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Old 04-13-2009, 11:53 PM   #913 (permalink)
MPaulHolmes
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wherewolf View Post
I have a question, being a noobie at this.....I've always heard that you shouldn't tap 2 of 6 volt batteries from the pack to provide 12v, presumably because you will draw them down from the pack, and the recharge won't happen correctly - a point I disagree with, because I think the electron flow will equalize all the batteries in series when the load is removed...but I could be wrong - and I digress.....
I'm no expert on this, just typing out loud! haha!

Let's imagine each battery is a waterfall. Let's also pretend there are 12 12v batteries in series.
Some of the waterfalls are 11 feet tall (11v), some are 12 feet tall (12v), and some are 13 feet tall (13v).

You are up on a mountain. You come to the first waterfall. It falls 11 feet, and then levels out. Next you hit a 13 foot waterfall after walking for a while. After that, you come to a 12 foot fall. etc...

Each waterfall doesn't care how tall the other waterfalls are around it. So, if the analogy holds, then batteries can get unbalanced, and stay unbalanced.

But how does the more current flowing through 1 waterfall than the others happen? It can happen in batteries. Hmm...
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