RUN DOWN BATTERIES

[John Christian]

Russ, I have the same combiner, just curious how are your charge systems set up. Mine are alternator to "A" (start) and charger to "(B) house.

JC

[Russ]

Russ, I have the same combiner, just curious how are your charge systems set up. Mine are alternator to "A" (start) and charger to "(B) house.

JC

That's how mine WILL be when I go back up there and wire it that way. I took it home to test it and find out why the batteries weren't combining. I didn't have the manual on the boat at the time.

Mine was wired opposite of yours. B-Start A-House so you should be fine.
This worked fine while the AC battery charger was charging the house batt because it also charged the starter battery. But that's not the way I need it to work.
Either the installer made an honest mistake or it was wired to be on the AC charger most of the time keeping the starter batt charged.

It's easy to check. Run the engine and you will see the LED light change from the "undercharge" indicator to "Combined". If it doesn't, you've got a problem. It's taken me all season to run the house battery down because it's not been charging from the motor.

I added the jumper wire (#1 to B) so it will sense either bank and combine when either bank goes high ( > 13.5volts). You can't go wrong that way.

I much prefer the combiner over the A/B/Both switches. I always forgot and left the switch in the wrong position. The combiner is automatic and always keeps the starting battery isolated.