Stephen Trapani wrote in news:Ezski.5$bu6.0
@newsfe12.lga:

-One alternator lead to house batteries (two 6 volts wired in series)

-One alternator lead to starting battery

-One shore power charger lead to house battery

-One shore power charger lead to starter battery

-Starter battery to bank one switch lead

-House battery to bank two switch lead


Seems there is a better way to do this but now that I'm finally putting
it together I don't remember what the better way is! Do I have it
right?
Help!

Thanks,

Stephen


How many alternators do you have, one or two?? If you have just one, and
there are two wires leading from the alternator output to the two
batteries, you have just connected them in parallel. If this is the
case, when you crank the starter, the house battery current backs up
through that alternator wire, which is probably NOT rated for a couple of
hundred possible amps, creating quite a fire hazard when the starter
melts the wires! If you have two alternators, this is fine.

The same goes for the charger. If you have just a single output charger
with both + wires going to the two batteries, that, also, parallels the
battery banks, creating a similar fire hazard.

Now, if the alternator or charger cables are hooked straight to these two
batteries, they effectively bypass the battery switch, rendering it
useless to separate the two batteries. There is no "off".

If you have a single alternator and single output charger and have BOTH
of them connected to the COMMON terminal of the big battery switch...not
the batteries or starter cable directly...that'll work fine. Just set
the switch to BOTH and either charger will charge BOTH just fine in
parallel, which is what BOTH does, anyways.

We have to know more DETAILED information about your setup to figure out
what you have connected. Use the | - + _ / characters and draw us a
little schematic of it.



Larry
--
While in Mexico, I didn't have to press 1 for Spanish.
While in Iran, I didn't have to press 1 for Farsi, either.
It just isn't fair.