Hello listers, I have a question.
I want to hook up two 12 volt batteries to give extra cranking power to
my BJ8. I want to end up with the equivalent of a large 12 volt battery
without frying my electrical system. There are two ways I can think of to
do it but I am not sure which one, if either is correct.
I could connect the positive cable from my car to the positive terminal
of one battery. Then connect the negative cable from my car to the
negative terminal of the OTHER battery. To complete the circuit I would
then run a cable from the unused positive terminal on one battery to the
unused negative terminal on the OTHER battery. I think this would suit
the purpose, but not remembering my college electrical physics I don't
want to chance it without some expert advice from you folks. The car is
now a negative ground if that plays into this.
The other way to do it, which I think is not the correct way, is to cable
the two batteries together -- positive to positive and negative to
negative then attach the car cables as usual, positive cable to a
positive terminal and the negative cable to a negative terminal. I don't
guess it matters which terminal goes to which battery as long as the
polarity is correct. But I think this would create 24 volts and be a
disaster.
I don't know if either, neither or both of these methods would give me
the desired results. As stated before, my electrical knowledge leaves a
lot to be desired.
Any advice would be sincerely appreciated.
Rob Fromm
bj8healey@juno.com
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