Charging Batteries while at the dock.

[Starship 3000]

After reading the owns manual, I'm still not sure the best way to charge the batteries while at the dock. On our SCR3000 there are two switches for DC power with four settings; Off, #1, #2 and Both. The manual states that while at the dock and plugged into AC power, don't have the switches in the "both" position to charge them. It states that the batteries will not charge fully and on a recent trip while tied up on the lake, we did not have enough power to restart the engines. That being said, the manual stops short of telling you what position each switch should be in. Should you have one switch in the #1 position and the other on #2? Also, while the engines are running, what position should the switches be in? Thx,

[seapuppy]

Starship...welcome to the zoo.....for me ...I have a 2700scr with one batt. switch...I always have mine on both with no charging issues....with that said...since yours is a bit different...I'd put #1 sw. on batt. 2...and #2 sw..on batt. 2 also......what you need to continually charge and use when on sp is the house batt's....or...install a couple of smart chargers..they will monitor and charge both sets of batts.......

when on ships pwr...the alt. on the engines should be charging #1 for both engines.....

SP

[rgreenwell8962]

It is very funny that you ask this question because just last night I was flipping through the owners manual of our Maxum 2500 SCR. Usually I skim through owners manuals but for some reason I actually read the ditty on charging your batteries.

I too, have only one switch. Both, 1 or 2. My manual states to "never" have it switched to Both when using dock power. It states to use either 1 or 2, doesnt matter.

But again, I only have one switch though.

Cheers

[jhabers]

OK, i did a ton of research when wiring our batteries and this is what I came up with. We have 2 batteries with the ability to plug into the dock. With this configuration you NEVER mess with the switches, There are 3 ON/OFF switched (none with ALL). You set the left and right always on, the middle is off. One battery is the starting battery only. and the other is the house battery only. This way you will always be able to start your boat even if you blast the radio ALL day long. If for some odd reason your starting battery is dead you can flip the middle switch to draw off the house battery to start. This layout is foolproof and will never leave you stranded and will make sure the batteries are always full and not getting over charged. The combiner is the brains when charging and will prevent one battery from draining into the other

Jon