Yandina combiner 100

[alcodiesel]

One was installed by the PO. Why do I want it?

[ndutton]

It's really up to you. It combines the battery banks under charge and separates them under load. You can do the same without it by turning the battery switch but many find turning the switch (pick one or more):

1. hard to remember
2. more than they want to remember
3. confusing
4. risky with handsy guests

On the downside, the combiner may add voltage drop to the charging circuit, may sacrifice charging current for its own operation and adds an additional failure point into the system.

[Al Schober]

I had a similar unit. I think it's a voltage sensitive relay, and some manufacturers refer to them as a VSR. As a relay, it has contacts that close and will introduce minimal voltage drop.
In my system the alternator output went directly to the house bank. As the house bank came up to a certain voltage (12.8 or so?) the VSR would close and send charge current to the start battery. As both banks came up towards full charge, the alternator controller would take over and start to reduce field current, limiting charge voltage.
I liked the way the system worked.

[sastanley]

I have a diode based 'mechanical' combiner. It is nice to not have to worry about switching batteries. I set it #1 (House), and don't futz with it.
As Neil noted, my unit's cost is 0.7v of charge voltage, so I compensate with an adjustable regulator..additionally, it splits the amperage across the banks..so I am never seeing more than 9 or 10 amps going in on my Blue Seas ammeter..but my loads are low..the most power hungry thing on my boat is charging the iPad. If I turn on every interior light, I am at -0.8 amps.

edit - the most power hungry appliance is the fresh water pump, or probably the ST-2000, at about 4 amps , but I rarely use the tiller pilot when we are sailing..it is a 'drive the boat straight across the Bay' tool on a hot/windless summer day.

[Dave Neptune]

I had no refrigeration so I usually left the battery switch to both. If I was staying at Catalina for more that 4 days I would switch to house. I never ran my batteries down enough that the engine would not start leaving the switch on house even after 4 days. I would switch to both before starting and never really worried about it. I had a pair of 6V 225's for the house and a single #27 deep cycle for start. Also I used the stock alt and would start the engine to get off the mooring and sail off most of the time, once out of the mooring field I would kill the A-4 and switch the batteries to house as I usually let Ray drive home and wanted the confidence that there was enough left in the "start bank" to get me running again once in the harbor. I also seldom used any type of battery charger in the slip. I left the batteries in a weak condition until the next weekend when I would again motor over (4~5 hours) which would charge the batteries back up for the weekend or longer ~ repeat ~ repeat.

My batteries would last 5~7 years. Did this for 34 years. The A-4 does not require much amperage to start with an EI so I did not worry about it.

Not the best treatment of the system and yet no trouble.

Dave Neptune

[sastanley]

Dave, my boat has never had any 110v service or battery chargers. I have a 30 watt solar panel on the house, and a 10 watt on the start batt...they always have the batteries at 100% the next time we come down to the boat.

I didn't realize they were this old, but I just replaced the two Gr29 house batteries this summer..the date stamp was 2011!!

[joe_db]

That is a battery combiner that looks like an older version of what Yandina sells now. Their website had a lot of info on their various combiners and manuals for them.
I have a combiner from a different company and it works well. Are you having a problem with it?

[alcodiesel]

Yeah. Maybe. Maybe not. Attached is the weird charging of my Batts. Up and down for whatever reason. Load is unchanged, sitting at the dock. Then it'll charge a little over 13v for days, weeks, then start this sawtooth thing. Or it's an EKG thing and it thinks it's alive.

I am wondering if it's the combiner or the charger or nothing or something else.

[joe_db]

Yeah. Maybe. Maybe not. Attached is the weird charging of my Batts. Up and down for whatever reason. Load is unchanged, sitting at the dock. Then it'll charge a little over 13v for days, weeks, then start this sawtooth thing. Or it's an EKG thing and it thinks it's alive.

I am wondering if it's the combiner or the charger or nothing or something else.

What kind of charger do you have? That does not look like a combiner issue.

[alcodiesel]

Marinco 5x5

[joe_db]

I would run that test without the charger. Mine has a maintenance mode where it drops to a low float, around 13 volts, if it never sees any loads and pules up to 14.something every now and then.

[alcodiesel]

Thanks Joe.

That's what this is doing but erratically.

It'll pulse 13 up to 14ish every hour for weeks then not do it for weeks. Load stays the same.

I'll write Marinco.