"Doug Dotson" dougdotson@NOSPAMcablespeedNOSPAMcom wrote in
:

Bilge pump should not be wired though a battery switch. If you have a
switch that even has a "both" position, then there is a better way.
House bank
should be unique with a separate starting battery. A switch to
parallel the starting bank to the house bank in the case of an
emergency is a good idea.

DOug



Great advise, Doug. Lionheart has two battery switches, side-by-side. One
selects which L-16 house battery bank, normally left in BOTH and the other
selects which battery (starting or house or both) is connected to the
diesel starter, normally left in STARTing battery. The house connection
simply connects the starting switch to the common of the house switch. Set
both switches to BOTH parallels everything in the boat, the ultimate jumper
cables..(c; Of course, you can switch everything to OFF to unpower it all
except the permanently-connected bilge pumps and battery chargers(one for
house, one for starting). Bilge pumps and chargers connect through their
own safety fuse block located on the side of the house battery boxes,
directly connected BOTH NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE. Bilge pumps do NOT have an
OFF position, which I consider REALLY STUPID in any boat! Stalled bilge
pump blows the fuse, which has a neat 12V bulb across the fuse for EASY
IDENTIFICATION. It'll light up the space until you press the new fuse into
the holder. Why more don't do that remains a mystery to me.

As to connecting the chargers upline from the battery posts, I'm against
it. The chargers have enough trouble measuring the battery's voltage
because they are wired so cheap by the manufacturers...i.e. such little
wires. Every time a load current passes through the wires and corrosion
from the battery switch, where the charger would be connected, to the
battery, this voltage drop would be measured as an increased drop in
battery voltage by the charger. This screws up the charging cycles. Nope,
connect the chargers directly to the battery being charged without load
current carrying wires in the path.

For safety, Lionheart has a 100A fuse in the jumper link between the 6V
batteries in series, one on each bank. Any shorts, except directly across
one battery's terminals, would simply blow the fuse, not burn the boat to
the waterline. 200A on #2 is a safe limit with the switch in BOTH and Amel
has master breakers where we connect our wiring to the original boat French
wiring. Starting the Perkins through one 100A fuse may blow it if the
engine were locked, but doesn't when it is "normal" as we tried it.

If there's any power left....we can crank it...(c;

Any 12/24V fuse or breaker can have a trouble light on it, easy. Just wire
an indicator light ACROSS the fuses in all circuits. The current through
the load that blew the fuse will light the bulb. If the bulb is full
brightness, it's a pretty good indication the load has a short to negative
that needs to be cleared before you blow more fuses or retrip the breaker.
I like the way it shows me what fuse/breaker is tripped while we're all
sitting in the dark or in a dark engine room. I use bright red indicator
lights that give me plenty of light to replace the fuse, but of course they
go out or go dim when you clear the short. Just turn on the load and
they'll light back up so you can see the fuse holders.....cheap at any
Ratshack.