Sven
Seglare
In anticipation of getting back down to the boat this weekend and tackling the alternator question I've been reading the 12-volt bible for boats.
One thing that surprises me is that he seems to imply that the battery selector has to be set to "both" for both batteries to charge. Looking at the wiring diagram he provided doesn't really help but I assume I must be reading him wrong ? Are any boats' battery banks really wired so that all the batteries don't get charged (by the AC charger at dockside) if the battery selector is set to just one bank ?
Maybe he is saying that under power the alternator will not charge both batteries unless the selector is set to both, but even that seems odd as you would have to remember to manually turn the selector to both to charge and then remember to turn on only the house bank once you stop the engine (or risk drawing down all batteries).
-Sven
One thing that surprises me is that he seems to imply that the battery selector has to be set to "both" for both batteries to charge. Looking at the wiring diagram he provided doesn't really help but I assume I must be reading him wrong ? Are any boats' battery banks really wired so that all the batteries don't get charged (by the AC charger at dockside) if the battery selector is set to just one bank ?
Maybe he is saying that under power the alternator will not charge both batteries unless the selector is set to both, but even that seems odd as you would have to remember to manually turn the selector to both to charge and then remember to turn on only the house bank once you stop the engine (or risk drawing down all batteries).
-Sven