Zen Zero
Well-Known Member
We keep the house and the starter batteries separate most of the time.
The alternator charges the starter battery and a solar panel charges both the starter and the house batteries through it's own black-box controller; and this arrangement meets our needs most of the time.
We do have an isolator type switch which connects the two batteries together as has sometimes been useful for starting after a long, cold, damp period of non-use.
"House" is only regularly used for lighting and electronics. At the moment we only use the fridge on shore power (we keep it filled with 2l bottles for thermal inertia) and though we have an inverter for charging phones and computers we only use it when motoring and with the two batteries connected in parallel. We then have to remember to disconnect them when not motoring, and there is quite a high risk of not remembering and finding ourselves without the ability to start the motor!
Though it meets our needs most of the time, there is room for improvement.
Sometimes I'd like to charge the house battery from the alternator eg when using more power than usual to keep the fridge on or when using the inverter to charge a computer.
Sometimes I'd like to charge both batteries from shore power.
I'd like to fit a "smart" charger that takes input from solar, alternator and mains and sends a separate charge to both batteries.
I'd like to be able to leave this charger on all the time during extended absences from the boat, to keep the batteries in good condition when the solar charge is not sufficient.
I've looked at products from Sterling and Quick, but they seem to only take power from the mains ie they don't take input from alternator or solar panel.
Any ideas anyone? (THANKS!)
The alternator charges the starter battery and a solar panel charges both the starter and the house batteries through it's own black-box controller; and this arrangement meets our needs most of the time.
We do have an isolator type switch which connects the two batteries together as has sometimes been useful for starting after a long, cold, damp period of non-use.
"House" is only regularly used for lighting and electronics. At the moment we only use the fridge on shore power (we keep it filled with 2l bottles for thermal inertia) and though we have an inverter for charging phones and computers we only use it when motoring and with the two batteries connected in parallel. We then have to remember to disconnect them when not motoring, and there is quite a high risk of not remembering and finding ourselves without the ability to start the motor!
Though it meets our needs most of the time, there is room for improvement.
Sometimes I'd like to charge the house battery from the alternator eg when using more power than usual to keep the fridge on or when using the inverter to charge a computer.
Sometimes I'd like to charge both batteries from shore power.
I'd like to fit a "smart" charger that takes input from solar, alternator and mains and sends a separate charge to both batteries.
I'd like to be able to leave this charger on all the time during extended absences from the boat, to keep the batteries in good condition when the solar charge is not sufficient.
I've looked at products from Sterling and Quick, but they seem to only take power from the mains ie they don't take input from alternator or solar panel.
Any ideas anyone? (THANKS!)
