Battery Bank Negative Location?

[SKMT]

With a bank of series paralleled 6v GC batteries, does it matter the location of the negative leads (to house panel, inverter, generator, engines, etc)?

For example in the attached image with yellow background, the positive is attached to the closest positive terminal, and the negative is attached to the farthest negative terminal. Conversely, in the other image the positive is attached to the closest pos terminal, and the negative is attached to the closest neg terminal as well. Is either configuration fine?

I'm asking because I have just put in a new bank and rearranged the location slightly, so the existing negative cables i have cannot reach the farthest negative terminal...they can only reach the terminal on the closest pair (as in the attached diagram with the maroon batteries).

[Dsanduril]

Theoretical or real-world?

In the theoretical world, if you connect both cables at the closest end of the chain you will withdraw/charge the different pairs differently. This is because there is additional cabling, and hence resistance, between the first pair and the second, and then from the second to the third, etc. This means that the pair closest to the load will get drawn down a little more, and charged a little more, and those furthest from the load will be the opposite.

Real world, or how much the theoretical matters depends a great deal on how you use your batteries. There are lots of installations that are wired at one end and they work fine. That wiring may or may not contribute to an earlier demise of the batteries. If you use a long, slow withdrawal and charge (so general house loads at are C/20 or less, and maybe solar recharge) then the low currents (relative to battery size) mean there won't be much difference in how the batteries get used. If you have higher loads (a big inverter, windlass, etc.) and/or higher charging currents then it may make a bigger difference. In those cases the extra resistance can result in differing voltages and thus differing states of charge. Those differing states of charge can result in uneven wear on the batteries.

In an ideal world you make the connections such that there is the same amount of cable and the same number of connections between the load/charge connection and each battery in the set so that they are all even, but boats are rarely ideal and you do what you have to do to make it all fit.

[smac999]

the yellow is the best practice way of those 2