Have I got a VSR on my boat please?

[Vanilla]

Sorry such an embarrassingly naïve question but I've always wanted to know what my boat has! Not sure why the photo has come out so small?

Two 6V service and one engine battery with separate switches to turn them on independently (ie NOT 1, 2, both switches). Also an emergency engine start switch hidden somewhere.

Thanks so much

 

[sailorman]

mid l/h @ 9 o clock looks like a vsr
read wots writted on the front of it

 

[Vanilla]

Thanks sailorman, do you mean the dark grey box thingie?

 

[JumbleDuck]

Thanks sailorman, do you mean the dark grey box thingie?

That looks like a VSR to me. Either that or a flux capacitor.

 

[sailorman]

yes

 

[pvb]

The "dark grey box thingie" may well be a VSR, but you don't need to worry about it. HR build proper boats - just add water!

 

[Alpha22]

It doesn't look like one to me.... it looks oblong, not square. It looks like a BEP terminal box.....

There would be no need for the 1 -2 -Both if there was a VSR???

 

[sailorman]

It doesn't look like one to me.... it looks oblong, not square. It looks like a BEP terminal box.....

There would be no need for the 1 -2 -Both if there was a VSR???

I have a 1 2 both + a vsr by choice :encouragement:, to save having a jump lead

 

[pvb]

There would be no need for the 1 -2 -Both if there was a VSR???

Hallberg Rassy are sensible enough not to fit those wretched 1-2-Both switches! Just one simple switch for the start battery and one simple switch for the domestics. Charging is automatically taken care of.

 

[sailorman]

Hallberg Rassy are sensible enough not to fit those wretched 1-2-Both switches! Just one simple switch for the start battery and one simple switch for the domestics. Charging is automatically taken care of.

what happens if the dedicated engine battery goes duff

 

[pvb]

what happens if the dedicated engine battery goes duff

Read the OP - "Also an emergency engine start switch hidden somewhere."

 

[Vanilla]

The "dark grey box thingie" may well be a VSR, but you don't need to worry about it. HR build proper boats - just add water!

Ah but that's what everyone tells me...."don't worry what you've got, if it works shut up!" But I'm really trying to learn how things work, and am always impressed and curious as where you men got your knowledge? And now JumbleDuck has given me a new thing to ponder.... a flux capacitor...whatever that is!

 

[pvb]

Ah but that's what everyone tells me...."don't worry what you've got, if it works shut up!" But I'm really trying to learn how things work, and am always impressed and curious as where you men got your knowledge? And now JumbleDuck has given me a new thing to ponder.... a flux capacitor...whatever that is!

JumbleDuck's just trying to confuse you with manly terms he's heard someone else use! Seriously, if you really want to understand how the whole thing is wired, get a marine electrician to spend an hour with you looking at the systems and explaining them.

 

[JumbleDuck]

And now JumbleDuck has given me a new thing to ponder.... a flux capacitor...whatever that is!

One of these (pictured fitted to an Anderson 22):

Makes passage planning a doddle, as long as you can get up to 76.5kt.

 

[VicS]

JumbleDuck has given me a new thing to ponder.... a flux capacitor...whatever that is!

Its a device that makes time travel possible.


I always though JD lived in a parallel universe ... now confirmed!

 

[Vanilla]

Its a device that makes time travel possible.

I always though JD lived in a parallel universe ... now confirmed!

LOL....Can't say I've come across one of those on my boat (yet). And thanks everyone for your replies

 

[William_H]

mid l/h @ 9 o clock looks like a vsr
read wots writted on the front of it

From this picture OP should be able to tell if that is what he has. I don't think the oblong junction box as pictured by Alpha 22 is what he has. olewill

 

[Mistroma]

From this picture OP should be able to tell if that is what he has. I don't think the oblong junction box as pictured by Alpha 22 is what he has. olewill

OP is a she, not a he.

Freudian slip or might be age related. Are you Jung at heart?


Not exactly much to do with OP but I couldn't resist it. At least I refrained (only temporarily as it happens) from saying that JumbleDuck's "flux capacitor" reference was a timely reminder when I spotted it.

 

[syfuga]

The device top left hand certainly looks like a BEP voltage sensitive relay. They come in two flavours, single or dual sensing. If it is single sensing, then normally that pole of the relay will be connected to engine start, so that when the engine start battery reaches 13.8 volts, the relay will cut in and start to charge the auxilliary battery. If the engine is in good condition, the engine start battery should always therefore be fully charged, the starter current being a big load but for a very short time.

If it is dual sensing (as we have) whichever battery reaches 13.8 volts will cause the relay to operate. So if our solar or wind generator succeed in charging the battery fully, which they would over time if no load is applied, then the engine battery too gets topped up.

The wiring should be straightforward. One pole is connected to the engine battery positive, the other to the auxilliary battery positive, via relatively heavy wiring able to support the maximum charging current your engine/charger/other devices will generate. A third wire to common negative provides a ground for the device, so that it can sense the voltage, and operate itself.

The system is better than split charging diodes, as there is little loss across the contacts. Of course, if one of the batteries goes down with say, a shorted cell, then it will tend to take the voltage of the other down with it.

It is invaluable to draw a wiring diagram of your system, to save time and mistakes if you have to have someone on board who is not familiar with your system. Every boat is different. If its HR, do they not provide one?

 

[jwilson]

Not quite able to tell from the photo if the grey box is a VSR (as others have said), though there probably is one on a reasonably new HR. What you can tell though is that the two 6v batteries don't seem to be secured down.....