echo charge

Does any one have any experience with these devices. I understand with these
you don't need battery switches, combiners or isolators.

http://www.e-marine-inc.com/products/echo.html

Thanks

===========================================================
Some people drink from the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle.

To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is
research.
===========================================================

 

Wow! And only $125, too!

Here's the finest battery charger for the starting battery in any boat
that's 12V ever invented:
http://www.batterychargers.com/details.cfm?prodid=SE-1-12S&catid=18
Mine's still running after being pounded to death in THREE boats!
It charges at 1.5A until the battery comes up to 14V, then shuts off and
waits for the battery to discharge below 13.2V, then comes on again to
recharge the battery, even if it's a week later. It never boils a
battery dry or overcharges it.

It comes with a mounting bracket that holds it firmly to the bulkhead
next to the battery. It's completely sealed in epoxy with only the
cables exposed. It comes with ring terminals for direct connection to
the battery terminals.

A secondary neat feature is the "charged" red LED on it. It even works
when the charger isn't plugged into AC power! If you look at it when the
boat is running, you'll see it lit up red....which means the alternator
has brought the starting battery voltage back up to 14+ volts and the
alternator is functional...the battery is charged. It will stay lit on
an unloaded battery long after you get back to the dock.

The website quotes the retail price at $36. The street price is $29-32
in most auto parts stores...saving you $100 to buy a nice dinner for the
wife!

$125 my ass......How silly.

 

Fine if you are at the dock. When you are on the hook for weeks you need
something like the Balmar Duo-Charge to charge the starting battery when
the alternator output is trying to put that 100 amps back in the house
battery.
krj

 

No, then you need a switch between the two batteries marked ON-OFF to
parallel everything for charging when the engine is running. A remote
full-duty-cycle relay with a little switch up by the engine controls is
nicer. Put a pilot light on it to remind you to shut it off when the
engine isn't running.

Switch or solenoid
+ contacts +
House Batteries-----|----------| |-----------|-------Starting Battery
| |<switch at engine control
| |
Alternator |--solenoid coil-|-(gnd)
DC output |---ind lite-----|

Crank engine
flip switch
Charge everything
flip switch
Shut down engine

KISS....??

We got 2 alternators, but I still have a cross-connecting switch so I can
charge everything from the one working alternator that's left. The big
house alternator failed 90 miles S of Charleston coming up from Florida.
I flipped the switch ON and noone noticed...(c; The damned fancy
multistage controller failed. The Perkins alternator pulled the load
just fine for the rest of the trip.

 

How did you mount a second alternator on the 4-108?

 

It's mounted on a bracket on the opposite side from the engine alternator
on the engine bed, not the engine. What little movement is in the engine
mounts doesn't seem to bother it. We did move the hot water heater out of
the engine room because it was in the way of servicing the forward end of
the engine where it's located the way we got the boat. The mount was
broken and a new, heavier mount was installed with a larger alternator we'd
brought from the old boat.

I've heard the belt squeal a couple of times when the batteries were really
down, but the rest of the time it works quite well. Even L-16H's can't
pull 100A for more than a few minutes before the voltage comes up.

 

Perhaps the OP wants a different charge regime for starting batteries
vs house bank. I know I do - I use a single grp 27 for starting.
Don't really want that charging in parallel with my house bank.

____________________________________________________________
Glen "Wiley" Wilson <usenet1 SPAMNIX at world wide wiley dot com>
To reply, lose the capitals and do the obvious.

Take a look at cpRepeater, my NMEA data integrator, repeater, and
logger at http://www.worldwidewiley.com/

 

Most folks use a two or three groove shive on the front of the
Crankshaft. I have a 6 groove shive on mine as I run, an air compressor,
24Vdc 100amp alternator, and 10Hp Hydrolic pump, all off the front end.
The backend turns a 10Kw Lima Genend.

Bruce in alaska

 

Any power left to turn the shaft?.....(c;

 

Thanks guys. Nothing is ever straight forward. If nothing else you have
convinced me to do more "research".

 

I'm late getting to the party on this post, but I use the echo charger for
my starting battery and like it. Practically all my charging is done via
solar (with boost controller) into house flooded batteries. The echo unit
puts the overflow into the starting AGM battery. I do have a shore power
multistage charger on board that's hardly ever been used. Also, use a Link
20 to monitor both. I say "starting" battery but it really ins't used much
for that -- it is a backup, should all else fail.
Len