1/2/BOTH Battery Switch Considerations
The 1/BOTH/2/OFF Switch Preface: I've seen & read many on the internet suggest that "The 1/2/BOTH is RC/Rod's/Compass Marine's preferred switching method".. Let [...]
Balmar MC-614 Alternator Service Disconnect Switch
Incorrectly Wired Service Disconnect Switch This article is part of an on-going series on marine alternators. Our other articles can be found in [...]
Understanding the Sterling Power Pro Batt Ultra – Battery to Battery Charger
The Sterling Power Pro Batt Ultra DC to DC Charger In our continuing series on CMD's or Charge Management Devices, this article examines [...]
Testing the Balmar SG200 Self-Learning Battery Monitor
How we Tested the New Balmar SG200 Self Learning Battery Monitor Site Plug: Please help support MarineHowTo.com by purchasing from us. MarineHowTo.com cannot [...]
Making Sense of Automatic Charging Relays
Making Sense of the ACR What is an ACR? An ACR is nothing more than a fully automatic, voltage triggered, BOTH/PARALLEL switch that [...]
Marine Alternator Installation – Tips & Tricks
A Fresh New Alternator For many boat owners the task of upgrading their engines alternator can be intimidating. It does not have [...]
Testing A Galvanic Isolator
A 30A Galvanic Isolator What exactly is a Galvanic Isolator (GI), why do you need one & why on Earth would you need [...]
Installing a Solbian Semi-Flexible Solar Panel
Solbian Layout Solbian solar panels are a unique product that fill a great niche for the marine market. They are thin, [...]
Programming a Balmar External Voltage Regulator
Preface This article contains three separate videos that show how to physically program Balmar regulators. The videos are meant to be watched in [...]
Installation & Orientation of Flooded Batteries on Boats
Port to Starboard Orientation This photo is simulating a sailboat heeling with flooded batteries. For years I’ve wanted to write this article, but [...]
Fusing & Termination Voltage Drop
5A Fuse - 5A Load As boaters looking for optimal charging performance we need to keep in mind that the path [...]
How Fast Can an AGM Battery be Charged?
Baseline Discharge 49.3% SOC PREFACE: This article looks at the *charging times & achieved state of charge of an AGM battery in multiple scenarios. 1- 50% SOC [...]
Winter Battery Storage & Self Discharge Characteristics
December 11, 2012 After having a discussion with one of my customers, about leaving his battery charger running on-board all winter, a practice [...]
Under-Load Battery Voltage vs. SoC
Battery After 20 Hour Capacity Test = 95.69 Ah Capacity For this test I wanted to: Show the relationship of loaded voltage to [...]
Automotive Alternators vs. Deep Cycle Batteries
A Deep Cycle Battery Assassin The alternator pictured here helped to destroy a very expensive bank of TPPL AGM batteries in under two [...]
Installing Solar MC4 Terminals
Solar MC4 Connectors These are solar *MC4 connectors, the FEMALE is on the bottom, and the MALE plug is on top. [...]