Another Battery question

[Icemanstan]

Hope this help you markus


99% of chagrin sources are voltage controlled if controlled at all. If an
Alternator sees a higher voltage then it is set at it simply stops
Charging,
The same with sophisticated shore power chargers.

The most popular problem with continues shore charging is that a battery
Will
Get a surface charge. This has caused several people to think that their
Batteries were good and found out that after a brief time with out a
Charge
Source they could not start.

Most people who leave a boat in a slip will want to keep the batteries
Fully
Charged.
A decent charger will bring the batteries to 13.2 or 13.3 and then supply
Only
Enough
Juice to sustain them at this level. If a through-hull should fail, a
Bilge
Alarm, an adequate pump, and a fully charged battery might slow the net
Flooding down enough and attract sufficient attention to save the boat.
Starting with a partially discharged battery is an unneeded handicap. If
The
Battery is discharging to run a bilge pump, but is being simultaneously
Recharged, the number of hours the pump can run will be significantly
Extended.

Starting the boat with the battery charger running can disguise a weak
Battery.

Turning on the battery charger once the engine is running will not,
Ordinarily,
Increase the rate at which the battery is being charged. See note below
About
Proper wiring.

There is an upper voltage limit on some of the regulators and controllers
Used
To regulate charging from alternators, AC converters, or any other sources
Like
Wind or solar. In some 12-volt system cases, this is 26-28 volts. An
Alternator
Pumping out 14-15 volts and an AC converter doing the same could blow out
Some
Of these components. I have direct knowledge of
An alternator that required a rebuild. According to the rebuild shop, the
Damage was "consistent with the things we see when people run there
Battery
Charger and their alternator at the same time."

If a boat is properly wired, there may be only minimal risk of screwing
Something up by running the alternator and the AC converter at the same
Time. A
Good portion of the new boats coming off the assembly lines and a likely
Majority of boats that have had any electrical cobbling done after
Manufacture
Are not properly wired.

When I worked as a Mechanic I would never start somebody else's boat with
The
Shore power running. Why risk it? If a boat wasn't going to start without
The
Charger running, the time to address and correct that was *before*

[Markus]

Tons of good info. Thanks Icecool!

[nighttroller]

I run a deep cycle for cranking as well. I had problems last year in tournaments when running two fishfinders and the livewell all day. It killed my cranking battery. My dealer recommended a deep cycle and I have never had a problem since!