mixing wet and dry cell batteries....

[aaron7114 10+ year member]

I have heard that mixing wet and dry cell batteries isn't a good idea. I'm just wondering why? I have a small wet cell battery under by hood and a kinetik 2400 in the back by the amp right now. My voltage doesn't drop below 12.5. I'm about to purchase a small kinetik to replace my wet cell and was curious as to how much it will help going from mixing wet cell with a dry cell to just having two dry cells.

I'm prolly going to get the kinetik 600 so it wont be a whole lot bigger that the battery I have under the hood right now but it will be dry cell instead of wet. How much of a difference does it make?

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[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

Not a whole lot....the main difference IMO is the resting voltage of the two batteries. The dry cell depending on what you buy, can have a higher resting voltage than the wet cell and be drained down to the resting voltage of the wet cell when wired together.

 

[snoopdan 5,000+ posts]

absolutely no difference in the performance of your setup. zero. zilch. none.

 

[aaron7114 10+ year member]

why does everyone talk about how bad it is to mix them then?

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

why does everyone talk about how bad it is to mix them then?

because they do not understand the differences in them....then when one person says not good they jump on the band wagon

 

[aaron7114 10+ year member]

kinetik doesn't recommend mixing them either.

 

[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

kinetik doesn't recommend mixing them either.

and ford doesn't recommend you buy a chevy to park in the same garage.....

 

[UNDERGROUND_BUM 10+ year member]

you will be fine mixing dry/wet......... its not the best idea but it will work.

the only problem is that if you leave your car for about a month and dont drive they could be drained

 

[jrwalte 10+ year member]

The only reason I see is as Dman said, dry cells like to rest 12.8 +. Wet cells are much lower. This will place a constant drain on your wet cell to charge your dry cell when parked and it won't be at full charge, which will cause it to die faster.

Dry cells supposedly place less strain on your alt, too.

 

[bass-aholic 10+ year member]

you will be fine mixing dry/wet......... its not the best idea but it will work.the only problem is that if you leave your car for about a month and dont drive they could be drained

umm if that happens your batteries are shot....there is no reason they would be drained....

 

[audiolife 5,000+ posts]

umm if that happens your batteries are shot....there is no reason they would be drained....

umm yes it will just like 1 single bad/indifferent cell in battery. the effect is called leaching. if its a daily driver i wouldnt worry so much as i have ran agm and wet cells for over a year and stock battery with 2 wet cell deep cycles for years prior to that. if you leave the car parked for days/weeks and you know you wont be driving remove the fuses between the batteries.