I have a start
battery and a house
battery. I have a Blue Sea automatic Charge Relay connecting both
batteries and also the matching, on/off/combine battery switch. I have a
generator, not
alternator, from 1961 which I have had rebuilt and have used reliably. It is capable of generating about 18amps, which I have seen with a multimeter and also with a Blue Sea Vessel System
Monitor. I also have the original (1961) blower
motor which draws 6 amps.
On my last sail my house battery was at 10.64 volts and my house was at 12.81. The blower
motor is wired to the house battery. I started the motor to charge the system and the start battery was reading 13.9 volts but the house battery was still reading 10.64. The amps
charging into the system were bouncing between .5 amps in and .5 or so amps out. I ran the motor a while to see if the ACR would combine and charge both
batteries, it did not.
I then combined the batteries and both were then
charging, immediately drawing 18 amps from the
generator.
I have noticed this issue before surrounding the blower. The generator does not seem to sense the draw that the blower motor has and even if the batteries are in need of charge, if I turn the blower on I am at a net loss for charging, even though my generator is capable of 18 amps. If I turn the motor on without the blower the amps being generated or put into the system can be 5 or 6 amps, but then once I turn the blower on the amps being generated drop to zero instead of going to the 5 amps it was generating and then the 6 amps needed to run the blower.
Questions:
1-where should I wire my blower motor to, house or start battery?
2-shouldn't the generator sense the amperage needed from the blower and add that to the supply that the generator is producing?
3-This old blower is strong enough to dry your wet hair on, should I get a new blower that may draw less than 6amps?
Thanks!
Christian
Apostle Islands, Lake Superior