3 bank charger on 2 batteries

[rookiex]

I have a 3 bank charger only hooked up to 2 batteries and it only charged when you have it plugged in the wall.....Why doesnt it charge when the motor is running.......This guy really screwed me over.....

How do I need to wire it if its not charging when its running?

 

[Splat]

Re: 3 bank charger on 2 batteries

The charger is working just as it should. A onboard charger is essentially a battery charger that remains on the vessle.

Your charging system on your motor will charge the battery it is hooked to while the motor is running. If you want to motor to chatge both batters you'll need to run an AVS switch, or a battery isolator.

However your charging system on your motor won't put out enough juice to do any real considerable amount of repleneshiment to your trolling or other high capactance battery to do you any good. Hence the need for an onboard or other 110v charger.

Not sure if you were told differently, do a search here, there's plenty of inforntion on on board chargers

Bill

 

[Silvertip]

Re: 3 bank charger on 2 batteries

Agreed! A sales person cannot read your mind. There are certain things in life that need a little research and thought before you lay down your money. You probably asked for a three bank charger, never read the literature, and therefore got what you asked for. To accomplish what you want you not only need the three bank charger but you also needed a voltage sensing relay (VSR), and automatic charge relay (ACR) or a battery switch if you wanted the engine to charge all three batteries. That, as was pointed out, is very likely wasted money as you would need to run most engines wide open for hours to top off three batteries.

 

[Apollo75]

Re: 3 bank charger on 2 batteries

Hello;

If you are trying to charge all three batteries while the engine is running :

Starting battery ---- leave hooked up as normal for most users.

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/chargeBattery.html

"The typical marine lead-acid battery has a terminal voltage of "12" volts. The battery actually consists of six cells wired in series, each cell capable of producing 2.15 volts, creating an aggregate voltge of 12.90 volts. When a cell is approximately half discharged its voltage will be 2.03 volts, and the battery terminal voltage will be down to 12.36 volts. When the cells are almost completely discharged their voltage will be 1.75 volts or less, and the battery terminals will be 10.5 volts or less. "

I recommend any charge even if it is not sufficient to fully charge the battery to reduce sulfation.

To charge the other two batteries if not hooked up 24-volts or 48-volts :

You can use a battery isolator like used on most motor homes:

The charging lead is usually the middle leg and the other batteries hook up to the other legs. This will feed the batteries when the boat is running and charging and isolate the two other batteries from each other and from the charging circuit.

Heavy use of the house or trolling motors can pull down your starting battery in this arrangement --- there is a 0.6-volt separation which is usually enough.

If heavy use of the auxiliary is likely then hook the charging circuit to the center lug and starting battery to bat 1 connection and auxiliary battery to bat 2 connection.


Here are some marine grade parts --- I do not know this site just a quick lookup for you

http://www.beiterbattery.com/marine-battery-isolators.aspx

OFM