[C320-list] Battery charging

[Jon Vez]

Warren,
The general concern with that Switch is if you need to switch to 'combine' because one of the batteries is down, the bad battery will take the charge from the good battery and you could end up with two batteries that can't turn the engine over.


Sent from my iPad

> On May 5, 2014, at 6:04 PM, Warren Updike <wupdike at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I can't resist jumping in here. It seems Catalina has used several different configurations over the years for wiring the batteries, charger and alternator. When I installed my starting battery, I also installed a BlueSea dual circuit master switch. This removes the issue of what charges what and what position the main switch needs to be in. When we come to the boat the switch goes on and the house and engine are ready. When we leave the boat the switch goes off and all 12V is OFF. Period! The starting battery is charged with a BlueSea ARC combiner. I have never had a problem with this setup.
> That said, there is some controversy over using the dual circuit switch. For more on this, check-out the MainSail forum on CatalinaOwners.com. He has a lot to say about how to wire two banks (starting, house,) and the pros and cons. I'm still happy with my arrangement. 
> I should mention that the BlueSea dual switch we installed has a "Combine" position so you can connect the house bank to start the engine. We never had to use this.
> 
> Warren and Pattie Updike
> 1994 C320 "Warr de Mar" #62
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dean Vermeire [mailto:dean at vermeire.us] 
> Sent: Monday, May 05, 2014 12:53 PM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: Re: [C320-list] Battery charging
> 
> So, in the standard (default) configuration, it seems you would always 
> want the battery selector on "Both" whenever running the engine or 
> connected to shore power.  You may want to switch off to just one of the 
> batteries when just running off of a house battery and want to reserve 
> some juice to start the engine later.  But, you would want to switch to 
> "Both" before starting the engine, so that you would charge both 
> batteries after starting the engine without changing the selector while 
> the engine is running.
> 
> Make sense?
> 
> Dean Vermeire
> Moonstruck II (#847)
> 
>> On 5/5/2014 8:16 AM, Brian/Carol McLamb wrote:
>> That is the standard operation.  If you need both batteries charged than
>> both is the selection to make on the panel.  Your selector number should
>> correspond to the battery wired to that connection, not all owners will
>> have 1, and 2 set for the same battery.  The only thing I learned during my
>> starter battery addition two seasons ago is that even with the battery
>> selector switch set to "off" the bilge pump is direct wired to battery and
>> will run if needed.  This is great for times when you lose shore power, or
>> have it turned off for some other reason.  Brian s/v Serenity # 1075
>> 
>> 
>>> On Mon, May 5, 2014 at 6:53 AM, Graeme Clark <cg at skyflyer.co.uk> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I have just noticed - by experimentation - the following and to me it
>>> seems it wasn't always this way, so i am wondering if something has
>>> happened; can anyone confirm the correct “architecture’ of the charging
>>> system
>>> 
>>> The shore charger only charges battery 2 directly so in order to charge
>>> battery 1 when on shore power the battery switch needs to be set to both,
>>> conversely
>>> The engine charger only charges battery 1 directly so in order to charge
>>> battery 2 when the engine is running the battery switch needs to be set to
>>> both.
>>> We have the standard 1, Both, 2, Off rotary switch.
>>> 
>>> Thanks
>>> Graeme
>>> #303, Falmouth, England
> 
> 
>