I have a Beneteau which came from the factory with those battery disconnect switches one for each bank. There are two banks, one bank is a single battery and is connected solely for engine start. The other is a 2 battery bank connected to the panel for the house loads. There is a Xantrac 3 bank charger connected to the batteries, each bank is connected independently. There is also a Blue Sea combiner. I am not the original owner of the boat and the previous owner messed around with the wiring.
I'm not sure if the the charger is working so I unplugged the boat from the AC and I took the cables off the house house batteries and charged them separably with my portable charger. When they were charged I reconnected them. I then hooked up the the charger to the engine start battery and left all the cables connected. While the charger was running I checked the digital voltage meter on the panel, it showed 14.2 volts for the engine start as expected. It also showed 14.2 volts for the house bank. That indicates to me that the house bank was also being charged.
My question is should the combiner combine the banks when they are being charged from a multi bank charger or only when being charged from the alternator?
I'm not sure if the the charger is working so I unplugged the boat from the AC and I took the cables off the house house batteries and charged them separably with my portable charger. When they were charged I reconnected them. I then hooked up the the charger to the engine start battery and left all the cables connected. While the charger was running I checked the digital voltage meter on the panel, it showed 14.2 volts for the engine start as expected. It also showed 14.2 volts for the house bank. That indicates to me that the house bank was also being charged.
My question is should the combiner combine the banks when they are being charged from a multi bank charger or only when being charged from the alternator?