[Tiara Sovran] Charging batteries at the dock or on the hard

[Donaldjames]

When charging the batteries while hooked up to shore power on the hard or at the slip do you need to have the battery switches for the engine and house ON , or can I turn the battery switches to OFF and still get a charge from the built in charging system.

[MC1600]

I believe the main switches can be off and the batteries will still charge, but am not 100% positive. They may not since those switches are what provides power to the panels (and thereby the breakers for the chargers). But be advised you then won’t get power to anything else, so there’s not much of a point.

When on the hard, I keep everything turned off and only plug the boat in a couple times a month for a day to give the batteries some juice (at least around here, most yards won’t let you leave them plugged in all the time).

Once in the water, the boat is always plugged in, switches on, chargers on, and a series of breakers “on” (fridge, freezer, ac on humidity setting, and the outlet that chargers our vacuum).

You can confirm how this works on your boat by turning the battery switches off, then turning the breakers for the chargers on. The little meters on the chargers will immediately tell you whether they’re working.

Hope this helps!

[Misdirection]

On my boat, the charger will charge the batteries while in the off position.

They are wired at the switch, but at the same pole as the battery.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[Donaldjames]

I believe the main switches can be off and the batteries will still charge, but am not 100% positive. They may not since those switches are what provides power to the panels (and thereby the breakers for the chargers). But be advised you then won’t get power to anything else, so there’s not much of a point.

When on the hard, I keep everything turned off and only plug the boat in a couple times a month for a day to give the batteries some juice (at least around here, most yards won’t let you leave them plugged in all the time).

Once in the water, the boat is always plugged in, switches on, chargers on, and a series of breakers “on” (fridge, freezer, ac on humidity setting, and the outlet that chargers our vacuum).

You can confirm how this works on your boat by turning the battery switches off, then turning the breakers for the chargers on. The little meters on the chargers will immediately tell you whether they’re working.

Hope this helps!

Thank you very much for the detailed response, I really appreciate it.

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On my boat, the charger will charge the batteries while in the off position.  

They are wired at the switch, but at the same pole as the battery.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Thank you very much for the response! This forum is just a wealth of knowledge!