Battery Voltage

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Little Bill

Little Bill

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These 4 batteries are 12V each. Given how they are connected, what is the output voltage?
I know what it is but trying to convince a customer who disagrees. Of course I'm not there to show him with a meter.

 
I cant tell + and - terminals.
If its how I suspect, 24v between extreme terminals top to bottom.
2 batteries in series parallel to 2 batteries in series.

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Shaneyj said:
I cant tell + and - terminals.


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Looking at the pic as it's displayed, the top end of each battery is the +
Or if you were standing to the left and looking down at the batteries, the + is on the left of each battery
 
So the two batteries on the left are in series to give 24V, and the two batteries on the right are also in series to give 24v.
Then the top and bottom horizontal jumpers put these two 24V sources in parallel. Therefore there is 24V between the very top and the very bottom terminals. Which I think is the same thing Shaneyj has said.
 
Little Bill said:
These 4 batteries are 12V each. Given how they are connected, what is the output voltage?
I know what it is but trying to convince a customer who disagrees. Of course I'm not there to show him with a meter.

Click to expand...
What does the customer think?

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Little Bill said:
He's adding the batteries together as if those were all in series, thinking 48V. He has no electrical background and is hard to explain to him via phone or email.
Click to expand...
Maybe telling him to achieve 48v would require leaving an open terminal at the extreme ends would convince him.
The radial connection narrows down the possibilities.
Or the top (red) and bottom (black) cables equalize the potential referenced side to side not allowing for more than 24V.
But likely you've made similar or same attempts to explain.



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Little Bill said:
He's adding the batteries together as if those were all in series, thinking 48V. He has no electrical background and it is hard to explain to him via phone or email.
Click to expand...

In a sense the 4 batteries are all in series in a closed loop. However, the battery polarities are not arranged so that they all add up to 48V.

As an example that might help, let's assume for a moment that we did have the batteries in series with polarities such they add up to 48V, but with the bottom jumper not connected. If we then connect the bottom jumper we will be shorting out the 48V battery formed by the other three jumpers. Not a good thing.
Of course if the customer really wants 48V then it can be wired that way. But will only provide 1/2 the ampere-hours that it will with the existing connection providing a 24V output.
 
Thanks guys!
Hopefully between an in-person visit with my meter and adding to my already given explanation to him, he will grasp it.
 
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