There are two ways to view a mighty river, or a small stream for that matter. We could focus on the volume of the water, or the speed with which the current ripples past. Electricity works similarly, although in this case ‘current’ is the flow of the charge, while ‘volts’ are the pressure forcing it through the circuit. We share how to adapt the power in lead-acid batteries, by altering these factors to suit our needs.
Adapting the Power in Lead-Acid Batteries
It stands to reason we will need more than one battery to increase either the voltage, or the current. Although we can’t do both to a particular battery at the same time, as we shall see.
- Imagine battery voltage corresponds to the pressure of water in a garden hose.
- Imagine battery amperage corresponds to the diameter of that same garden hose.
We can calculate the wattage of a battery, by multiplying the voltage by the amperage. However, there is an upper limit to these numbers, determined by the individual battery chemistry. But, this situation changes if we bring another battery into play, although the outcome depends on the way we connect the power in lead-acid batteries.
Connecting Lead-Acid Batteries in Series and Parallel
We connect batteries in series when we join them positive-to-negative, and so on in a single string. The total voltage increments, although this does not increase the overall energy. We simply increase the pressure under which the current flows.
However, that situation changes if we connect the batteries in parallel along multiple paths. We do so by connecting all the positive terminals together, and all the negative ones in two separate strings. In this instance, we increment the total amperage, although the voltage is not affected.
The correct series and / or parallel circuit depends on our intention. Do we want to add the voltages together to increment the power of our lead-acid batteries, or increase the current flowing through the external circuit?
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Series and Parallel Battery Connections
