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

[Jeff Church]

Darrell,

I'd probably wire it to the battery charger breaker. I'm far from being an 
electrical expert and I haven't studied the installation, so maybe Jeff Hare 
or others can tell us if there are any special considerations.

JeffC


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Darrell" <dgray at n-sea.org>
To: "C320-List" <C320-List at catalina320.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 5:22 PM
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Re: [catalina320] starter battery


> 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
>>>>
>>
>>
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