J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Battery Charger

The ACR is a nice add-on but not really needed. It's convenient in that you don't need to manually move the battery switch (1, 2, all, off) to have the engine charge both batteries. I had thought about it a while back but decided to stay with the proven battery switch. I also had a very complicated rule for the battery switch. If it was an odd day, we sailed using battery #1. If it was an even day, we sailed using battery #2. Both batteries were Walmart group 24 marine batteries that cost ~ $75 each. I changed them last May after 7 years... not because I was having problems but because I didn't feel comfortable cruising knowing that I had two batteries that were 7 years old.

If you have a dual bank battery charger like the Xantrex and are at a slip where it can be connected, your batteries will always be topped off whenever you go out. The charger has diodes that isolate the batteries from each other, but will charge both batteries no mater what the position of the battery switch. The diodes also prevent back flow currents to the charger when the charger is off so the batteries don't drain. The battery charger is always connected to the batteries, so it is just a matter of applying AC shore power to turn it on.

ps - here is the shore power / charger procedure I documented for Rhapsody. It was before I added the AC breaker with reverse polarity sensing and the new DC panel but has info you could easily use if you decide to wire in a charger.