Ok...I must put in my .02 here. One-half (.5) volt above battery voltage is just fine for charging in most situations. If anybody's charger is putting out five volts above battery voltage, you have a major and potentially dangerous problem. The controling fact is that to charge a battery the charger must deliver a voltage higher than the battery voltage...then it charges! Most chargers work in such a way as to increase their voltage as the residual battery voltage increases as its charged. High quality chargers have methods of controling these charging rates to account for different types of batteries...starting, deep cycle, gel cell, etc...as the optimum for each differs. As respects the "1,2,ALL, off" question, for a NON-ALTERNATOR protected
switch, one is not supposed to switch between ANY positions with the engine running, BUT I do it all the time (knock on wood). Just don't switch to off. Most all switches are "make-before-break" types nowdays...however the "protected" ones have a load shunt built in to provide a load to the alternator in the event off is selected while running. The alternator diode is damaged when it is energized without load. For a complete discussion of these basic charging/protection issues, I strongly suggest the purchase of one of the several books available on the subject of boat electrics. I prefer THE COMPLETE BOATOWNERS MANUAL but THE 12v DOCTOR is good too. Regardless, anyone who goes to sea in a boat with any electric equipment should have at least a basic knowledge of these issues. From a safety aspect, this is just as important as knowing proper man-overboard proceedures.
seawolf@tecinfo.com
1, 2, All, Off Switch, Once and for All!
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