I'm almost done with my Frigoboat install and my next step is to add a starting battery so I can wire my existing two batteries in parallel to increase my house bank capacity. I've read Nigel Calder's book as well as all of the excellent articles on the Blue Sea web site. But before charging ahead , I thought I'd lay out my plan for your comments and ask a couple of questions. I tried searching for earlier threads on this subject but didn't find anything that addresses my very basic questions.
I have a Universal M25 XPB with the stock alternator. I plan to install a new Blue Sea Dual Circuit Plus battery switch to replace the current Off-1-2-Both switch. I already have a Blue Sea Automatic Charging Relay and a Xantrex 2 Bank charger installed. I'll be putting the new starting battery on a shelf behind the motor, just aft of the stuffing box. I'll be running a battery cable from the starting battery positive to the battery switch and a cable from the starting battery negative to the negative bus bar. I will connect the starting battery to the battery combiner and to the Xantrex charger. I'll connect the house bank to the battery switch and to the combiner and charger.
Now, here's my biggest question. The current Off-1-2-Both switch has three connection posts, one each for the two current batteries, and one that according to my multimeter appears to be the lead from the starter. There are two smaller wires connected to the battery wire posts from the panel meter, and there are three other connections to the post with the starter wire that appear to be hot leads to the panel. But I can't figure out how the alternator output gets to the batteries. I can't trace any wire coming from the alternator and going to the batteries or to the battery switch. Obviously, the alternator is currently charging my batteries and I assume that this will continue to be the case and that the combiner will take care of sending that charge to the new starting battery, is this correct?
Thanks to all of you for reading this far and for any guidance you can give.
I have a Universal M25 XPB with the stock alternator. I plan to install a new Blue Sea Dual Circuit Plus battery switch to replace the current Off-1-2-Both switch. I already have a Blue Sea Automatic Charging Relay and a Xantrex 2 Bank charger installed. I'll be putting the new starting battery on a shelf behind the motor, just aft of the stuffing box. I'll be running a battery cable from the starting battery positive to the battery switch and a cable from the starting battery negative to the negative bus bar. I will connect the starting battery to the battery combiner and to the Xantrex charger. I'll connect the house bank to the battery switch and to the combiner and charger.
Now, here's my biggest question. The current Off-1-2-Both switch has three connection posts, one each for the two current batteries, and one that according to my multimeter appears to be the lead from the starter. There are two smaller wires connected to the battery wire posts from the panel meter, and there are three other connections to the post with the starter wire that appear to be hot leads to the panel. But I can't figure out how the alternator output gets to the batteries. I can't trace any wire coming from the alternator and going to the batteries or to the battery switch. Obviously, the alternator is currently charging my batteries and I assume that this will continue to be the case and that the combiner will take care of sending that charge to the new starting battery, is this correct?
Thanks to all of you for reading this far and for any guidance you can give.