Jim,
The intellitec site ( http://www.intellitecsve.com/batteryprod.htm if
this is the correct one) talks about automotive products, are they safe
enough for a boat?
Paul

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If starting, the voltage will be below 13.4V and the batteries
will
not
be
combined. I installed one on my boat as the electronics power
cycled
when
starting the motor (351W inboard). They happily stay on now.
The
only
isolators I have seen have been the diode units. The combiner
is
a
relay.
Bill
Your right. I didn't think of that. Battery voltage typically goes
to
about
10 V when the engine is cranking so the West Combiner/Isolator
would
be
in
Isolation mode. How do you handle an emergency start situation
when
the
starting battery is dead?
Jim



I have a Guest dual battery switch. The combiner is hooked up to
the
1
and
2 battery connections and then off the #2 connection is a wire to a
single
battery switch. The electronics runs off the single switch. So to
run
the
boat I have to turn the dual switch to #1 and also turn on the
single
switch. If #1 is dead, just turn the dual switch to #2. I lost a
Pinpoint
sonar unit when starting one time. The EMF kickback from the
starter
/
solenoid blew a cap and the power supply in the unit.
Bill


Where does the combiner read the control voltage from?
Jim




It reads the voltage from either battery. IF one gets above 13.4V then
the
relay engages and combines the 2 batts.
Bill


That's what I wasn't sure of. It had to look at both batteries or another
source like the ignition switch or alternator output. One minor nit to
pick.
The on/off/both switch you are using doesn't seem to enable you to pull
battery 2 out of the circuit and operate the electronics on battery 1
only.
Of course you could disconnect a battery cable if you had to. You have a
pretty good setup there. Take a look at the intellitec web site if you get
a
chance. They have some pretty interesting battery control devices.

Gobble gobble,
Jim