Battery Selector Switch Setting

Jul 14, 2020
2
Hunter 33 Toronto
I own a 2006 Hunter 33. It is new to us and we don't know which setting to put the battery selector switch on when moored. 1 or 2?
We have two batteries marked house 1 and 2 and a third matked house 1.
Could someone help me?
 
Sep 25, 2008
7,075
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
The markings are confusing. Furthermore, that was likely done by a previous owner so no telling what or how he configured them.
The best thing you can do is trace the wiring to definitively know what is connected to what.
 
Nov 30, 2015
1,336
Hunter 1978 H30 Cherubini, Treman Marina, Ithaca, NY
I’ll assume that you have a 1, 2, ALL, OFF selector switch. If that’s true and someone took the time to actually label the batteries I would then suggest that you have two house batteries and one motor start battery. Put the selector switch on 1 for house utilities and conserve the energy in Start 2 position. If you will be away from the boat while moored, shut of all utilities but leave the switch on 1 to power the automatic bilge. You can also test start the motor with the switch on 1 and see if it starts. If no start, then you’ll have your answer. :beer: Cheers.
 
May 27, 2004
1,964
Hunter 30_74-83 Ponce Inlet FL
Check the wiring from the bilge pump/float switch to see if there is a direct wire from
them to one of the batteries. Most owners wire the pump to operate with a switch (on the panel), and automatically when the water level activates the pump, regardless of battery selector switch position.
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,759
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
If you will be away from the boat while moored, shut of all utilities but leave the switch on 1 to power the automatic bilge.
Not necessarily true and poor advice. Most knowledgeable boaters hard wire their bilge pumps to the house bank, so they can leave the main DC switch OFF when they leave their boats or what grizzrd said.

Don's advice to trace the wires is the only proper and responsible thing for you to do.

If you don't know enough to do so (and all of us were new at one time) then either get help or buy a boat electrical systems book.

All the best/
 
Nov 30, 2015
1,336
Hunter 1978 H30 Cherubini, Treman Marina, Ithaca, NY
Not necessarily true and poor advice. Most knowledgeable boaters hard wire their bilge pumps to the house bank, so they can leave the main DC switch OFF when they leave their boats or what grizzrd said.

Don's advice to trace the wires is the only proper and responsible thing for you to do.

If you don't know enough to do so (and all of us were new at one time) then either get help or buy a boat electrical systems book.

All the best/
I see your point Stu, as my bilge IS hardwired to the single house battery with the option to manually override to pump out on the DC panel. I don’t know how the OP is wired. I was simply suggesting that the main selector switch should be set to house batteries as opposed to OFF. If the float switch in the bilge fails you either get a dead battery or perhaps a sunk boat upon your return to the mooring.

Best Regards
 
Nov 30, 2015
1,336
Hunter 1978 H30 Cherubini, Treman Marina, Ithaca, NY
Thx, but could you please explain why? I'm dimmer today than usual...? :)
Exactly…I mean the dimmer part of the power spectrum. Dead or weak batteries are a travesty to discover when returning to a mooring with no availability of shore power charging, which can offer you some serious inconvenience. There’s no disciplined reason for turning the main switch to OFF. A sailor has the option on the DC and AC panel to turn all those breakers off to shut down their systems. My main selector switch is mounted in a location that’s nearly impossible to read on the lowest point of the side wall of the aft 1/4 berth. I leave that switch set to ALL. Our sailing style rarely includes a night out on the hook and almost always back in the slip before nightfall. I charge start and house batteries simultaneously in the slip. On a mooring I would think you want to conserve energy on the start battery. So any charging would occur after the motor starts…yes? That’s not the question the OP asked!

I think we gave @Smithsonian some useful tips about tracing his 1 and 2 selector switch, don’t you?

By the way, I’m getting dimmer, 12 oz at a time.

Have a great weekend…
 
Feb 26, 2004
22,759
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
I leave that switch set to ALL. Our sailing style rarely includes a night out on the hook and almost always back in the slip before nightfall. I charge start and house batteries simultaneously in the slip. On a mooring I would think you want to conserve energy on the start battery. So any charging would occur after the motor starts…yes?
Wayne, that is a completely different question.
The answer is: it all depends on how it's wired. The IT is the 1-2-B switch.
Here's why. Hopefully more can learn.
OEM 1-2-B Switch Wiring History Alternator/Batteries & "The Basic" 1-2-B Switch BEST Wiring Diagrams

1-2-B Considerations (New 2020 - Rod finally got around to diagramming what I had done in the above link in 2009 :) )
1/2/BOTH Switch Considerations

Basic Battery Wiring Diagrams This is a very good basic primer for boat system wiring: Basic Battery Wiring Diagrams

This is another very good basic primer for boat system wiring: The 1-2-B Switch by Maine Sail (brings together a lot of what this subject is all about)
1/BOTH/2/OFF Switches Thoughts & Musings

This is a newer primer for boat system wiring design with a thorough diagram: Building a Good Foundation (October 2016)
Building a DC Electrical Foundation
 
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Likes: Ward H
May 24, 2004
7,129
CC 30 South Florida
Do I understand correctly that you have a total of three batteries? Are all of them deep cycle or do you have one that is a starting battery? Most switches have positions (Bat 1) and (Bat 2) and (All or Both) and (Off). The switch position will denote which battery is powering the loads and the battery that receives charge from the alternator. When the switch is to all or both or 1-2 means both batteries are powering the loads and both batteries will receive charge from the alternator. Some sailors with three batteries will combine 2 of them in parallel and connect them to one of the positions either Bat 1 or Bat 2 and use the free position for the third battery which could be a starter. At the mooring you should turn the switch to Off as you would not want any load to discharge the batteries. Like previously mentioned your bilge pump should be hard wired and will only run if water is accumulating in the bilge. You can test it by turning the battery switch off and manually lifting the float switch or flipping the switch to manual if so equipped. The bilge pump should run with the battery switch to OFF. With these switches there is a matter of redundancy; when battery 1 or battery 2 are used individually you have two batteries and if one fails you have the other as backup. bat 1 and bat 2 can be combined to start the engine if one of the two is weak. When the position of both is selected you have only one battery, a larger battery but just one and if it fails you have no backup. When connected a bad battery will bring down a good one. What sailors do is to alternate the use of batteries on different outings and this is to maintain a similar number of discharge/charge cycles for both batteries while maintaining redundancy. Never turn the switch to Off while the engine is running as it is likely to damage the diodes in the alternator. So you likely have two battery banks with one of the banks in position 1 composed of two batteries and the bank in position 2 with a single battery. Should one of the batteries be a starting battery then the whole use of the switch will change.