2006 Hunter 41DS House Bank Charging off alternator

[twenger]

Is there an internal system in the '06 Hunter 41DS that enables house bank charging off the alternator?
It appears to me that only the start battery is charged by alternator and the house bank is only charged by shorepower/charging system.
Any insight is welcomed.

 

[jssailem]

On a previously owned boat it is a crap shoot as to what has happened during the previous 19 years and now. We would expect that the system would follow the original plan but it must be verified. That is one of those new owner actions you need to assess. It is like checking for sail condition or oil in the engine.

The owners manual has an electrical circuit diagram to give you a place to start.

https://sbo.sailboatowners.com/downloads/Hunter_41_464923.pdf

NOTE...Page 63A is the beginning of the Electrical Systems. There were several optional systems offered. Each boat was tailored to the desires of the buyer.

 

[JamesG161]

Is there an internal system in the '06 Hunter 41DS that enables house bank charging off the alternator?
[/QUOTE
House Battery charging is NOT normally done on Hunters.

You must add another device to charge them off the Alternator.

Jim...

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

My guess is that era Hunter had either a battery isolator or ACR which allows charging of both banks from either the charger or alternato.

its easy enough to check either visually or by measuring battery voltage when the engine is running.

 

[Terry Cox]

Any insight is welcomed.

As Don mentioned in his post, use your volt meter to first, check the charging voltage coming from your alternator (at least 13.5 VDC), then check the voltage at your house bank, which should be close to the same. If your house bank shows a voltage of say 12.5 VDC during this test, then the alternator is not putting a charge voltage into your house bank. Different model boat here, but our alternator does apply a charge voltage to our house bank as well as the starter battery.

P.S. Make sure you have no shore power connected when you do this test. Otherwise, your meter will show a distorted value. IMHO, it would be unusual for Hunter to wire your boat in such a way that the alternator would only charge your starter battery. That is unless a PO made such a change.

 

[dlochner]

There should be a way to charge both batteries on your boat. Only a prior owner who's a fool would would have disabled charging both banks.

Back in the day, the 1-2-Both switch was a common OEM installation. If you have that kind of switch, read the article linked below to fully understand the switch, its benefits and shortcomings. If you have questions, come back and we'll try to answer them. If you dont' have a 1-2-both switch you may have to figure out the POs shenanigans with the electrical system.

1/2/BOTH Switch Considerations

1/2/BOTH Battery Switch Considerations - Ever wonder how to make the 1/2/BOTH switch easier to use, let this article explain how to do that.

marinehowto.com