Simpler Solutions

 

Over the years many battery configurations have been proposed. Isolators, Eliminators and Combiners were developed and sold to allow charging the various battery configurations.. We have looked at all of them, had most of them on our boat at one time or another, and all have worked reasonably well.  

However, we were never quite thoroughly satisfied. Some were too complex and most were expensive. We have designed a system that is inexpensive, easy to install, occupies little space, and is user friendly because it requires no attention by the user. Simply use a Balmar "Digital Duo Charge".  We connect all the house batteries into one bank, and all charging sources charge only that one bank. Whenever the house bank rises 0.4 volts above the auxiliary batteries they will be trickled charged and floated at max 30amps. Since auxiliary batteries are not used very often, as compared to house batteries, keeping them charged at a lower voltage is better for long period f1oat charging. Liquid batteries will not gas or loose water, and both types of batteries will be kept full at the lower voltage, ready for use.   

When an auxiliary battery like the starting battery is used, it will drop to about 9 volts while cranking the engine. The "Digital Duo Chare" are all solid state and it does not matter how much amperage you put into the house bank, only 30 amps max will get delivered to the auxiliary bank.  Once the House Bank drops below 12.8 Volts the "Digital Duo Charge" will disengauge protecting your starting bank from being drained.  As the auxiliary battery returns to full float charge the charging current will fall back to a trickle charge.   

The addition of two simple on-off battery switches provides some very good benefits. The Start Switch provides an easy way to stop engine cranking should the starter hang up and the engine not start. Just turn off the starter. This switch has a removable handle, which should be taken with you when you leave the boat. This makes it very difficult for someone trying to steal the boat to start the engine. 

Should the starting battery become discharged, simply turning the Emergency Switch to ON will put every battery in the house bank onto the starting battery to start the engine. The Figure below shows the basics of the circuit.  It can be expanded to include all the charging sources on one's boat, i.e. alternator, battery charger, auxiliary generator, alternator, wind, solar, or water generators.  

If you already have an amp hour monitor on board, we can help you combine the Simpler Solution into your system thereby monitoring all your charging sources. Give us a call or email us at info@trans-marine.net