[C320-list] Battery Combiner

[Jeff Church]

Jeff

I was thinking that I might bring the Overvoltage setting down to 14v so 
that the starting battery only gets a charge when the charger is in 
float mode.

JeffC



catalina at thehares.com wrote:
> I may have played around with the settings to see how much range I had, but
> they're pretty close to factory settings as that's really good enough.  The
> thing is, during charge, you almost always have more than 13.5 volts unless
> you're charging from solar or wind which might be lower until the main bank
> is mostly charged.
>
> -Jeff
>
> On Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:57:35 -0600, Jeff Church 387 <jc387 at att.net> wrote:
>   
>> Jeff,
>>
>> As always, thanks for the great info.
>>
>> Did you change the combined and/or overvoltage settings or just use the
>> factory defaults which are 13.5v and 15v respectively?
>>
>> Jeff
>>
>>
>>
>> Jeff Hare wrote:
>>     
>>> Hey Jeff,
>>>
>>>   I like the price/versatility of the Blue Sea CL-series ACR unit,
>>> personally.  It has current limiting (~60 Amps?) and lets you adjust the
>>> cut-in / cut-out voltages, allows for a manual override switch if you
>>>       
>> want
>>     
>>> one and has a built in driver for a remote LED to show when batteries
>>>       
>> are
>>     
>>> joined.
>>>
>>> I picked mine up at West Marine for $75 and then applied a boat show
>>> discount coupon.
>>>
>>> Some things to consider regarding current limiting and starting
>>>       
>> batteries:
>>     
>>> 1) Pretty quickly (within minutes) after you start charging your house
>>>       
>> bank,
>>     
>>> the batteries will begin to accept less current anyway, so from our
>>> experience, it doesn't really affect bulk charging in any noticeable
>>>       
>> way.
>>     
>>> 2) Unless the starting battery is weak, it's not going to draw much
>>>       
>> charging
>>     
>>> current for any length of time anyway, so the current limiting wouldn't
>>>       
>> come
>>     
>>> into play except in extreme situations.  It might draw 10-15 amps for a
>>> couple minutes, but starting batteries recharge really fast and don't
>>> typically get drawn down hardly at all if just used for starting.
>>>
>>>  I installed a starting battery with the CL-ACR in a C380 2 years ago
>>>       
>> and
>>     
>>> went with the Exide orbital AGM because it's a pretty indestructible AGM
>>> battery with really high starting currents for about $110.  (That, and
>>>       
>> the
>>     
>>> 380 had a screwed down floor panel for accessing the starting battery
>>> compartment making it inconvenient to check water levels in a flooded
>>> battery.)  :)
>>>
>>> On the bonus side, It can also be wired as an automatic low voltage
>>> disconnect for loads under ~50 amps.  I have a second one that I plan to
>>> mount behind the electrical panel that will disconnect the fridge if the
>>> house bank drops below some voltage that I choose.  That will prevent my
>>> batteries from being drawn down if my shore power breaker gets popped or
>>>       
>> I
>>     
>>> forget to turn on the shore power charger when getting back at the
>>>       
>> dock.. :)
>>     
>>> Should something happen to the starting battery ACR underway, I'd have a
>>> spare I could use quite easily.
>>>
>>> http://bluesea.com/productline/overview/386
>>>
>>> -Jeff
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
>>> [mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of Jeff
>>>       
>> Church
>>     
>>> 387
>>> Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 7:48 PM
>>> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
>>> Subject: [C320-list] Battery Combiner
>>>
>>> Jeff
>>>
>>> We may have discussed this a few years ago. I'm going to install a
>>> starting battery in my 387 and I need a recommendation. I'm looking at
>>> various battery combiners such as Blue Sea's Battery Link and the
>>> Xantrex Echo Charger. The Echo Charger seems to have the advantage of
>>> limiting current to the starting battery when the battery charger is in
>>> bulk mode. Do You have a preference or recommendation?
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> Jeff Church
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>
>
>