SpartyKen
Active Member
I have ordered the dual battery option from the factory and I was wondering if both batteries are charging while underway or do I need to switch back and forth between them to keep them charged?
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Whatcha mean Jim?One thing about the factory dual battery switch, you can switch from 1 or 2 to 1 +2 while the engine is running, but switching to off while the engine is running would prove to be a very expensive mistake.
Alternator Field Disconnect is an optional feature on some switches, but it requires additional wiring to the engine to work. I have not seen this wiring in place in any of the Bennington wiring schematics posted to this forum. I've been looking at the schematics recently, as I have a 2nd battery project coming up and like to look at how Bennington does it. Most likely switching to off with the engine running on an alternator based system without AFD will damage the voltage regulator and/or one or more of the alternator diodes. I've heard that some that did it and then quickly switched back didn't think any harm was done until their battery wore down and wouldn't charge any more. I just provided the warning for the benefit of those that plan to avoid incorporation of an automatic charging relay, and rely on a 1/2/both/off type switch. Probably a bigger deal on I/Os with larger alternators, even so replacing an outboard alternator can be expensive.Yes, Carl, i understand that, and i also understand that if you remove the load from an alternator it will damage it.
I was just wanting clarification, if the master switch is turned off, would that not kill the engine and at the same time remove the alternator field excitation, resulting in no power being created by the alternator?
Just wanting to be sure.......