Anybody Know The 1990's Battery Buddy?

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rardiH36

rardiH36

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Jun 21, 2007
2,118
Hunter Cherubini 36_80-82 Sausalito / San Francisco Bay
At a water-front flea market, I came across a still new in the box "Battery Buddy - Marine Version", for the price of an Abe Lincoln note.

Anybody ever (or still has) had one on their boat? Good idea to install or not?

By the package and instruction sheet, its a "computer controlled" device that monitors the battery voltage and will cut off power out to the boat's circuits when the voltage gets low (actual cut-out voltage not specified) so that the battery doesn't drain and enough power will be left to start the engine. Also will shut down the current if a short occurs.

Despite that newer designs undoubtedly will be vastly more sophisticated, the Buddy seems to cover the basics.

Any info/opinions appreciated. My thought is to install this on my No.1 house battery. I still have No.2 in reserve.

rardi
 
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Stu Jackson

Stu Jackson

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Feb 26, 2004
23,360
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
You'd be much better off buying a battery monitor. If you already have one, you don't need one of those. 'Specially since it sounds like you have your boat electrical system set up correctly already. :)
 
J

jimg

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Jun 5, 2004
175
catalina 27 dana point
Yes. They have been used in RVs for years. They are best suited for something that could stay unattended for long periods of time. May or may not be necessary in your case, but I don't see what it can hurt.
 
Terry in Naples

Terry in Naples

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Aug 8, 2006
340
Catalina 34 Naples FL
battery buddy

I put one of these on my fishing boat. (20foot Mako CC) It never seemed to work and I took it off and tossed it in the trash.
 
rardiH36

rardiH36

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Jun 21, 2007
2,118
Hunter Cherubini 36_80-82 Sausalito / San Francisco Bay
Re: battery buddy

Two to one against. Maybe instead of on my boat, it would be better used as a safety disconnect for the 12v battery in my 2000 Gen 1 Prius. If the key goes to Ignition On, but we don't actually start the car, the battery is good for maybe 10-15 minutes. This has happened a couple of times when we were waiting in the car for some reason and my wife wants to put down the power windows while listening to the radio. Got move the key to Ignition On to activate the power windows. It's easy then to forget to move the key back to the ACC position.
 
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