Quote:
Originally Posted by btrayfors
Pegasus1457,
BTW, these are smart devices: they won't overcharge your batteries and they don't need any maintenance at all.
All the above is predicated on a situation where there is a start battery separate from the house bank. As I said in an earlier post, this is highly desirable because it allows you to combine all other batteries into a single large house bank, which has numerous benefits for exercising the batteries, recharging them quickly, and extending their usable life.
I'd certainly think about adding a small starting battery in the case of the original poster, maintained by an EchoCharge, and would combine the two 85AH batteries into a single large house bank.
Bill
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Bill -- thanks for the informative reply.
Since your first reply I have been learning from various sources on the web, mostly from manufacturers' literature.
I am getting the feeling that the EchoCharger, while still available from some retailers, is no longer being manufactured -- it does not appear in Xantrex's catalogs.
Xantrex's owner's manual for the Echo Charger
http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/421/docserve.aspx
says that the EchoCharger is only as smart as the charging device, since it is a voltage follower. So with a stupid alternator (like mine), the charging profile using the Echo Charger will still be stupid.
It still may be that the Echo Charger is the best solution to my needs.
Thanks again..