Fixed a design defect in my boats electrical

Today I fixed a design issue on my Bayliner 4788

From the factory...

The starboard engine charges the house battery bank.
The port engine charges both the port and starboard start batteries. This is accomplished through a diode type battery isolator with three connections Port Alternator, Port Battery, Starboard Battery.

From the factory there is no way to charge the Starboard battery from the Starboard engine. Today I fixed that.

I removed the old battery isolator and in its place installed a Blue Seas ACR. One side of the ACR is the Port Battery and the Port Alternator. The other side of the ACR is the Starboard Battery.

Then to cure the original problem I installed a feed from the House Battery to the Starboard Battery through a On/Off switch that will normally be in the off position.

The end result is that if the port engine or alternator fails I can keep the engine(s) running using the other engines alternator.

Of course from the factory there is also a great set of on/off switches for all the batteries, but I felt this was a design defect that needed rectifying.

The Blue Seas ACR's are really great.

I have their RBS as well, and the combination of these and a Balmar Dual Charge to combine alternator outputs gives an elegant system. The schematic attached is (I hope) an accurate representation of what the guys built for me.

I wouldn't necessarily call your OEM installation a design defect. More like one of the many compromises boat builders make to keep costs down.

But I agree that your new system is better. As Ski said on another thread, you have to analyze a boat as a system while keeping in mind the environment and mission that it operates.

For you your new system is definitely better. For others a pair of jumper cables might accomplish the same thing.

David