Battery switch

[Rocinante33]

I'm planning to make some changes to my battery system. We currently have two group 27 deep cycle batteries wired as seperate banks. I want to combine the two into one large house bank, then add another small (group 24?) starter battery under the quarterberth. I will add a Xantrex Echocharger to keep the two banks charged. It is this one;
http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/103/p/1/pt/8/product.asp

And I also want to replace the battery switch. I will use either;
http://bluesea.com/category/1/products/6007
or this one;
http://bluesea.com/category/1/products/6011

So, the questions are;
Are either of these preferrable? Has anyone mounted one of these switches on one of our stock Ericson panels? There are three differnt ways they can be mounted. Did you mount it from the rear? Did you use a standard hole saw to cut the aluminum panel? Any ideas or comments out there?

I will relocate my battery charger (Xantrex Truecharge 20 amp) into the battery compartment during this project and add a couple of vents.

 

[Howard Keiper]

Hi Keith...
Your battery scheme is a good one. I often use a dual output charger using just one output to the house bank so that all the available current from the charger goes there, and let the echo-charger take care of the start battery.
I like the 2nd of your switch selections. Either will fit in a 'standard' Perko hole if you already have one, from behind the panel. You may have to do some filing, but not much.
Howard Keiper
Berkeley

 

[jmcpeak]

I went the 6011 route - no worries about killing my starter battery.

You can mount most with a hole saw and four screws:

 

[chaco]

Keep it Simple

Do not use the Standard (4) Way Switches for your System. They are prone to user error. The best set up is (3) seperate m-series Mini Switches. (1) House Switch - (1) Keyed Combiner - (1) Start System switch with auto relay to Charge Start System first. Now you NEVER have to be fooling around with a (4) way switch and wondering if you used up all your juice on a nite light I built the System on a piece of 3/8" acrylic. A fraction of the cost to buy the same thing from bluesea.

Happy Electrical Panels

 

[Rocinante33]

Thanks for all the input. I'm mulling over which direction to go. I hope to keep my old panel as is, with possibly drilling or cutting a hole for a single switch. So, I'm leaning toward the 6011 switch (pictured below) mounted on my panel. If kept in the "on" position instead of the "combine" position, it should prevent the starting bank from being drained.

 

[wheelerwbrian]

Blue Sea has a battery panel that will drop into the old space but do the same thing as three switchs -- http://bluesea.com/category/7/26/productline/5

I have something similar with a battery combiner. Works like a charm and I don't have to remember to go below and switch from both to house, so the starting battery is always protected.

 

[David Westcott]

just did it on my Ericson 34

A retired marine electrician friend just helped me upgrade the battery system on my Ericson 34.

He recommends the 7610 package from Blue Sea. That is the switch and automatic charging relay put together in one package. Separates the starting battery so no risk of discharging it overnite but combines batteries automatically for charging. And no need to remember to switch from 1 to 1&2 for charging while underway.

 

[Rocinante33]

David,

I actually have the Blueseas 7610 set in hand, but I've decided to return it & not use it. There are two reasons why;

I want the small (mini) battery switch instead of the large one that comes with the 7610 kit.

The Xantrex Echo charger, if I understand it right, performs the same function as the ACR (automatic charging relay) that comes with the 7610 kit, but has more "smart" logic built in to redirect the charge to the second, starting bank, as is appropriate.

If I do it this way, I will have the same functions as you do, but maybe just a slightly better application for me. I think we both get to the same point on the course, even though we tack in different directions.