RE: parallel packs?

["Naugler, Steve" <SNaugler Rodel com>]

MAX,
        GE offered a second battery box accessory.  It was placed where the
weight box would go.  You would use that in place of the weight box or 
alone
for more battery life if weight wasn't needed.  It held 3 x 12V batteries
that were wired in parallel with the main set of 6 x 6V batteries.  GE
engineers evidently did not worry about charge imbalance, but that was 20+
years ago.

Steve Naugler        ex:  6597        pager:  433-5961

> ----------
> From:         Max Hall[SMTP:maxo iname com]
> Sent:         Saturday, January 02, 1999 7:32 PM
> To:   elec-trak discussion list
> Subject:      parallel packs?
> 
> Happy New Year, everyone!
> 
> We're finally getting our snow up here in the NE, and that means it's 
> time
> to throw snow with the E-15. Huzzah!
> 
> I have a battery back question. First, some background.
> 
> I am running on an old sextet of batteries (6 years and a lot of sitting
> and
> they still perform admirably.  Fine. Next item.
> 
> I didn't have a weight box attachment, so, for counterweighting, I built
> what looks like a back porch on the tractor to support some serious heft.
> During construction, it occured to me that instead of using cement blocks
> or
> what all, I could have counterweights that deliver power. I have another
> set
> of 6V cells (Trojans that would fit the E15 both physically and
> electrically) that came from an EV that wanted fresh batts. (They are in
> good shape, as measured by a DVM.)
> 
> Anyway, here's the nub: should a person put a second pack of batts in
> PARALELL with the first, or should I SEPARATE the circuits to make the
> traction pack drive the tractor, and the second pack just do the thrower?
> (If the circuits are separated, I would be able to use a set of 350A
> contactors from another project to drive that great big two-state 
> device.)
> 
> Larry Elie's (delightful and interesting) thoughts on the phenomenon of
> cell
> imbalance didn't seem to me to favor either method.
> 
> Thanks for your thoughts, folks. Here's to playing with great big 36v 
> toys
> in the snow.
> 
> - Max Hall
> - www.maxmatic.com
> 
> 
> 
>