Charging house battery(s) (easy question)

Mike_G

Hey Guys...

Easy one...  Do I have to have the battery switch to "combine batteries" to have the alternator from the engine charge both batteries?   I'm pretty sure the Shore Power charger charges both, but not sure about the engine alternator.

Can't find the answer in the manual.

-=Mike G.

Black_Diamond

No, they will charge from shore power / engines, don't put the switch on 'combined'.  that's really for an emergency like dead batteries.

Mike_G

Thank you sir!

-=Mike G.

MarkB

BD got it write. Combined only bridges the two circuits together so that both batteries run the engine and house circuit. On the charge side both the charger and alternator charge each battery independently, so you don't need to combine. The ciruits have isolators to ensure the charger and alternator do not "bridge" the two circuits together.

youstolemybeer

ok if I may chime in here,

You are at anchor, playing the radio, the fridge and have ALL the lights on. The battery isolator and the way the boat is wired lets the main battery drain from all the stuff playing. When your ready to go, you just switch to the other battery and the engine will start and charge the first battery?

MarkB

You shouldn't have to switch to the other battery. All the stuff should be wired to your house battery, while your crank battery is wired to your engine and therefore it's just a matter of turning the key. However I think the radio works through the crank battery as it is controlled via the ignition. Can someone confirm that? 

Michael T

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youstolemybeer

now I HAVE to know how this works, Im off wed so Im going to go to the boat and disconnect on battery and see what all works. Then Im going to disconnect the other battery and do the same. Ill lt you know

Cableguy Greg

On my 280, the amp is on the house battery. The head unit is on the starting battery. If you look in the battery panel, there is a 70amp breaker labeled "amp". On the 24 hour circuits, there is a breaker labeled "stereo memory". A relay on the "power" side of the head unit would solve the problem. It should have been wired that way from the start. I may have to do some rewiring this off season.

frenchship

I have been looking at this matter for a while and talked to Randy on the subject. On my 300 when I turn both engines batteries main switch off everything stills works except for the radio this is power by the port ignition switch. So my deduction was that when both main engines batteries switch are off I am running everything on the house batteries .Still have to confirm that by removing all connections at both engines batteries and see if everything else is really on the house batteries .

rasbury

so where is the follow up on this one? Have had the same questions!

JC290

On my 290 only the radio is on motor batteries everything else amp and all is on the house batteries

Michael T

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JC290

MT from the sounds of it your house batteries could run a small city

MarkB

RY, yes a 20 amp draw = 20 amp hours in 1 hour.  That is provided the 20 amps was at 12V.  If it is say 10 amps at 120V (say for an air conditioner) then an inverter is needed and you end up with a much higher amp draw on the 12 V side = 10 amps x 120V/12V = 100 amps!!! That would fry a 12V power supply in no time, which is why it's not good to run an aircon off your 12V power supply using an inverter.

Michael T

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Mike_G

Hey Guys... not to bring up an old post, but just for a final answer and to understand exactly how the new battery switches (the ones with "On" and "Combined" only)  work on our boats, here's a video that explains it all very well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4830QsybbM

-=Mike G.

Cableguy Greg

Good video. Thanks for sharing!

My_Dinghys_Dinghy

Yeah, I am going to put that switch in, makes sense to use it and be smart about it. I already rewired my 1, 2, 1+2 last fall. It was under my back hatch cover which made absolutely no sense because if the batteries drained, you can't lower the deck lid (Thus, they broke the deck lid rather than relocating the switch.

explore7425

My boat isolates the engine from the house but if you start the boat it automatically feels current out of the alternators and charges all batteries without touching the switches. It detects the direction of the current and opens and closes a switch automatically. I only touch the battery switches if I need an emergency start. 

06Rinker270

so should the switch be on combined all the time? And If anchored, choose just the battery that runs house so it doesn't drain the starting battery? Sill a little confused.

MarkB

No combined means you are bringing the two batteries together, so they all run everything. That is not good to do chronically. You want the batteries to be separated. One battery, your crank battery, should be dedicated to the engine and the other, deep cycle, should be on the house circuit. You should only combine if your crank battery isn't starting your boat, for whatever reason. You should also never turn the switch with your engine running or you can blow the isolators.

06Rinker270

Appreciate it Mark.  While I'm running boat keep it on engine battery.  While anchored turn to house battery.  Is this correct?  

MarkB

I have to look at your switch, they're not all the same. There should be a setting that has the one battery live to the engine and the other live to the house circuit at the same time. You should just leave it in that setting, always. The only time you would want to change the switch is if the engine battery is dead/fried and you want to use the other battery to try and start the engine. This should be the "combined" position. On my switch I basically have an off, 1 and combined setting. Off isolates both batteries. 1 means both batteries are working but independently (one on engine, other on house circuit), combined just bridges the batteries together.

06Rinker270

I should leave it on the house battery setting? 

When I took my batteries out I did not look to see which battery was for which.  What is the tell tale sign of where to place each battery.  I was told follow the wire form the starter and that will be your starting battery.  Appreciate the help, fairly new to owning a boat. 

frenchship

Are both batteries the same ? Usually the house battery would be a deep cycle and it would be bigger then the starting battery but not all the time. The house battery (deep cycle)should have a kind of identification about being a deep cycle.
Paul

06Rinker270

no they are different.  I just bought a deep cycle and a starting battery.  I want to make sure I hook them up correctly.  

frenchship

Following the the wiring would be good but maybe not easy most of the wiring is running into a plastic conduit and can be hard to follow. Or you could use a ohm meter with long leads to trace the wire. You should send a e-mail to Cyndy at Rinker and ask for the wiring diagram for your model.
cscott@nauticglobalgroup.com.
There also lots of member on this forum with a 270 that could help you out 
Paul

MarkB

My house battery is further forward. The crank battery is to the stern. But that means nothing. You need to be sure. The deep cycle needs to go on the house circuit, and the starter/crank on the engine circuit.

As for your switch settings - you should also be 100% sure what it is doing.  There should be a switch setting that has both batteries engaged, with the starter on the engine and the deep cycle on the house. I would change the switch setting and disconnect one battery at a time to learn what switch setting puts what battery on live.

06Rinker270

I love a successful day of working on the boat and figuring stuff out, no matter how small.  On 2006 270s(at least mine) engine battery is closer to transom and house battery is closest to aft cabin(if lookin at batteries, house is left and engine is right).  On my switch engine battery is 1 and house is 2.  

One question still remains... Do I leave switch on 1 or 2?

Mike_G

Well my boat has the new style "Off", "On" or "Combine" switch.  On that type, "On" is where it should be.

My past boats both had the "Off", "1", "2" and "1+2" switches.  On those, I was told NOT to use "1+2" because of something about the way it charges the batteries (batteries have different voltages and capacities)... and that it could be more work for the charging system.  You also may not end up fully charging the batteries that way.  I usually used "1" or "2", and would switch every once in while (like one battery one day, and another the next).  I don't know if that was the right thing to do, but that's what I did.  If I was on the hook for several hours, I would run one for a while, and then switch to the other one.  I also checked voltage every once in a while to be sure I wasn't running one battery down too low.  If I did, I would start the motor and switch to the battery that was run low to charge it up.

Can anybody answer him definitively?  My previous boats only had 1 engine, and two batteries.  Those with 2 engines and/or 3+batteries could probably answer better.  -=Mike G.