Hey MIKE P have a question

[Miss Jamey Lynn]

Was going over some old posts and came across one around 2009 that you were mentioning that you have permintly combined both star and port battery banks together, is this still working for you? my parallel selinoid stopped working and i needed it due to the port bank was to low to start, i pulled the two leads off of the selinoid and bolted them together and it seemed to work, wasnt sure if i should just leave it like this or not, the charger seems to evenly charge both banks now, not sure if the selinoid was part of the problem or not . well anyway would apreciate hearing an undate on your set up , thanks Mike P, I'm Jim.

 

[MikeP]

Hi Jim,

Yes, my battery banks have been combined since back around 06 or 07, I can't recall for sure when I did it. They work perfectly that way and I would not re-combine them since, by my experience, everything just works better.

If you've looked at old posts, you will see considerable discussion re the pros and cons. In my view, FOR OUR USE, there are only pros but that doesn't mean it's the best choice for for YOUR use. I set up a master battery switch to be able to de-combine the banks when I did the work to combine them, in case I wanted to return the boat to the oem Hatteras setup but I have never turned the switch to de-combine them. It's probably rusted in the "On" position!

 

[bostonhatteras]

I have a similar set up. Installed the one & two bank + both+ off battery selector switch so I could draw from either bank, both or none for the inverter. I hardly ever turn it from 'both'. All the items that charge the batteries will simply input amperage until their respective regulator tells it to shut off. It doesn't matter if you have two alternators going at once, they will work in tandem without trouble. Now if you have some ultra fancy owner installed mega amp regulators like sailboats use I cant say.

 

[carolinacoast]

I used Mike P's setup from those older threads. I have not decombined ours since installation in 2010. I do have the selector and the outback 3232 inverter/charger. Please note that we have a 2nd generator with a dedicated start battery, so we have a bit less risk than some of running out of starting power.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I used Mike P's setup from those older threads. I have not decombined ours since installation in 2010. I do have the selector and the outback 3232 inverter/charger. Please note that we have a 2nd generator with a dedicated start battery, so we have a bit less risk than some of running out of starting power.

Mine is the same. Outback 3232 with a selector switch to combine banks as needed. I also have the a separate 12v AGM battery for the generator.