battery hook up

[John Dodge]

I just completed a basic electrical couse hosted by West Marine. It was strongly suggested to go to a two bank battery combiner. anyone else doing this??

 

[Don Berger]

Consensus approach

that's typically what everyone I know has done although some have a more intricate 3 bank system selectively switched but still use combiners

 

[Les Murray]

Echo Charger instead of combiner

I use an Echo Charger instead of a combiner and have kept my 1-2-ALL switch. This allows me to isolate my starting battery from the house battery, yet still keep it charged. The Echo Charger is a small trickle charger that charges the starter battery from the house bank at a very low rate.It also senses when the house battery has less than 12 volts and then stops the charge so you don't drain your house bank.As for the battery switch, I have kept my standard one. However Blue Sea Systems makes a nice battery switch that has one switch for the house, one for the starter, and an emergency parallel switch. Seems pretty nice.Les Murrays/v Ceilidh'86 C-36 #560

 

[Derek Rowell]

Echo Charger/Combiner

My understanding is that a combiner should only be used with batteries of similar technology (for example wet - wet, or gel - gel) so that the fully charged voltages will be equal and a "smart" charger will recognize when to switch from bulk -> absorbtion -> float modes. I am currently installing an Optima (AGM) 1000M starter battery and have two 4D wet-cell batteries for my house bank. My plan is to keep the existing 1-2-both switch on the house bank so that they can be isolated, although they will be in the "both" position under normal conditions. I will install a combiner across the switch so that they are always charged in parallel, regardless of the switch position. I will then use an Echo charger to charge the starter battery. The Echo charger puts out a maximum of 15 amps. I will also install an emergency parallel battery switch between the house and starter banks, and a remotely operated switch in the starter line.  I have heard a lot of people say that the Echo Charger/Optima battery combination is a real low maintenance solution - basically install and forget. See the link below for more info on the Echo Charger.

 

[Steve Dion]

Should not mix battery technology on a charger

Derek:I believe that the same goes for charging your batteries on a 120VAC charger. Your batteries are not going to ever get the best charge when you have mixed technology.You cannot equalize gel or agm, but you should with flooded batteries. You can charge gel and agm faster than you can flooded.The exception to this would be if you have seperate chargers for the different battery types.