The external regulator we've all been waiting for!

[SVWalksonWater]

Yes you can cut and splice the thermistors. Twisted Pair wire is recommended to protect from any electrical noise.

If you're using 24AWG wire, which has a resistance of about 25 Ohms per 1000 feet. So 2000 feet of additional wire (2 directions) will result in 100 Ohms which will change the resistance of the sensor by 1%.

The maximum amount of total thermistor wire is 500feet or 152.4meters.

[SVWalksonWater]

I used the Blue Sea Systems 8255 500A/50mV shunt for my alternator shunt because I had one laying around, though the Victron Shu500050100 is a bit cheaper in cost...

[BoatGuyBill]

Does anyone have information on a twin-engine installation? I have heard from an ARCO sales employee that this can be done with a single Zeus, but I haven’t been able to find information on that. I have also pinged ARCO tech support, so I will post if I learn anything. Any input here is appreciated!

[SVWalksonWater]

Originally Posted by BoatGuyBill

Does anyone have information on a twin-engine installation? I have heard from an ARCO sales employee that this can be done with a single Zeus, but I haven’t been able to find information on that. I have also pinged ARCO tech support, so I will post if I learn anything. Any input here is appreciated!

In multiple alternator setups, a Zeus is required for each alternator. The Zeus devices currently NMEA 2000 connect together and will coordinate charging between the units. In the case that one engine or the other is running, the Zeus on the active engine takes over charging. This is a common setup in Catamarans and we have achieved this in both beta testing as well as in customer installations.

[zigzag930]

What is meant by "Co-ordinate" Charging?

Does that mean either of the alternator/regulator setups will charge the bank at a time or both can simultaneously charge the bank (assuming the bank can accept a high charge rate)?

[SVWalksonWater]

I posted this in another thread, but thought I'd bring it here as well:

Testing of the Zeus has proved phenomenal, especially on a recent trip when we identified that our 7+ year old AGM house bank is nearing end of life, and we were able to salvage our refrigerated and frozen goods through use of the Zeus.

We've learned a few things, which I wanted to share with this group, and may be able to answer some questions as well:

During multiple installations, we've noted best performance of the Zeus with adding the currently mandated battery shunt to the high or positive side of the battery bank, especially in 24V and 48V systems. While this doesn't currently help with current owners of Lynx Distributor and Lynx BMS installations, keep reading. Installing an optional shunt on the alternator high side is also recommended for best performance. We're routinely using Victron SHU500050100 shunts as a cost effective option.

Another note, during installation, there is a yellow and black wire on the Zeus alternator harness, "ALT GND" which is for a ground of the Zeus to the Alternator. In some installations, this has caused a ground loop, so we are advising to not connect this wire during installation and simply tuck it away.

All harness wires can be extended so that the Zeus can be mounted where it is easiest in each installation.

Current testing is underway for an over-the-air Zeus firmware update which will negate the current requirement for a battery side shunt connection and will allow the Zeus to take battery readings from a canbus or N2K network. Likewise, recent beta-testing of Victron GX systems are populating Zeus data on the Victron system, and it is expected that the Zeus will be displayed as an additional power input to the Victron system, similar to how MPPT/Multi are currently. DVCC settings in the GX will also be able to control power input from the Zeus. Both updates are expected to be released in April/May of this year.

I hope this answers some questions and helps, we love our Zeus...now the biggest dilemma of the day when off grid is, do we run the Zeus or break out the old Honda EU2200 for our power needs.