PaulRainbow
Well-Known Member
Good point, i'd go for the Argofet.
Solar MTTP Regulator and a Split Charge Relay
- Thread starter Andrew_Trayfoot
- Start date
Stemar
Well-Known Member
I had a system with a dual battery PWM solar controller on my old boat. I didn't have a VSR, but a cheapy headlamp relay that I fed from the wire between the charge warning light and the alternator. The only time it gave me grief was when the diodes failed in the alternator so the wire was at +12v even with the ignition off.
tomaz_slo
Well-Known Member
VSR has some consumption for its work. During winter time (in time of not using boat) it's better to use solar charger connected to house battery and serial connection of zenner diode + small 20W 12v bulb between both positive terminals of batteries.
Stemar
Well-Known Member
You can get dual battery MTTP controllers. I have one on Jazzcat that manages both batteries fine. The VSR then only has to deal with splitting the alternator output. Connect the sensor to the charge warning light contact on the alternator and it won't get involved with the solar bots.
VicS
Well-Known Member
AFAIK dual MPPT controllers have one fully regulated output for the house battery and one basic output for the engine start battery.
They should not be used where both batteries can be paralleled as discussed earlier. Your VSR is doing just that but I dont understand what you mean by connecting the sensor to the charge warning light. They don't have a sensor connection. They have a connection for each battery ( and a negative).
Stemar
Well-Known Member
Ah, OK. I've no actual experience of a VSR, only ordinary relays, My old boat just used a little cube relay, which was activated from the warning light connector so it linked the batteries when the alternator was working, and I assumed a VSR would work in the same way, just a bit smarter. I've learned something today.