Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

1. House battery as the primary, as it is really discharged, the starting one has hardly any load (contrary to general beliefs). 2. There are very good controllers that can charge two batteries at once (either 50/50 or 90/10). E.g. Morningstar makes them. Not the cheapest, but quite good. I

Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

Hi Josh, I guess I was assuming the alternator was connected to the house battery and the start battery failed. Then one would assume that the house battery had been charged by the alternator and switching to it should start the engine. On the other hand, if the start battery was primary

Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

I have a Xantrex charging system and the Blue Sea ACR switch for sale here: https://daytona.craigslist.org/bpo/6055918718.html and here: https://daytona.craigslist.org/bpo/6055917644.html

Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

Gary, My question stands, How do you anticipate switching the house to start...and not having that option in reverse? To restate the second part of my question, why would one want the alternator hard wired to the battery. I assume in order to prevent frying the diodes but it doesn't lend itself

Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

I have something similar. A switch for the house, a switch for engine, and a combine. See: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15162917/ENTERPRISE/electrics.jpg (on the left side of the photo). All the best, Edd Edd

Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

Hi Josh, I don't use a 1-all-2 battery switch. I hate them. I use a Blue Sea Systems Dual Battery Bank Management Panel http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|328|229|2290006=151145 with an ACR. The Blue Sea Battery Panel has separate switches for both banks and a switch to

Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

Gary, How do anticipate switching the house to start...and not having that option in reverse? With the typical OEM 1,All,2 switches we're stuck with batteries in parallel. With the Don Casey method either battery can be disconnected and the loads cross-tied. I think I recall the reason for

Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

Hi Josh, I had read that the Primary battery should be the House battery but I don't recall the article describing why. However, with the House battery as primary, you can always switch to it to start the engine should the Start battery fail. If the Start battery is Primary and fails, the

Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

Here are some various pictures of my installation on top of my hard dodger. 2 x 100w to 2 separate Genasun PV-8 boost controllers. https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B8pEh5lnvP1yLXU5RzRyWjZXTDA I also wired a small power/voltage/amp/Ah meter in series with both circuits so I can easily

Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

You have two different load requirements. First and most important is when the boat is on the mooring. You'll want the bilge pump to work automatically. That's all. You're not running any other loads when you're not there. 50w is sufficient to keep the batteries topped up and handle the

Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

On our 27 MKIII we mounted a semi flexible pane that could be walked on to the sliding hatch and tied in a small charge controller and battery combiner. We kept 2 series 24s and a series 27 charged on a mooring in Chicago for 10 years this way. It kept the panel out of the way and we just

Re: Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

Tom, Sounds like a good system. The only different thing I have in my setup is a Blue Seas ACR instead of the Echo charger. See: https://www.bluesea.com/products/7610/SI-ACR_Automatic_Charging_Relay_-_12_24V_DC_120A

Stus-List Basic Solar Charging System?

Hi Listers, Snow Goose spent the last 20 years docked in a slip with shore power, and I'm moving her to a mooring. I plan on adding a solar system to recharge my batteries during the week. The boat will primarily be raced/daysailed, and occasionally overnighted, on the weekends. My power draws