silly question ???

[dean w]

Hi all I was thinking if I have two 4ah batterys and join them together will that give me 8 ah or just 4 ah thanks for any replys cheers dean w

[Ags]

Depends how you join them together. In parallel you will have the same voltage but twice the current and the batteries will run dry in the same time, but if you connect them in series you will have twice the voltage and the batteries will last twice as long if you have the same draw on them.

At least... I think that is how it works :-) Somebody who has been at school a little more recently will no doubt be along to correct me.

[Extreme Fencer]

In parallel will give you 8ah@the battery voltage.

In series you will double the voltage. Be careful,

If you short the battery terminals lots of sparks and You could cause an explosion.

A 12volt battery has enough power to melt a spanner if put across the terminals.

[dean w]

Could. You explain what you mean by paralle and series! I know nothing about electrics only that it hurts when you touch the wrong wire chhers dean w

[Ags]

Series - connected end-to-end, the plus end of one connected to the minus end of the next. This increased the voltage. For example in my SE mount there are 8 1.5 volt batteries connected in series, giving 8 * 1.5 = 12V of power. As I understand it, the Amperage remains constant.

Parallel: the wire going into the battery box splits into branches and is connected to all the - terminals. The wires from the + terminals are all connected together and go out of the battery box, completing the circuit. The voltage stays the same, but the amperage goes up.

What is volts? It is the energy of each electron in the circuit.

What is Amps? It is the number of electrons flowing through the circuit per second.

[dean w]

Thank you its nice to be able to ask silly questions and be able to understand the answers I now know what paralle and series mean cheers ags

[Ags]

What I know about electricity is dangerous... once I was wiring a switch and I just kind of sort of forgot to disconnect the mains. I was testing the connection of two brass bits inside the switch and when I placed the brass prong of the voltmeter (or whatever) on brass bit B of the switch there was a huge flash centimeters from my face and an enormous bang. The voltmeter (or whatever) was dead and I learned my lesson - if it's more than 12 volts, call an electrician!

The bang was so bad there was a crater left behind in brass bit B. I was shaking for hours afterwards.

[scuffer]

Join them parallel , if you connect them serially you will damage your equipment , the batteries will last twice as long in parallel than if just one was connected .

[Ags]

Depends on the equipment - my SE mount needs the batteries connected in series for example. You do need to know how much voltage and current you are putting into the circuit and what it is designed to handle. I think both serial and parallel can cause problems.

[Patrice Lanteigne]

Ags,

I don't mean to be condescending but you might want to refrain from advising on this topic.

The OP's mount requires 12 volts. If his batteries are 12 volts then connecting them in series, as you advised, will damage his equipment.

[Ags]

Ags,

I don't mean to be condescending but you might want to refrain from advising on this topic.

The OP's mount requires 12 volts. If his batteries are 12 volts then connecting them in series, as you advised, will damage his equipment.

I don't see anywhere where he says what he wants to use the batteries for. I used my mount as an example, where the 8 batteries are connected in series to deliver 12V! And I specifically stated that any arrangement of batteries, parallel or serial, could cause problems if the delivered voltage or amperage was not matched to the equipment. So I don't see where you are coming from.

[Ags]

Found this useful link:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/serial_and_parallel_battery_configurations

[dean w]

Thank you everyone I think I will just look for a bigger amp hour battery to power my mount

[steppenwolf]

Can I just mention a potential (ooops pun!) risk when connecting high amperage capacity batteries in parallel - if one battery is more discharged that the other, current will flow from the higher charged battery to the lower charged one with possible nasty consequences in the form of melted cables and the risk of sufficient heat to cause a fire. Batteries used in parallel require careful management to ensure that they are well matched at all times.

[Ags]

On the subject of bad ideas and batteries, what would happen if I bought 1000 AA batteries and connected them in series? Would I really get 1500V, or would the batteries blow like popcorn... Given the high current and the internal resistance of the batteries (0.1 ohm at 40 degrees) I'm betting on fireworks!

[Jessun]

Would I really get 1500V

Yup, pretty sure you would, and since the current is low - no bigger from the combined lot than from a single one - there's no popping either . It's safer to increase voltage than amps to pack the same punch.

/Jesper