Originally Posted by
Jasper
When I bought my 53conv in the US, I added GREAT Garmin electronics.
Problem was same as yours, but no one told me. Result was that after I took delivery in Newcastle, Australia and started the long trip home, the voltage started to drop everytime I used the auto pilot and then knocked out the Garmins. Not fun when you are out far! Only shore power was charging the batteries (12V) the guys installed for the Garmins, so motored home manual all the way. As soon as I got to home port, went to an auto wrecker, bought a car alternator and with a friend (I am not much use) we installed it to the port engine to keep the charge up to the 12volt batteries for the electronics. Great result! No generator needed, no invertor, no convertor etc.
With so much power from the DD's makes sense to me to use them.