Charging With a Three Battery System.

How to properly use your three battery system.

This article will guide you how to use a NOCO GEN On-Board Charger to maintain a three battery system. When using the multiple banks of the NOCO GEN Series you can monitor a vehicle's battery system’s activity, and provide safe, fast, and efficient charging of Wet, Gel, AGM, and Maintenance Free batteries. Continuing reading for our guide on how to properly use a three battery system for your boat, RV, or generator.

Why Use A Three Battery System?

Shown here is a typical three battery system. You can see that the first bank of the NOCO GEN connects to two 6V deep-cycle batteries hooked up in series. The 12-volt battery is charged through its own bank. A great example to explain the use of this scenario would be on a watercraft. The 12-volt battery is used to start the boat’s engine, and power its accessories such as lights and radar.

Connecting The 6-Volt Deep-Cycle Batteries.

Connect the NOCO GEN negative lead to the negative terminal of battery 1. Connect the GEN positive lead to the positive terminal of battery 2. This 6V 6V series connection will produce 12-volts, but amp hours will remain the same. This system is most often used to power trolling motors.

6V 6V (in series) = 12V

In series, voltage changes, amp hours remain the same.

1

Connect Battery 1 (-) to Battery 2 ( )

2

Positive to Positive Terminal

3

Negative to Negative Terminal

Connecting the 12-Volt Starter Battery.

Connecting the NOCO GEN’s negative lead to the negative terminal of the 12-volt battery, and the positive lead to the positive terminal. This is the starter battery system, and it used to power the vehicle's start-up and native accessories.

1

Positive to Positive

2

Negative to Negative

Two Separate 12-Volt Banks.

By successfully hooking up the three batteries to the GEN charger, you have created a permanent charging solution for your vehicle or generator’s batteries. As the GEN charges each bank separately, it is important to note that each system will produce only 12-volts.

Two separate 12V banks

We hope this blog entry helps educate you on properly charging multiple battery systems with the NOCO Gen series On-Board chargers. For individuals looking for more than two banks, NOCO offers a variety of GEN chargers for your needs. You can check out our full line of On-Board chargers here. If you are looking to learn more about wiring batteries and the difference between a series and parallel connection, check out our article on the topic here.