Two motors charging two battery’s through one switch

[Clint r]

Googled this but no definitive answer. My #1 battery is charged by my main engine and my kicker charges my fishfinder and downrigger battery. Main is position 1 and kicker is position 2 on disconnect switch. If i have disconnect in the #3 both battery position what happens if i left the main running and started the kicker? Puff of smoke and fried alternator?

 

[ship happens]

What is a regulator? For 200 alex

 

[Clint r]

What is a regulator? For 200 alex

Yes, that’s the question. The regulator(s) will prevent anything from frying?

 

[ship happens]

Yes, that’s the question. The regulator(s) will prevent anything from frying?

Exactly. In DC the charging systems go through a rectifier to convert the a/c voltage into DC, then has to go through a regulator to tune in the correct voltage. They have diodes etc. The current can't go that direction and the batteries take what they take. You can't have a milllion alternators on the same battery of you want.

 

[Clint r]

Exactly. In DC the charging systems go through a rectifier to convert the a/c voltage into DC, then has to go through a regulator to tune in the correct voltage. They have diodes etc. The current can't go that direction and the batteries take what they take. You can't have a milllion alternators on the same battery of you want.

Final question, my alternator on the Honda puts out 14v at high idle. Reading up online 13-13.5v is what everyone else’s is putting out. Nobody has 14v. Is this ok? Not overcharging? Or maybe my digital guage is off?

 

[ship happens]

14 volts is good!

 

[Clint r]

14 volts is good!

Perfect. Thanks for clearing things up for me.

 

[brutus]

Final question, my alternator on the Honda puts out 14v at high idle. Reading up online 13-13.5v is what everyone else’s is putting out. Nobody has 14v. Is this ok? Not overcharging? Or maybe my digital guage is off?

Those digital gauge are not that precise, +- 2-3 volts, use a quality multimeter if you want your real time voltage

 

[Corey_lax]

My old outboard didn’t have a regulator and would charge at like 16 volts lol. I just turned on all the electronics to bring it down to where I was comfortable. And switched so it charged both batteries at the same time. Didn’t fry any batteries

 

[ship happens]

That just means the regulator was old and moldy bro

 

[Corey_lax]

That just means the regulator was old and moldy bro

Nope. 1980 evinrude 115. Didn’t come with one. I had one to wire into it but never got around to it

 

[ship happens]

Nope. 1980 evinrude 115. Didn’t come with one. I had one to wire into it but never got around to it

Well that voltage coming off the stator is AC not DC it's all over the place at that. Back then it was just a tiny little round thing. Then they went to water cooled bigger ones and higher voltage etc

 

[Corey_lax]

Well that voltage coming off the stator is AC not DC it's all over the place at that. Back then it was just a tiny little round thing. Then they went to water cooled bigger ones and higher voltage etc

In a roundabout way, we’re both saying they had rectifiers. Not regulator/rectifier combined. lol. Unregulated power coming off the stator

 

[ship happens]

Let's say you have 70 volts of AC and you run it through a rectifier. You will get 70 volts DC minus whatever loss. The regulator makes it a nominal voltage output for said battery voltage