ACR????

[chpthril]

Chpthril,
What do you think about the perfect switch? And correct me if I'm wrong but the acr combines both batteries so that you pull power from both and that would charge both( like wiring them parrell)at a set voltage from the alt.....and the diode type combines both just for charging and they never combine to supply power from both at the same time. ( they are always suppling power seperate from eachother)

The Perfect-Switch is new to me, so I need to dig into it a bit, but for 200+ bones, it better wash and wax my boat too

A simple ACR combines the batteries when the engine is running and the alternator is charging, then isolates the batteries (or battery banks) when the engine is off and a load is sensed.

Most ACR can be set so automatically combine/isolate by simply connecting the small ground lead. There are some more elaborate ones that can be setup to combine during cranking.

I like the Blue Sea 7610 ACR, but I just recently picked up a Sure Power to try.

[adamsjstt]

Anybody have some first hand experience with the reliability of the acr?

[chpthril]

Anybody have some first hand experience with the reliability of the acr?

I've been selling and installing the Blue Sea 7610 for about 2.5 yrs now with 0 issues.

[adamsjstt]

I've been selling and installing the Blue Sea 7610 for about 2.5 yrs now with 0 issues.

Thanks again chpthril. from reading aroundin the different threads, it seems to me you have your own bussiness? Do you have a web site?

[ajholt7]

I have had a Blue Sea ACR in my boat for a year with no problems. My favorite part, some will say I'm doing it wrong but BlueSea says it is alright, is that I can run a single bank on board charger connected to one battery and it charges both. This is nice because my batteries are not close to each other.

[chpthril]

Thanks again chpthril. from reading aroundin the different threads, it seems to me you have your own bussiness? Do you have a web site?

Yes, but the best thing to do is either call or email me.

[chpthril]

Or you go with a battery isolator that DOESN'T use diodes. I did an exhaustive search and came across this:

http://www.perfectswitch.com/home/blog/

Instead of .7 volt loss, .030 volt loss (thirty thousandths) It's MOSFET based instead of diode based. Far better. No heat sink needed. No moving parts like a relay. It just plain works (no affiliation, just a happy customer).

How is it wired in to you battery banks?
How many and what type of batteries are you running?
DO you also use an on-board charger?
Whats the average current draw of you stereo system?

Thanks and welcome to the site!

[AdaminMN]

One thing about the Blue Sea ACR's, or well, at least what I have noticed...

When I run the stereo battery down too far, the ACR will not switch over when the engine is running, and re-charge the ctereo battery. I have to get out the Crescent wrench and jumper the terminals so the deep cycle will charge up.

There is a protection mode where if the 2nd battery is discharged too far it will not switch over and charge it.

[adamsjstt]

One thing about the Blue Sea ACR's, or well, at least what I have noticed...

When I run the stereo battery down too far, the ACR will not switch over when the engine is running, and re-charge the ctereo battery. I have to get out the Crescent wrench and jumper the terminals so the deep cycle will charge up.

There is a protection mode where if the 2nd battery is discharged too far it will not switch over and charge it.

Thats what I was concerned about. But I was under the impression that it would still charge the second battery but not combine both untill it reached a set voltage. 10.something if I remember.

[chpthril]

One thing about the Blue Sea ACR's, or well, at least what I have noticed...

When I run the stereo battery down too far, the ACR will not switch over when the engine is running, and re-charge the ctereo battery. I have to get out the Crescent wrench and jumper the terminals so the deep cycle will charge up.

There is a protection mode where if the 2nd battery is discharged too far it will not switch over and charge it.

What is being experienced here is "cycling". It can be looked at as a down side, as well as a good thing.

As soon as the ACR combines the house battery with the main battery and alt, the heavily discharged house battery pulls the voltage down across the board, to a level that is below the "Combine" voltage level. At this point, the ACR isolates the house battery. When it does this, the voltage level goes back up, and the ACR combines again. This is a good thing, because it does limit the load placed on the alternator. This is also one of the advantages that a Diode type isolator has over a relay ACR. There are a couple things you can do, 1) ignore it till the voltage level in the house battery comes up enough to keep the ACR combined. 2) if you have a multi-battery switch, click it over to "Both". Remember, it's just a manual Iso/Combiner.

There are a couple of ACR's out there that have adjustable iso/combine voltage settings.

Thats what I was concerned about. But I was under the impression that it would still charge the second battery but not combine both untill it reached a set voltage. 10.something if I remember.

The ACR is relay that is either open or closed, so no voltage will flow to the "house" battery until the ACR combines.

[adamsjstt]

Looks like ill be using the blue sea acr with a perko switch. Next question would be about the batteries. Should I run a deep cycle for the house and a normal battery for starting? Or should both batteries be the same type and size since they will be combined during the charging cycle.

[chpthril]

Looks like ill be using the blue sea acr with a perko switch. Next question would be about the batteries. Should I run a deep cycle for the house and a normal battery for starting? Or should both batteries be the same type and size since they will be combined during the charging cycle.

Types would be lead-acid wet-cell, gel, AGM, etc. You want to mix type if they will all depend on the alt for recharging. You will be perfectly fine with a marine deep-cycle for the house and a marine starting for the engine, this is preferred as they are both lead-acid wet-cell batteries.

[ds@earmark]

There are scenerios where a combiner/separator will not combine and bring the stereo battery back on line with the alternator. A common situation is when you have a large stereo battery or stereo bank that has been fully depleted at rest. If the combined draw of the battery and stereo pulls down the starting battery combined with the alternator output below the combine voltage threshold then the combiner will stay open or quickly bounce back to open. The stereo battery/bank never receives a charge. If its a relatively short trip back to the trailor, through the no wake zone and waiting in line at idle, you will never get a charge or perhaps only a partial restoration. If you have an older or smallish alternator (maybe 70 amps) combined with a large stereo then this compounds the issue. What is healthy in protecting the alternator from an excessive load and heat generation can be inversely counter-productive for the health of batteries. An ACR/VSR/combiner-separator (whatever label is used) can result in deeper battery cycles which are far more harmful than quantity of cycles and can result in batteries being put up into long term storage in a discharged state which causes rapid degeneration. Yes, these devices can be automatic and convenient for the most part but you should supplement them with two items. 1)a switch that lets you manual combine the banks and 2) an AC shore dual-bank multi-stage smart marine charger. Many of these ACR/VSR/comb-sep's have a switch as part of a bundled package but these packages often introduce another conflict in that they provide various switching but will not allow the separate battery banks to isolate for AC shore charging which results in over and under charging since the two banks are not used equally, do not age equally and do not share an equal level of charge nor the same characteristics that smart chargers read and respond to. Also, you do not want to apply the same scheme to all stereo systems of different sizes and all stereo battery banks of different capacity. There are different approaches to correctly fit each system. You are better off choosing this category last after you have a vision of what your final stereo and total battery capacty will be. Then get a custom solution to your particular boat. A custom solution is not necessarily more expensive but its more comprehensive. You may go from a season or two on your batteries to five seasons before replacement and your play time each following weekend will be much longer...not to mention better reliability from your electronics.

David
Earmark Marine