Do I need to change the gauge of the wiring?

[phillipsmr]

Hi there,
Our van has been wired with a single 12v battery 75ah when I bought it. It has 12 awg wire supplying all the appliances In the van. I have recently acquire 2x110ah batteries which I want to wire in parallel to increase my storage. I was under the impression I could keep the same wiring to the appliances in the van as the output from the batteries will not be changing but I’ve been told I may need to increase the gauge of wire as the current output changes as you inc the batter bank? Could someone please help me get this right. Many thanks in advance.

 

[ProfJohnL]

If you are not changing the charger or the appliances in the caravan, then there is no need to change the wiring.

Increasing the capacity of the batteries will not change the amount of power or current you will use, and the charger will simply take longer to fully charge the batteries.

Just an aside, you do appreciate that your new2 x 110Ah battery pack will weight almost three times as much as your present single 75Ah one. This will eat into your available pay load enormously. Be carefull how you load. For your safety you should ensure they are secured so the can't move and housed so they only vent to the outside.

 

[Gafferbill]

Have a look at Simon Barlow's help sheets....................

Parallel batteries

Cable sizes

 

[Raywood]

Have to agree with the Prof, the weight of the batteries would probably be too high for the loading allowance in most caravans apart from the safety aspect.