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From: Peter Bennett (no email)
Date: Wed Nov 30 2005 - 21:58:43 EST
I am getting confused about what batteries you have, and how they are wired (and why you want combiners).
Wednesday, November 30, 2005, 6:19:21 PM, John wrote:
JH> OK gentlemen - from private and TWL posts and advice I'm going with combiners.
JH> Another question I've got is - my engine battery bank is pretty
JH> straightforward - 2 batteries and one combiner.
JH> One 110 Volt charger and one alternator.
You said in a previous post that your start bank consists of two 8Ds - this implies to me that the two batteries are permanaently connected in parallel - if so, you don't need a combiner or splitter - connecting the charger to one battery will connect it to the other through the parallel connection - no need for any special attention to charge both batteries.
JH> My house bank could be a bit more complicated. Presently I
JH> have 2 "sets" of 6 volt batteries - ie 4 batteries. That in itself
JH> is just like the starting banks. But,
JH> if I add another "set" or 2 6 volt batteries am I creating a charging problem? Can I
JH> find a combiner to handle 3 sets of batteries? Or should I stick with the 2 "sets"? By the
JH> way, the alternator that charges those batteries is a much larger alternator.
Again, if the two, three (or 12) sets of batteries are all normally connected in parallel, no special measures are needed to charge all the batteries from a single charge source.
If you indeed have one pair of 6 volt batteries forming a "house bank", and another pair (or two) forming an "inverter bank", with no direct connection between the positive terminals of these two banks, then you do need something to connect the two banks together if you intend to charge them from a single source.
I think most of the "smart" alternator regulators have an output that can control a relay that can be used to connect multiple battery banks together while the alternator is charging. If you use this, you could connect the alternator output to (say) the inverter bank, and use the relay to connect the house bank while the alternator is charging.
The battery combiners that you mention will do this same connection automagically when they sense that one of the two batteries they are connected to is being charged.
Some AC chargers (like the Xantrex TrueCharge) include a diode splitter - they have three outputs, that can be connected to three different battery banks - charge will automatically go to whichever battery bank needs it most.
External diode splitters can cause a problem, as they introduce a small voltage drop - if the charge source senses voltage on its side of the splitter, rather than on the battery's side, the batteries will not reach full charge.
-- Peter Bennett, VE7CEI Vancouver, B.C., Canada Lien Hwa 28 (AKA Polaris 30) "Sea Spray" GPS and NMEA info: http://vancouver-webpages.com/peter Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca _______________________________________________ http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers-and-trawlering To unsubscribe send email to with the word UNSUBSCRIBE and nothing else in the subject or body of the message. Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited.
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