[C320-list] Re: [catalina320] starter battery

[Darrell]

Thank Jeff, a local marine electric shop mentioned the same plan , using a 
smaller trickle charger for the starter battery and the larger charger just 
for the house bank. I guess I thought it more complicated than need be. 
Should I wire the smaller trickle charger to the AC side of the panel 
separately or could I tie into one of the AC outlets, Darrell
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeff Church" <jjemail at comcast.net>
To: "C320-List" <C320-List at catalina320.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 8:29 AM
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Re: [catalina320] starter battery


> Darrell,
>
> It sounds like you probably missed this part of the discussion relative to 
> your starter battery problem.
>
> JeffC
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jeff Hare" <Catalina at thehares.com>
> To: "C320-List" <C320-List at catalina320.com>
> Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 10:13 AM
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Re: [catalina320] starter battery
>
>
>> Hi Guys,
>>
>>     I'm not certain I understand the problem here, but if Bob was unsure 
>> if paralleled
>> batteries would be sensed correctly by the charger, then he's either not 
>> paying attention
>> to the question or doesn't really understand electronics.
>>
>> It is not electrically possible to tell whether you have two batteries in 
>> parallel or
>> one big battery.   You simply have a plus and minus terminal and it makes 
>> no
>> difference (in this application) whether you attach one charger wire to 
>> the Plus
>> post of each paralleled battery, or both to the same postitive post. 
>> They're electrically
>> the same point and will see identical characteristics.
>>
>> Also, regarding the overcharging,  it may be possible to overcharge the 
>> starting
>> battery, but this situation is more likely to happen if you run your main 
>> house
>> batteries down low on a regular basis, because the charger will remain in 
>> bulk
>> charge mode longer than the starting battery needs.  If this happens from 
>> time
>> to time, there shouldn't be any real damage other than the starting 
>> battery might
>> not last quite as long as it could.  Batteries are kind of self 
>> regulating when charging
>> in that they will only accept as much current as they need, so it's not 
>> like the starting
>> battery will be accepting the same amount of charge current as the large 
>> bank.
>>
>> If you're very concerned about overcharging your starting battery because 
>> you regularly
>> discharge your house bank, then just move the shore power charger leg 
>> back over to
>> one of the house batteries, and install the Blue Sea ACR to trickle 
>> charge the starting
>> battery.  I think it's like $80 and seems like a pretty cool unit.  (I 
>> bought one but haven't
>> installed it yet).
>>
>> -JeffH
>>
>>
>> At 01:51 AM 11/5/2005, you wrote:
>>>Darrell,
>>>
>>>I spoke with Bob at ProMariner again. As expected, his suggestion for 
>>>using the third post on the charger was wrong. He suggests that you test 
>>>the charger and if it is defective they will sell you a rebuilt unit. In 
>>>any case, I think it might be advisable to buy a Xantrex.
>>>
>>>I guess I'll hold off on adding a starter battery until I'm ready to 
>>>upgrade the charger.
>>>
>>>JeffC
>>>
>
>
> !!-  ______________________________________________
> !!- C320-List at catalina320.com mailing list
> !!- Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: 
> http://mail.catalina320.com/mailman/listinfo/c320-list_catalina320.com
>