to the bank of batteries, positive lead to 
the positive terminal on the first battery and negative lead to the 
negative terminal on the last battery in series?  And then what do I 
set the charger on 6 volts or 12 volts?  Why am I doing this you 
ask?  I am not certain if my house charging system is working and I 
want to work around it so that I know that I have a fully charged 
battery bank and then drive the bus tomorrow.  If the batteries stay 
charged I know the bus is charging the batteries on the road. I am 
trying to separate out systems so I can start to figure out my 
problem.  I assume the batteries are done for but if they would take 
a charge directly off the charger perhaps not. And if I get new 
batteries I'd like to know that the rest of the system is in order.  
Any information or direction towards information would be 
appreciated. Much to learn.  
John Heckman
central Pa
1973 FC 
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