Thread: Auxillary batteries 1 big Vs 2 small

The one most obvious downside to a large single battery vs two smaller ones imho is size. It can be more difficult to find a spot to fit one large battery, and even if you do have the space, they are really heavy and bulky to get into place and by that same token KEEP in place. It could be bad luck but the larger battery failed on me due to catastrophic failure inside (basically the plates rattled to bits inside) which is in direct relation to it's size.

Smaller batteries are easier to handle and better able to be placed in smaller places but you would need to hook them up. This means extra cables and potential for short whilst hooking them up (more cables to deal with, more battery clamps to connect/disconnect) I have always found it a bit nerve wrecking doing up the interconnects between my 3 small-ish batteries since they are short cables, thick and thus not very flexible but light enough to swing around easily by mistake and I mostly need two hands to deal with the battery clamp so I have no spare hand for the cable. This is fixable of course

Finally, occasionally not all batteries have worn in the same way so I end up with one "good" and one "bad" battery which is no good but that has been a rare occurrence.

In most applications (mobile for certain) I would opt for more smaller batteries. In stationary applications fewer bigger.

Cheers,
-P

I guess it would be important to check the specs to see if the single battery and the twin batteries could be safely discharged to the same level. Another issue might be if they could be charged at the same rate.

Woundn't 2 x smaller batteries charge quicker than a larger one for the same AH/ discharge ?