solenoid battery crossover

[Natchamp]

Wowzer,

This was very helpful, thanks for posting. Can you share what brand of 3-bank charger/maintainer you are using? I'd like to start doing some more in-depth reading on the different chargers and it sounds like your brand would be a good place to start.

Mark

[wowzer52]

http://www.defender.com has several chargers to choose from as does West Marine and others. Defender and West Marine both have the "Prosport 20" produced by "Promariner" for $179. which is probably the best bang for the buck, but while you're looking know the difference between "3 bank" and "3 stage". There are several makes and models that will do what you need and there are many people on here that have great, and different, systems that would be willing to help also but You really need to "research" and choose the parts and build the system that's right for you. To start with, figure up approx. amp draw for a 24hr period to decide what "amp hours" you'll need in the batteries for your house (in my opinion overkill is good). For example, look on the back panel of the fridge for the amp draw for the fridge, inverter, lighting(each) etc, anything that will draw juice while at anchor, and for how long. Add these together, don't forget it's best to only use 50% of the batteries capacity between charges. You can use more but your battery will suffer in the long run. When it comes to selecting batteries, personally I prefer "deep cycle" for the house and "starting" for the engines and I use 2 group 27's for the house and also a single group 27 for each engine because they are small and easy to move around and hold enough amperage for "my" needs. There are endless combinations and endless possibilities, as many people here will agree, we all have different needs. If you continue to search this site you will find an enormous amount of info on this subject (and anything else you may want). good luck.