How to connect a battery in Parallel to Extend Runtime
If you need your battery to supply longer runtime you can hook batteries in “parallel”.
In order to do this you connect the positive terminal of the first battery to the positive terminal of the second battery, the positive terminal of the second is connected to the positive of the third, etc.
The negative terminal of the first battery is connected to the negative terminal of the second battery, the negative terminal of the second is connected to the negative of the third, etc.
The batteries are connected: + to + to + and - to - to -. In this configuration, the capacity is the sum of the capacities of the individual batteries and voltage is unchanged. For example, if you take 5 6V 10AH batteries and connect the batteries in “series”, you would end up with a battery array that is 30 Volts and 10AH.
If you connect the batteries in “parallel”, you would end up with a battery array that is 6 Volts and 50AH.
By the way, this is how ordinary auto batteries are made. 6 2volt cells are put in series to give 12v battery and the 6 cells are just enclosed in one case. Many Ni-cad batteries are also done the same way.
Written by
Ken