CIVANO
Well-Known Member
I have spent the last few days talking to Blue Seas and thought some of the info I got might be helpful.
I have the system and when crabbing and using a pot puller, live well and depth sounder, my house battery drains when using the kicker. The depth sounder goes off when the battery gets a little low. I called to ask them if I should wire this differently so the kicker charges the house battery first when running.Kevin who I spoke with said he has his kicker wired this way. He said the ACR will not combine unless there is over 13 volts coming from an alternator and when just idling or going slowly, the kicker is charging only the start battery. Here is the diagram he sent me
I changed mine and will see if it helps.
Here is his comment and per his instructions his contact info is there if there are any clarifications needed. He told me to tell you to feel free to contact him
From Kevin:
I have my boat set up with the kicker on the house. I don’t know if it makes more power (likely not) but the trolling motor will have to bring the start battery to 13.0 VDC to combine if it is on the start side. If it is on the House side it will put every milliamp to the house so even if at ideal we are not putting out a full 13.0 the house will get some charge.
Please ask if you have any additional questions.
Best Regards,
Kevin Patterson
Blue Sea Systems
Technical Support Specialist
ABYC Certified Electrician
TECH. SUPPORT TEL: 360-738-8230, Option 2
TOLL FREE: 800-222-7617, Option 2
Direct: KPatterson@bluesea.com
Now a very important bit of information:
I read a previous thread about one of our posters who combined his batteries with this system only to have his start battery discharge into his house battery and render both too low to start his engine. He said this does happen but there is a safety built in. If one battery is below 9 Volts, the ACR will not combine the batteries automatically so this can not happen automatically. However if we manually switch to combine batteries it will happen if one is below 9v. He said the way to prevent this is to look at the face of the ACR before manually combining. The little green light on the face could be blinking. If blinking, one battery is below 9v and you do not want to manually combine. If the light is solid green it is good to combine.
Hope this helps
I have the system and when crabbing and using a pot puller, live well and depth sounder, my house battery drains when using the kicker. The depth sounder goes off when the battery gets a little low. I called to ask them if I should wire this differently so the kicker charges the house battery first when running.Kevin who I spoke with said he has his kicker wired this way. He said the ACR will not combine unless there is over 13 volts coming from an alternator and when just idling or going slowly, the kicker is charging only the start battery. Here is the diagram he sent me
I changed mine and will see if it helps.
Here is his comment and per his instructions his contact info is there if there are any clarifications needed. He told me to tell you to feel free to contact him
From Kevin:
I have my boat set up with the kicker on the house. I don’t know if it makes more power (likely not) but the trolling motor will have to bring the start battery to 13.0 VDC to combine if it is on the start side. If it is on the House side it will put every milliamp to the house so even if at ideal we are not putting out a full 13.0 the house will get some charge.
Please ask if you have any additional questions.
Best Regards,
Kevin Patterson
Blue Sea Systems
Technical Support Specialist
ABYC Certified Electrician
TECH. SUPPORT TEL: 360-738-8230, Option 2
TOLL FREE: 800-222-7617, Option 2
Direct: KPatterson@bluesea.com
Now a very important bit of information:
I read a previous thread about one of our posters who combined his batteries with this system only to have his start battery discharge into his house battery and render both too low to start his engine. He said this does happen but there is a safety built in. If one battery is below 9 Volts, the ACR will not combine the batteries automatically so this can not happen automatically. However if we manually switch to combine batteries it will happen if one is below 9v. He said the way to prevent this is to look at the face of the ACR before manually combining. The little green light on the face could be blinking. If blinking, one battery is below 9v and you do not want to manually combine. If the light is solid green it is good to combine.
Hope this helps