Ryan P. wrote:
On 3/17/2016 7:41 PM, Alex wrote:
Ryan P. wrote:
On 3/16/2016 6:53 PM, Alex wrote:
Ryan P. wrote:
On 3/16/2016 10:36 AM, wrote:
On Wed, 16 Mar 2016 08:01:41 -0500, "Ryan P."
wrote:

On 3/15/2016 4:22 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 15 Mar 2016 15:54:11 -0500, "Ryan P."

wrote:

On 3/15/2016 2:42 PM, John H. wrote:
On Tue, 15 Mar 2016 11:57:40 -0700 (PDT), Tim
wrote:

"
Without an alternator, though, I'm worried about leaving it
at a slip.
I have an accessory battery, so I'm not worried about
getting
stranded, but running lights and a stereo take up juice. "

Why no alternator? I'm not following...

I'm glad you asked that. I was going to do so, but then thought
it might somehow be a
real stupid question.
--

Ban liars, tax cheats, idiots, audiophools, and
narcissists...not
guns!

I'm the one asking the stupid questions, I'm sure. I'm the
novice
here, compared to most of you folks.

Okay, I should use the proper terms, I suppose. Its a 1985
Mercury 75.
I do have electric start, but my understanding is that on
older
engines, a stator/vr is only to trickle charge the starting
battery, and
only does that at high RPMs?


I was guessing that you had one without a charging system. That
old 75
has a 9 amp alternator in the stator. If it is working, it will
keep
your battery up if you are running it fairly often. It will put
out
pretty well at anything much over an idle. (I had one)


But can I link that to the "house" battery? If I jump the
starter
battery and the house battery together, won't the house battery
draw
down the starter?

Battery switch or isolator. BTW don't run in "both" on a battery
switch. Charge one, then the other. It is the only way to reliably
charge 2 batteries if you are not using an isolator and still the
best
way. Both is really just an artifact of the "make before break"
design
of the switch but it might be useful if both batteries are down and
between them you have enough to kick over the motor. It is the only
real use.


I'll throw a volt meter on the battery and make sure the charging
system is working properly when I take her out of storage in a few
weeks. A battery switch is pretty simple to install... If its really
producing 9amps, that should be more than enough to keep the house
battery alive if I let it charge while pulling kids on the tube or
whatever.



What you need for your application is a battery combiner. I have
one on
my bass boat and it works great. It will keep the starting battery
topped off and then switch to the house battery - or in my case the
deep-cycle trolling motor battery. Here's just one example:

http://www.charlesindustries.com/main/battcom.html

Not bad... Just an automatic battery switch, really... For a bass
boat application, or other short-run situations, do you think its
necessary to have a voltage regulator for the deep cycle?


I'm not sure what you are asking. The combiner I have doesn't care if
the batteries are a different size, or type, so there is no need for an
inline voltage regulator. We often make long runs in our bass boats.
The starting battery is only used..for starting so it's quick to get
that one back to full charge. The trolling motor battery - or house
battery in your case - is another matter and benefits from the on the
water charging.

I meant as far as overcharging your trolling battery. From what I
was reading on the product page, the switch will automatically reroute
the charge from the starter battery to the 2nd battery once it reaches
a certain voltage, but there's not automatic shutoff when the 2nd
battery gets to 100%.

Of course, the 2nd battery probably is drained more than the starter,
so maybe its not an issue.



The one I have was from Bass Pro Shops and I don't see it in their
catalog - but they might call it something else. It will return to the
starting battery once the deep cycle is fully charged. At that point
the voltage regulator in the outboard's charging system takes over as if
the little box wasn't there and prevents overcharging the starting battery.