oilybilge
Active member
I few years ago I fitted a Blue Seas SI-ACR to my 24-foot sailing yacht. (It's a standard two-battery system, with a 120ah house battery and 80ah starter battery. The boat is on a swinging mooring, and we don't use much electricity.) I connected the ACR downstream of the main switch, since there was no reason for it to be on when I was off the boat, and I liked the idea of being able to switch off absolutely everything when going ashore.
However I've now fitted a 70w solar panel, and I'm wondering whether to move the ACR to the battery side of the main switch.
The pros and cons as I see them are:
Pros: when there's enough sun, the ACR will close and both batteries will get a charge, not just the house battery.
Cons: It's one more thing to go wrong. For instance, it doesn't always disconnect. Sometimes the little green 'Batteries Combined' light shows for hours after the engine has stopped, and only goes out when I briefly turn the main switch off and on again. I'm rather nervous about leaving it to its own devices for up to a month at a time.
Has anyone had good or bad experiences of either arrangement?
However I've now fitted a 70w solar panel, and I'm wondering whether to move the ACR to the battery side of the main switch.
The pros and cons as I see them are:
Pros: when there's enough sun, the ACR will close and both batteries will get a charge, not just the house battery.
Cons: It's one more thing to go wrong. For instance, it doesn't always disconnect. Sometimes the little green 'Batteries Combined' light shows for hours after the engine has stopped, and only goes out when I briefly turn the main switch off and on again. I'm rather nervous about leaving it to its own devices for up to a month at a time.
Has anyone had good or bad experiences of either arrangement?