On Sat, 07 May 2005 21:44:17 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:


I've already decided to run both my batteries as close to parallel as
possible to minimize the depth of the discharge cycles and get maximum
life out of the expensive AGM cells. This goes against the
conventional wisdom of always maintaining a dedicated starting
battery.

Modern electronic equipment can cause some annoyance/inconvenience
when powered from the same battery as used to start the engine.

When you start the engine, the battery voltage will drop significantly
- this may be enough to turn off depth sounders and other things that
have "soft" (electronic) power switches, and may cause
microprocessor-based equipment to reset - your GPS may have to start
from scratch re-acquiring satellites, and the radar will have to go
through the 90 second warm-up routine again.

Whether this is a serious problem, minor annoyance, or insignificant
will depend on the equipment on board, the circumstances, and on the
user....



--
Peter Bennett, VE7CEI
peterbb4 (at) interchange.ubc.ca
new newsgroup users info : http://vancouver-webpages.com/nnq
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Vancouver Power Squadron: http://vancouver.powersquadron.ca