#1
IP: 71.200.119.246
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using a4 alt to charge house batteries
I currently have a small solar panel that maintians the charge on the twin marine batteries that I use for my house power. Is there a way, say, by wiring the house batteries to the Vreg from the engine, that I can use the alternator's charging power to recharge the other batteries? The solar panel has an external regulator, but I believe it would be quickly overloaded by the alternator.
James |
#2
IP: 24.74.200.178
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I have my batteries charged by the alternator/VR via the battery selecter switch. I also have a 60 W panel that runs to a small charge controller then to the #1 bat. Never had any issues. Elecrical is not my best field so hopefully others will chime in. Dan S/V Marian Claire
Last edited by Marian Claire; 03-31-2013 at 02:25 PM. |
#3
IP: 128.183.140.38
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What you want is something called a charge combiner. It will connect the batteries together when charging, and isolate them the rest of the time.
There are several different types, from a simple relay style one (often sold in WM), to a simple set of high-current isolation diodes (which can cause voltage drop issues), to fancy low voltage-drop electronic ones that have the best of all worlds but cost (lookup Hellroaring Technologies to see one of the better examples of this). Selection criteria are:
The thing you absolutely want to look for in a charge combiner is that it is automatic! The last thing you need is to wake-up one morning and find that both your house and starting banks are dead because you left a manual combiner turned on! EDIT: Link to Hellroaring Technologies
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@(^.^)@ Ed 1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita" with rebuilt Atomic-4 Last edited by edwardc; 04-01-2013 at 01:50 PM. |
#4
IP: 206.125.176.5
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Quote:
On the other side of the isolator, I have a Gr 24 start battery, and two Gr 29 batteries stacked together as the house bank. I also have a small solar panel with regulator & alligator clips..My standard practice has been to simply swap this from one battery bank to the other each visit to the boat. The little cheap regulators that go with solar panels will NOT handle the alternator...mine is max rated at 7 amps...good thing my 3.2 watt solar panel churns out a whopping ~220 mA.
__________________
-Shawn "Holiday" - '89 Alura 35 #109 "Twice Around" - '77 C-30, #511 with original A-4 & MMI manifold - SOLD! (no longer a two boat owner!!) |
#5
IP: 71.200.119.246
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Quote:
james |
#6
IP: 128.183.140.38
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Quote:
From what you've written, it sounds like you have two "marine" batteries in parallel for your house bank. I'm assuming there is a smaller, dedicated, starter battery for the engine. Questions about your setup:
And some questions about what you want from the system:
All of these will affect the type of charging system you want. The charge combiner is just one piece of the system. The very simplest system is probably a manual Off-1-Both-2 switch. It is cheap, gives you lots of flexibility, but suffers from the big flaw that you must remember to manually switch it from "Both" to just the house bank after you're done motoring. It also allows the big DC transients at starting to effect all of the electronics. The more complicated but fully automated system would use one of the two-sided Hellroaring combiner/isolators to use all charging sources to charge all batteries, while still keeping the engine/start battery isolated from the house bank and all the electronics. And then there are hybrid systems that use the 4-way switch and a combiner/isolator. Take a look at some of the circuits on the Hellroaring page: Simple starting battery isolation More complicated isolation And I strongly suggest you get & read the battery chapter in Nigel Caulder's book.
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@(^.^)@ Ed 1977 Pearson P-323 "Dolce Vita" with rebuilt Atomic-4 |
#7
IP: 206.125.176.5
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+1! An excellent reference. This is the equivelant of the Moyer Manual for the rest of your boat.
__________________
-Shawn "Holiday" - '89 Alura 35 #109 "Twice Around" - '77 C-30, #511 with original A-4 & MMI manifold - SOLD! (no longer a two boat owner!!) |
#8
IP: 76.68.255.63
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Can someone tell me the characteristics of this battery charger for wet batteries?
For example will it supply a different rate of charge to each battery according to its needs? |
#9
IP: 24.152.131.153
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Quote:
Each output is capable of 5 amps output only. They call it a 10 amp charger because it has two independent 5 amp outputs. Fuzzy math if you ask me. Because of the staging you are not supposed to have a load on the batteries during charging, it throws the stages out of whack. Hope this helps
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Neil 1977 Catalina 30 San Pedro, California prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22 Had my hands in a few others |
#10
IP: 76.68.255.63
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Great! Thank you. I have two batteries.
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#11
IP: 68.204.97.187
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Quote:
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#12
IP: 76.68.255.63
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Quote:
Were you out with Jack Daniels last night? |
#13
IP: 24.152.131.153
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I can't speak for Hanley but my interpretation was the "no load on the batteries during charging" requirement was the issue. That means no lights, refrigeration, blower, radio, instruments, nuthin', total dark territory during the charging stages.
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Neil 1977 Catalina 30 San Pedro, California prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22 Had my hands in a few others |
#14
IP: 76.7.135.1
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Same interpretation here.
On a personal note I find the "Jack Daniels" Comment uncalled for. I have had the pleasure of spending time with Hanley and he has always been thoughtful, professional and sharp as a tack. Even at 0755. Dan S/V Marian Claire |
#15
IP: 24.152.131.153
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The Jack Daniels comment made me a little uncomfortable as well. I gave him the benefit of the doubt, wrote it off as an attempt at humor.
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Neil 1977 Catalina 30 San Pedro, California prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22 Had my hands in a few others |
#16
IP: 68.204.97.187
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Allow Me to Clarify
What I mean to say is that a vessel connected to shore power when loads are present should "never" use a multi stage charger as a maintenance charger. The reason for this is that most of the multi stage chargers are keyed on voltage. Hence when a connected system experiences a load such as a refrigerator which will momentarily drop the voltage, the charger will revert to bulk charge. By the type equilibrium voltage has been restored and the refrigerator stops cycling the process is ready to repeat. The batteries thus receive consecutive blasts at very high voltage when they don't really need it. The result is battery boiling.
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#17
IP: 68.56.139.11
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Hanley, my statpower specifically says that it is to used as a power supply, while charging batteries. It is a 3 step charger.
That is what the company says. |
#18
IP: 68.204.97.187
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http://www.moyermarine.com/forums/at...1&d=1305339750 I had the Pro Sport 20 hard wired while living aboard. It wouldn't stop overcharging the batteries. Now I use the IOTA 30 constant voltage maintainer and rarely add water.
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#19
IP: 24.152.131.153
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Quote:
Reference: http://www.marinco.com/files/support...nuals/2610.pdf page 3, item 2.
__________________
Neil 1977 Catalina 30 San Pedro, California prior boats 1987 Westsail 32, 1970 Catalina 22 Had my hands in a few others |
#20
IP: 68.56.139.11
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I have not really used 12 volt power when the charger is plugged in. Only a few lights here and there. So I really cant say either way. My charger is 12 years old. The lights on the charger are strange. The 5 amp charge light stays on, and the lights never change. The batteries are always charged. I can see when it is charging, by a volt meter.
Always good to hear other people's experiences. |
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