These devices are not expensive and they do more than was said in the video. They are bidirectional meaning that if you have a house battery and an engine starting battery that you want "isolate" then the engine alternator can charge both the engine battery and the house battery with no voltage drop to the house battery. They explained that well. But unlike an old school battery isolator, let's say you are at dock connected to shore power and have a built in charger. That charger is probably charging the house battery only. But if you install an ACR, it senses charge level voltage on either stud, not just on the alternator side. So if the shore powered battery charger is enabled, it will charge the house battery and the engine battery.
I have the 6011 switch and just bought the acr for a two battery system and an 8hp outboard on a sail boat. The instructions say the motor switch on the acr is optional.... is it optional if you want to fry your boats electronics? Thanks
I bought a boat a couple years ago and the stereo and dept finder dont work well. I'm getting ready to repalce both, would this isolator be good to use in my application? My engine is a 90hp Evinrude Spl. Im just going to run a cd player with 4 speakers and a fishfinder. Nothing fancy but wanted a second battery for peace of mind.
First, you have to have enough charging capability to keep up with your demands. Newer alternators with serpentine belts might be the right answer (from Balmar). Second, you need to have excellent low resistance cabling from the engine to batteries to batteries switch. Third, use a charge solenoid like this one to charge all batteries in parallel, but allow the starting battery to be protected from deep discharges.
These devices are not expensive and they do more than was said in the video. They are bidirectional meaning that if you have a house battery and an engine starting battery that you want "isolate" then the engine alternator can charge both the engine battery and the house battery with no voltage drop to the house battery. They explained that well. But unlike an old school battery isolator, let's say you are at dock connected to shore power and have a built in charger. That charger is probably charging the house battery only. But if you install an ACR, it senses charge level voltage on either stud, not just on the alternator side. So if the shore powered battery charger is enabled, it will charge the house battery and the engine battery.
Great additional insight! Thanks so much for sharing!
I have the 6011 switch and just bought the acr for a two battery system and an 8hp outboard on a sail boat. The instructions say the motor switch on the acr is optional.... is it optional if you want to fry your boats electronics? Thanks
I bought a boat a couple years ago and the stereo and dept finder dont work well. I'm getting ready to repalce both, would this isolator be good to use in my application? My engine is a 90hp Evinrude Spl. Im just going to run a cd player with 4 speakers and a fishfinder. Nothing fancy but wanted a second battery for peace of mind.
First, you have to have enough charging capability to keep up with your demands. Newer alternators with serpentine belts might be the right answer (from Balmar). Second, you need to have excellent low resistance cabling from the engine to batteries to batteries switch. Third, use a charge solenoid like this one to charge all batteries in parallel, but allow the starting battery to be protected from deep discharges.
a dual alternator system is less expensive than this VSR system and is much more reliable.
This thing is a hundred bucks , how much is a dual alternator setup ?
I'm thinking way more .