How can I daisy chain car batteries?

[ShawnD1]

Does such a cable exist that would allow car batteries to be tied together with a good firm connection that won't fall off when a butterfly in China flaps its lead-coated wings?

Right now I just have jumper cables with the alligator type connectors. They work, but that's not the kind of connection one wants to leave for a long period of time. I'm looking for a specific name I can go to a store and ask for like "I want battery connector type A"

 

[HAL9000]

Don't
















Just don't.

 

[Farmer]

Uh, jumper cables?

What about the cables the car uses?

You want to increase capacity or voltage?

 

[Iron Woode]

Does such a cable exist that would allow car batteries to be tied together with a good firm connection that won't fall off when a butterfly in China flaps its lead-coated wings?

Right now I just have jumper cables with the alligator type connectors. They work, but that's not the kind of connection one wants to leave for a long period of time. I'm looking for a specific name I can go to a store and ask for like "I want battery connector type A"

some people use batteries to store solar energy. Try companies that do this. They would be able to recommend a way to do this.

what is the purpose of your idea?

 

[Evadman]

I use these guys. I usually make my own cables using their supplies, but they will also make them for a buck.

 

[Paul98]

Go check out car audio sites. They wire multiple batteries up all the time.

 

[ShawnD1]

Uh, jumper cables?

You want to increase capacity or voltage?

Capacity. It's for a camping trip. We have 2 camping refrigerators that pull about 5A each, and we're going to be drinking hard so we expect to be sleeping for 12 hours straight. We need the refrigerators to run for 12 hours from car batteries without running the batteries down too low (lead batteries do not like deep cycling).

It's easy to do with 3 car batteries but I don't like having jumper cables on top of jumper cables.

 

[rivan]

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...inal+connector

Those, plus a nice heavy gauge wire.

 

[sunzt]

It's easy to do with 3 car batteries but I don't like having jumper cables on top of jumper cables.

Why not?

Just parallel connect the car batteries with some good firm connectors and high enough rated cables. There's nothing wrong with this. Just turn off your cars when hooking the cables to be safe.

 

[ConwayJim]

Ice + Bucket = Cold Beer

 

[weadjust]

Put beer in cooler with ice. Replace ice and beer as necessary. Buy more beer with money you saved from not buying battery cables.

 

[summit]

why not just get a huge cooler, fill it with ice, and have another cooler with more ice?

 

[waffleironhead]

ice is cheap

 

[ShawnD1]

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...inal+connector

Those, plus a nice heavy gauge wire.

Excellent, this is exactly what I was looking for

I'm reading through some of this car audio stuff suggested. Some of the stuff these guys do to their cars is insane. They're putting battery banks in the trunk, run the amp from the battery bank, then run something like a #2 from the from the starter battery to the battery bank and use that for charging. Just throw in a big inverter and that would be the ultimate camping car :thumbsup:

ice is cheap

Ice only lasts a few hours then after that you're screwed.

 

[Tsaico]

Ice + Bucket = Cold Beer

I use dry ice, bought from my local Ralphs... lasts a lot longer

 

[MattCo]

Excellent, this is exactly what I was looking for

I'm reading through some of this car audio stuff suggested. Some of the stuff these guys do to their cars is insane. They're putting battery banks in the trunk, run the amp from the battery bank, then run something like a #2 from the from the starter battery to the battery bank and use that for charging. Just throw in a big inverter and that would be the ultimate camping car :thumbsup:




Ice only lasts a few hours then after that you're screwed.

5 days at 90 degrees?
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/subcategory.asp?categoryid=8581

 

[mcvickj]

5 days at 90 degrees?
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/subcategory.asp?categoryid=8581

I was skeptical at first about the Coleman Xtreme coolers until I purchased one last summer. They do an amazing job keeping the ice from melting and the beverages ice cold.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Diesels often run two batteries. They don't do anything special really.

 

[summit]

5 days at 90 degrees?
http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/subcategory.asp?categoryid=8581

best cooler i've owned.

 

[LTC8K6]

Just get a deep cycle battery with enough capacity and charge it up before you leave. Or get one for each fridge.

 

[ShawnD1]

I was skeptical at first about the Coleman Xtreme coolers until I purchased one last summer. They do an amazing job keeping the ice from melting and the beverages ice cold.

Look at the price.....
Also the batteries are not just for a cooler. They're used to run a power inverter and a few other electrical devices. Even without a fridge, I would still have the batteries with me.


What someone really needs to do is make a camping fridge with an adjustable compressor. It should be possible to have it jumpered to a running car and have it drawing so much power that it's making dry ice. Then we could make ice and keep it in one of those expensive coolers.

Just get a deep cycle battery with enough capacity and charge it up before you leave. Or get one for each fridge.

Deep cycle batteries are expensive and nobody owns one. Regular car batteries are cheap and everybody seems to have 2 or 3 of them laying around, ready to be used, free of charge.

 

[olds]

Yes, my work truck has 4, 12v batteries.

 

[Howard]

Excellent, this is exactly what I was looking for

Throw some high-temp antiseize on the threads and underside of the head of the clamping screw.

 

[BoomerD]

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i...cessories.html

 

[IcePickFreak]

OP is a descendant of Rube Goldberg?