'serial' vs 'parallel' battery packs?

weedle256 · Oct 4, 2006

Do I have this right???

Let's say I have 6 NiMH 1.2v (2500Mah) batteries and line them up like this:

-+-+-+-+-+-+
where they are 6 in series
I wind up with 6x1.2v or 7.2v but still have 2500 Mah.

If I line them up like this:
-+-+-+
-+-+-+
where they are 2 parallel, 3 series (right??)
Then I get 3x1.2 or 3.6v but now have 5000 Mah (right?)

For example, I have a light that runs on 1 R123. It's really bright for 15 minutes, then slowly peeters out for the next 45 minutes.

Would I get better runtime (bright) if I hooked it up to a 2p3s battery pack?

Alin10123 · Oct 4, 2006

You are correct in your illustrations.
You would get better runtimes if you did that with a typical battery pack. So it shouldn't be a problem as long as you observe the typical cautions associated with unprotected lithium cells.

davidefromitaly · Oct 4, 2006

weedle256 said:
Do I have this right???

Let's say I have 6 NiMH 1.2v (2500Mah) batteries and line them up like this:

-+-+-+-+-+-+
where they are 6 in series
I wind up with 6x1.2v or 7.2v but still have 2500 Mah.

If I line them up like this:
-+-+-+
-+-+-+
where they are 2 parallel, 3 series (right??)
Then I get 3x1.2 or 3.6v but now have 5000 Mah (right?)

For example, I have a light that runs on 1 R123. It's really bright for 15 minutes, then slowly peeters out for the next 45 minutes.

Would I get better runtime (bright) if I hooked it up to a 2p3s battery pack?

isn' a good idea to put ni-mh or ni-cd batteries in parallel, especially during the charge

Alin10123 · Oct 4, 2006

davidefromitaly said:
isn' a good idea to put ni-mh or ni-cd batteries in parallel, especially during the charge

Parallel is fine during the charge for NiMh as long as the battery charger is made for battery packs.

weedle256 · Oct 4, 2006

I have one of those 'Universal Smart Chargers' so that should be okay. It works great for serial battery packs.

So what about the hazards of this? Assuming all of the batteries are good, will hooking them up in parallel add any risk?

turbodog · Oct 4, 2006

The cells need to be as close as you can get them. Same batch, pack, etc would be nice.

If you want to be paranoid, I'd put a fuse between the packs.

Only potential problem with charging in parallel is that the increased capacity will overheat the charger due to the long charge cycle.

davidefromitaly · Oct 5, 2006

Alin10123 said:
Parallel is fine during the charge for NiMh as long as the battery charger is made for battery packs.

you risk to blow the battery with the lower voltage, cause it will take more current. ni-mh and ni-cd aren't like li-ion that have all the same max voltage, in ni-mh and ni-cd the voltage can be slightly different, especially when they are old

is like you put in parallel a TW0J and a TW0L lux III, what you think take more current?

'serial' vs 'parallel' battery packs?

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