Battery charging

single said:
... and volts keep dropping to about 11v which then shuts down the heating.
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Don't underestimate the current draw of a diesel heater. My Eberspaecher takes something like 7 to 10A out of the batties. If you're running the diesel heating without any charging, the batteries could be drained surprisingly quickly.
 
single said:
Update- I traced all the wires today and this is how its wired.
I forgot to add, batteries 2&3 only supply Webasto heater and the fridge.

View attachment 48690View attachment 48691
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i would have 123 all linked in parallel well in fact i do have mine like i have stated. i cant see the point of having effectively 2 separate domestic banks
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sailorman said:
i would have 123 all linked in parallel well in fact i do have mine like i have stated. i cant see the point of having effectively 2 separate domestic banks
e
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I agree. So do i ignore output '1' and just add battery 1 to batteries 2&3 in parallel?
I can kind of understand that whoever did it wanted the fridge/heating separate to avoid losing all the power to things like lights etc.
 
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I'm amazed that nobody has mentioned Sterling Marine's 0V drop splitter.... It has (as the name suggests) a drop of 0V across it which massively improves efficiency, it has a specific output for the engine starting battery which it gives a different charging profile to (so it doesn't get cooked), it has no moving parts like VSR's and you can get them with enough outputs to satisfy the OP's requirements. Also it is designed to fail safe - If the electronics fail then the engine battery still works to start the engine.
I own one of these and it's spot on. I also use their PDAR regulator which is much more controllable than an Adverc - I had an Adverc prior to that and it really didn't cut the mustard in comparison even though I'm using the sterling's AGM charging profile which is the least aggressive.

http://sterling-power.com/products/volt-drop-alternator-splitting-system-pro-split-r

http://sterling-power.com/collections/alternator-regulators

No connection other than a satisfied customer. I've fitted this setup to two boats now because it works well. My other advice is to use really meaty cable, a percent or two here and there all adds up.
 
ghostlymoron said:
I thought the alternator warning light was supposed to be on when the engine isn't running but the ignition is on. Now if the light is on when the ignition is off that is wrong.
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The warning light on the dashboard should be on with ign. on but engine off, but not the one on that charge/alternator checker thing.
 
Another question. I'm not sure if the regulator for the wind generator is working correctly, so why cant i put the pos/neg from wind genny straight to the xsplit box (as if it were input from alternator)?
 
single said:
Another question. I'm not sure if the regulator for the wind generator is working correctly, so why cant i put the pos/neg from wind genny straight to the xsplit box (as if it were input from alternator)?
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u

Ah! Wind Gen as well! This is called drip feeding info :dejection:

As a starter for ten-
What does the WG connect to at the moment?
What model is it?
What reg is it using?
 
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You need to make a schematic drawing and a wiring diagram to get a clear idea of what goes where.
I have a 24 & 12v system with a 24v WG and 12 v Solar. This is my schematic:

24-12v%20WG%20Solar.png
 
LadyInBed said:
u

Ah! Wind Gen as well! This is called drip feeding info :dejection:

As a starter for ten-
What does the WG connect to at the moment?
What model is it?
What reg is it using?
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Its not fitted at the moment as i didn't think it was working correctly but its Aero4gen, 2 bank controller and 2 dump resistors.
 
I'd suggest that you first work out your power budget to arrive at a target before working out suitable means of electricity supply.

Most of the "solutions" proposed could work but, equally probably, not suffice.

The information provided is so sketchy as to make fools of us all.
 
single said:
why cant i put the pos/neg from wind genny straight to the xsplit box (as if it were input from alternator)?
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That should be ok through a working WG Reg.
The diagram you have drawn looks to be ok.
Whether you use one bank of three or the two banks as drawn is debatable, I think I would keep the two banks so nav instruments supply doesn't get drained.
You said somewhere earlier that the voltage on one / all banks was down, newish batteries can fail but I suspect that it is more likely due to insufficient charging than to a faulty battery. Separating and measuring the individual battery voltages will tell you. It might be worth taking a battery or two home and putting them on a mains charger to get them up to spec.
 
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