Bennett wrote:


Since the cells in each battery are in series, it seems logical, to me
at least, that charging a bunch of batteries in series is appropriate.
Or am I missing something?


** The cells in a particular battery have a great deal in common - eg same origin, age, capacity, number and level of charges and discharges.

Various 12 batteries likely have none of the above in common so charging in series will not suit more a than one of them.

In the OP's case, with all new and unused batteries of the same type, parallel charging with a fixed maximum voltage of 13.8 is the most practical method as one can use a standard charger.

Each battery will initially draw the current it needs until all are fully charged, then the current will taper off to a trickle in each.

Gel and SLA cells behave very differently to NiCd and NiMh cells.



..... Phil