dual battery wiring issues

bljones · Post by **bljones** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 4:08 pm

scratching my head over this one- my 181 is ex-military. the upside is that it has a limited-slip tranny... the downside is that it is wired for dual batteries, with battery hold downs onboth left and right rear pans. the wiring (for the most part) was still installed as factory in the car, at least as far as passing through bulkheads- but, as the car was dissassembled when i got it, all the wiring from the rear of the car, after it passes through the fire wall, was simply bundled up and packed in a garbage bag! so, it is hunt and sort time. how much more difficult is it to retain the dual batteries, and is there any advantage? all the wiring diagrams i have seen have been for standard 181s, so i am treading into unknown territory. anyone able to help?

thinger · Post by **thinger** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 4:20 pm

I've heard that some military vehicles run 24 volts. Is yours 12 or 24 volts? If it's twelve, you need to wire the batteries in parallel - plus to plus, ground to ground. If it's 24, they should be in series - ground wire to one battery, that battery's wire to negative on second battery, plus on second battery to everything that needs power.

As far as how the wires are routed, I can't help any.

bljones · Post by **bljones** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 4:43 pm

everything, accessory-wise is 12 volt, so i am going to assume it is 12 volt throughout. i figure the extra battery was there to aid in running extra radios, and your parallel wiring advice explains why i have lots of battery cables in this garbage bag full of wiring! thanks for the help.

Sysyphus · Post by **Sysyphus** » Fri Jun 07, 2002 12:39 pm

One advantage to running dual batteries is that you can run the heater without the worry of draining the battery.

Jim Andritsakos · Post by **Jim Andritsakos** » Sat Jun 29, 2002 4:44 am

Hello!

Well, only radio equipped 181s came with dual batteries.They have them back of the rear seat.Also they have a 24 volt generator in the engine compartment who is running with a extra pulley.

Wiring diagrams are available...

Rgds,
Jim

bljones · Post by **bljones** » Sat Jun 29, 2002 7:07 pm

weird- wonder why my beast has battery hold downs and ground straps on both pans?