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Safety of battery components with generator

CompNeuroDev

Aug 24, 2020
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I have an all-electric generator (1440W continuous) and I am hooking up an additional 12V battery to it in a daisy-chain way. I got top post terminal kits made of lead (link) and am using brass battery bolt extenders on a circuit breaker (link). Given up to about 120 Amps may be flowing through the cables connecting the 12V battery, are lead and brass components going to be up to the job in terms of safety? I read those metals have lower electrical conductivity than some others (link).
 

Bluejets

Oct 5, 2014
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I think you really need to provide a circuit diagram of what you have to avoid any confusion.

The battery post terminals might be ok as the battery terminal itself is lead, but where it might let you down is how you connect to that particular terminal.
As it stands it looks like just the one bolt (maybe 5/16") and the contact area for any lug is not that great.
No details on the terminal itself as far as rating is concerned.

Your other link to other equipment is not working so who knows.
 

CompNeuroDev

Aug 24, 2020
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Thanks for the feedback @Bluejets. Here is my attempt at a circuit diagram:

G0y6W8q.png


To help clarify the post connections I took some pictures of the post terminal kit connected to a post
(pic1, pic2).
The bolts are indeed 5/16, but the terminal kit converts them to 3/8, which is needed for the size of my generator’s posts.
I will be using 2/0 AWG gauge 2ft cables between the battery and generator. 5/16 is the size the battery terminals accept, not 3/8, and there is still some looseness of the screw in the terminal
ring as seen in pic 2.
Apologies for the broken link, here is another link to the bolt extender: link.

Alternative product link is here. You mentioned contact area issues, is there a way to help that?
What types of issues could come up from that or any other element involved in the planned connections?

[Mod edited for easier reading]
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Bluejets

Oct 5, 2014
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For the convenience of others, it is best to post any photos here rather than in links where one has to search other sites.

Your circuit diagram doesn't make sense as it has two battery supplies with their negatives tied together and a circuit breaker across the two positives which would only serve to join the two supplies together without any load.

Does one battery represent your generator...??
 

CompNeuroDev

Aug 24, 2020
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@Bluejets thanks for the follow-up.
The part of the circuit diagram that is labeled “generator battery” is a generator that has a battery in it. The generator will output power to devices using the two batteries as power sources.
The purpose of connecting the two batteries together is to increase the battery capacity of the generator.
The negative terminal of the battery connecting to the negative of the generator is the correct connection arrangement in my understanding.
The circuit breaker is included to protect the additional battery if a power overload were to occur.
 
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Harald Kapp

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A picture is worth a thousand words. Even more so a good schematic. Put the diagram inline using the image button in the menu. This saves others from following links to who-knows-where.
 

davenn

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Sep 5, 2009
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A picture is worth a thousand words. Even more so a good schematic. Put the diagram inline using the image button in the menu. This saves others from following links to who-knows-where.

I did the edit
 
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