bear_69cuda
Commander
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2008
- Messages
- 2,109
Morning gang,
So I?m upgrading to a two battery system in my bayliner. To assist with this venture, I?ve also purchased a book on powerboat 12v electrical systems.
This is the battery management system I purchased from EzAcDc.
http://www.ezacdc.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=113
I?m adding the following to the boat, a motorguide w-55 wireless, new stereo CD head unit, small power amp for sub, trim gauge, and Guest two leg charging system and fish finder/depth gauge. The tech rep from above link suggests wiring all house items to my deep cycle battery, and leaving the other battery only for starting. This seems like a great idea, but after I studied my wiring diagram, I went out to look at the boat. It seems all helm gauges and controls are in a mass bundled harness that plugs into the harness from the engine Starter/slave solenoid. Now I?m very intimidated? Not knowing exactly what is needed to just start the engine, and what wires I can separate, and re-locate to the house battery. Another idea was to just leave the wiring alone, and just put all the components listed above on the new deep cycle house battery. Does anyone have any opinions on what they would do?
Below are some questions I had regarding the VSR (voltage sensitive relay) Battery management system. Kevin from EzAcDc replied and now I?m kinda stuck on what to do? I?ve also attached a wiring diagram
Since my boat originally had one battery for house and cranking. Do you
think it's okay to leave some house items like bilge, nav lights, etc still
on this battery? I would remove all items from the cranking battery and connect them to your house bank. I would only connect the bilge pump and the stereo memory to the battery side of the switch (lower right post) . All other items would be on the switched side (upper right post). This will give the largest possible reserve capacity for your bilge pump auto switch and still give a good battery for starting.Or should I relocate all of house to my new 2 battery bank set-up ? ( I plan
on having my stereo head unit, sub-amp, and trolling motor on this bank )
On the diagram I see existing battery neg and pos cables. Not sure about
that? This may sound stupid, but I just don't understand where they come
from? Do they go to the starter? My preference is to have 1 wire on each negative battery post and 1 wire on each positive battery post. I would connect your existing negative leads that were connected to your battery to the 2 position ground buss. I would connect your existing starter cable lead that connected to your starter to the switched (upper left post). I would connect any other positive cables to the right side of the battery switch depending on their function. 1 wire on each battery post allows for better connections (get rid of the wing nuts) and reduces confusion when removing and re-installing batteries.
Finally in regards to the battery switch.
If the switch is off, This means that both batteries are disconnected
correct? When the switch is off, everything except the items you determined as emergency are disconnected. These loads are connected to the house battery bank.
If the switch is on 1, does this mean only the cranking battery or Bat1 is
connected? When the switch is in 1, the engine is connected to your starting battery and all other circuit are connected to the house battery bank. The systems are isolated from each other. This is the normal operating position for your system. The engine starts from the full starting battery. When the alternator charges the starting battery above 13.7 volts, the VSR completes the connection between the starting battery and your house battery bank. The alternator is charging the entire system. The VSR will break the connection when the voltage goes below 12.6 volts. This usually happens when the engine has been shut down for a while and your are running DC items on your boat. Your DC items will continue to draw down your House battery but will not draw down your starting battery. As soon as you start your engine, the process starts over. Turning the switch to OFF when you leave will disconnect all circuits except the emergency items.
If the switch is on combine, Does this mean that both cranking battery and
the house battery are in parallel 12v simultaneously? Or does this just
mean bank 2 or house is on? Is the combine for emergency start only? Only use the combine position if your starting battery is completely dead and you need an emergency jump.
I'm confused if the VSR governs the separation of battery banks due to
voltage drop or load, and to which battery the alternator charge is
directed, what is the point of the switch it self? The switch gives you a master disconnect to turn off all non-essential loads when you leave your boat. Turning the switch off disconnects any mystery items that draw down your battery.
What position should the switch be in under normal circumstances? So when I
fire up the boat it uses cranking bat1, and when I stop and use stereo or
trolling motor, I use the house bank bat2. Unless your starting battery is dead, always put the switch in position 1.
So I?m upgrading to a two battery system in my bayliner. To assist with this venture, I?ve also purchased a book on powerboat 12v electrical systems.
This is the battery management system I purchased from EzAcDc.
http://www.ezacdc.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=113
I?m adding the following to the boat, a motorguide w-55 wireless, new stereo CD head unit, small power amp for sub, trim gauge, and Guest two leg charging system and fish finder/depth gauge. The tech rep from above link suggests wiring all house items to my deep cycle battery, and leaving the other battery only for starting. This seems like a great idea, but after I studied my wiring diagram, I went out to look at the boat. It seems all helm gauges and controls are in a mass bundled harness that plugs into the harness from the engine Starter/slave solenoid. Now I?m very intimidated? Not knowing exactly what is needed to just start the engine, and what wires I can separate, and re-locate to the house battery. Another idea was to just leave the wiring alone, and just put all the components listed above on the new deep cycle house battery. Does anyone have any opinions on what they would do?
Below are some questions I had regarding the VSR (voltage sensitive relay) Battery management system. Kevin from EzAcDc replied and now I?m kinda stuck on what to do? I?ve also attached a wiring diagram
Since my boat originally had one battery for house and cranking. Do you
think it's okay to leave some house items like bilge, nav lights, etc still
on this battery? I would remove all items from the cranking battery and connect them to your house bank. I would only connect the bilge pump and the stereo memory to the battery side of the switch (lower right post) . All other items would be on the switched side (upper right post). This will give the largest possible reserve capacity for your bilge pump auto switch and still give a good battery for starting.Or should I relocate all of house to my new 2 battery bank set-up ? ( I plan
on having my stereo head unit, sub-amp, and trolling motor on this bank )
On the diagram I see existing battery neg and pos cables. Not sure about
that? This may sound stupid, but I just don't understand where they come
from? Do they go to the starter? My preference is to have 1 wire on each negative battery post and 1 wire on each positive battery post. I would connect your existing negative leads that were connected to your battery to the 2 position ground buss. I would connect your existing starter cable lead that connected to your starter to the switched (upper left post). I would connect any other positive cables to the right side of the battery switch depending on their function. 1 wire on each battery post allows for better connections (get rid of the wing nuts) and reduces confusion when removing and re-installing batteries.
Finally in regards to the battery switch.
If the switch is off, This means that both batteries are disconnected
correct? When the switch is off, everything except the items you determined as emergency are disconnected. These loads are connected to the house battery bank.
If the switch is on 1, does this mean only the cranking battery or Bat1 is
connected? When the switch is in 1, the engine is connected to your starting battery and all other circuit are connected to the house battery bank. The systems are isolated from each other. This is the normal operating position for your system. The engine starts from the full starting battery. When the alternator charges the starting battery above 13.7 volts, the VSR completes the connection between the starting battery and your house battery bank. The alternator is charging the entire system. The VSR will break the connection when the voltage goes below 12.6 volts. This usually happens when the engine has been shut down for a while and your are running DC items on your boat. Your DC items will continue to draw down your House battery but will not draw down your starting battery. As soon as you start your engine, the process starts over. Turning the switch to OFF when you leave will disconnect all circuits except the emergency items.
If the switch is on combine, Does this mean that both cranking battery and
the house battery are in parallel 12v simultaneously? Or does this just
mean bank 2 or house is on? Is the combine for emergency start only? Only use the combine position if your starting battery is completely dead and you need an emergency jump.
I'm confused if the VSR governs the separation of battery banks due to
voltage drop or load, and to which battery the alternator charge is
directed, what is the point of the switch it self? The switch gives you a master disconnect to turn off all non-essential loads when you leave your boat. Turning the switch off disconnects any mystery items that draw down your battery.
What position should the switch be in under normal circumstances? So when I
fire up the boat it uses cranking bat1, and when I stop and use stereo or
trolling motor, I use the house bank bat2. Unless your starting battery is dead, always put the switch in position 1.
