From the various diagrams I've looked at it seams that it does not matter which side the battery fed from the alternator is on. Is that accurate?

I'm looking for an ARC for my Sprinter van. My auxiliary battery bank is 400AH. Will this work or should I upgrade to the #7620?

a relay will need to be added to turn on the ACR via its DC(-). This relay can be energized by the ignition circuit. Reason for this is when the ACR is installed as described in the instructions, it will close once the battery charger comes on, thus bypassing the benefits of a multi bank battery charger. This is however is ok when you only have one battery charger with a single output. But with a modern charger with multiple outputs, the charger can better taylor its charge to each battery rather than having the ACR come on and essentially create on large bank.

@sigmasafety

6 жыл бұрын

toobglued if you're using a multi bank charger, you're right. For medium to large vehicles we often use the Blue Sea P12 charger. It has an output that is specifically designed to communicate with the ACR. It tells the ACR not to close when the P12 is charging. For smaller vehicles check out the battery link chargers that have a built in ACR. www.bluesea.com/products/7608/20A_BatteryLink_Charger_%5BNorth_America%5D

I think your wiring is backwards, check out the install instructions. Start battery connects to A which then charges house battery B.

@sigmasafety

7 жыл бұрын

You are correct - that was an error on our part. Thanks for pointing that out. The system will sense voltage on either post, though, so it will work either way. Blue Sea calls it "dual sensing". See page 1 of the installation instructions, on the right side, under "Voltage Sensing".

Great video. Quick question. What types of fuses do i run on the positive lines to the ACR and to the Aux battery?

@sigmasafety

5 жыл бұрын

You can use any type you want that'll handle the current. Some people use in-line fuses, some use something like the Safety Fuse Block (BlueSea part # 7720 and 7721). Often, if the power feed is coming directly from the battery, we'll use an MRBF fuse holder right on the battery post (Blue Sea 2151 and 5191). I hope that helps.

Purchased the Si-ACR 7610. There is no space for a wire when connecting the positive battery cables. Do we cut out the plastic on the ACR cover to allow space for the positive batter cables? If so, will the sections of the cover break out evenly or is there some other way to open space for the cables?

@sigmasafety

4 жыл бұрын

Where did you buy it? The tabs are designed to snap off cleanly. Use a pair of pliers and simply snap off the tabs on the bottom or side, depending where your cables enter.

What do you suggest for a three battery bank set up ie starter battery, house battery bank (wet cell) and a bow thruster bank (AGM). Thanks

@sigmasafety

7 жыл бұрын

Hi David - thanks for the note. Unfortunately we're not marine/boat guys. We primarily do emergency warning (police cars, fire trucks, etc.) and other non-marine vehicles. I wouldn't know where to begin for a bow thruster, sorry. In terms of the connections, we really like the MRBF fuse holders. They mount right on the battery studs so there is zero unprotected wire and hookup is easy. Maximum 300 amps per holder. I'm not sure what else you would need for this type of system though, sorry. kzread.info/dash/bejne/eWlmzrmIYdvJfps.html

When connecting the wire from the unit to the AUX battery do you connect it to the + or - ?

@sigmasafety

6 жыл бұрын

Hi Rob - Positive. The main battery's power will flow through the ACR (when it's closed) and into the 2nd battery.

Nice Video. I would like to know which product will you recommend for off road vehicles. In my case i have winch, fridge, off road lights and i would like to know if this will fit my requirements. I believe all these equipments draw a lot of current and i don't want to purchase the wrong one. I'd appreciate your help.

@sigmasafety

6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment. Basically the 9611 ACR will handle 120amps continuously and surge up to 210a for maximum 5 minutes. The ACR really just passes current from your main battery to your auxiliary battery (or batteries). We normally size the ACR based on the amount of output that the vehicle's alternator can produce. The equipment you mention above mostly draw off the aux. battery (I'm assuming). The winch, for example, could draw 400amps or more depending on the size and how hard it is working. However, your vehicle's alternator is almost certainly not going to be able to keep up with 400a draw. Assuming your engine is running, it'll put as much charge into the aux. battery as it can - normally 100a or less. The additional current required for your winch (etc.) is going to come from the aux. battery. If you sustain 400a out and 100a in, pretty quickly your aux battery will die. If in doubt, go with the 7620 as it has 500a continuous capacity, though most of the time the 7611 is fine as most car alternators cannot output much more than that to charge the battery, even if the aux battery is at 9v or something like that and the main battery is dumping power to the aux. battery as fast as it can. The best solution would be to get a clamp-on amp meter and test the line from the main to the aux battery and size the ACR based off that info. I hope that helps.

Can the ACR charge different battery types? for example, could i add a deep cycle battery as the second battery when the primary is a starter battery? In the same vein, can I have a lead battery as the primary and an AGM as the secondary with the ACR system?

@sigmasafety

6 жыл бұрын

The ACR doesn't charge batteries - it's just a "gate" that opens and closes the pathway for power from one battery to the other. It doesn't modify the voltage in any way. However, to answer your question, you can have any kind of Lead battery connected to your primary battery and it'll charge fine. This includes AGM, Flooded, SLA, TPPL, etc. All of those use standard vehicle/battery voltages to charge. About the only type of battery you couldn't connect to your main starting battery would be a Li-Ion (Lithium Ion) or any kind of Lithium battery as they require different charge voltages. I hope that helps.

Question!.... Now if I was to use this on my boat for the starting battery and the trolling battery which are located on different ends of the boat.... But what about when I charge them at night at the house with the onboard battery charger would I only need need one bank to charge the starter battery and then the charge would move on to the trolling battery or would I be safe with a 2 bank and charge the starter battery and the trolling battery at the same time? Or would that be a bad idea?

@sigmasafety

5 жыл бұрын

When using these ACRs the batteries should be the same chemistry (sealed lead acid, AGM, etc). If they are, then you can just hook your onboard charger to one battery - normally you'd hook it to the largest battery. Once the battery is up to voltage then the ACR will close allowing the charge to flow to the second battery. Ideally you'd use a good 2-output charger and manually isolate the batteries while charging so that the charger can charge each one individually. However that gets a bit complex so you can generally hook the charger to the larger battery and it'll work fine. Blue Sea has a great dual battery charger with integrated ACR coming in July (part # 7606). The ACR will automatically isolate both batteries when charging. If you can hang on for a few months then that'd be the best solution.

It is possible to mount two of them in a cascade chain to charge a third battery for separate service?

@sigmasafety

3 жыл бұрын

absolutely. it works fine.

Hi,I hope you can help me with an answer to my question,can I add a switch (blue sea 6011) to this acr? I have this acr on my dual Battery set up but I will like to have the option of combining the batteries if my main battery goes flat. Thanks for your time

@sigmasafety

5 жыл бұрын

The 6011 and other manual battery switches are not really designed for use with the ACR but technically you could make it work. You'd need to use the switch to essentially bypass the ACR when in "combine" mode. For normal operation you'd need to turn the switch to OFF so that the ACR did the automatic battery isolation for you. Effectively you'll have two parallel devices in your vehicle so it'd be a bit tricky. You may want to consider the larger (500 amp capacity) ML-ACRs shown here; www.bluesea.com/products/category/35/91/Automatic_Charging_Relays/ML-ACRs?Nominal_Voltage=12 . Most of them come with a 'manual combine' switch (p/n 2146) that can be dash-mounted. The switch also allows you to force-disconnect the two banks as well. Plus, you can run 500 amps continuous through them, whereas the 7611 is 125A max continuous. The only possible issue with the ML-ACR is that you might accidentally bump the switch out of the "auto" position and then your batteries would either always, or never, be connected together depending on which direction you bump the switch. The switch is recessed so it's difficult to accidentally activate, but we've seen it happen before. Also, the internal relay "click" on the ML-ACR is quite loud and, if placed in a passenger compartment, can be startling when it activates (not deafening, just startling in a quiet vehicle if you're not expecting it). The 7611 and other smaller ACRs are fairly quiet, though you can still hear them. I hope that helps you.

@tacariguero

5 жыл бұрын

Sigma Safety Corp. thanks very much for such a good answer. I’ve looking into the ML series but I did see that the add a battery kit comes with an acr 7610 and a switch,so I thought I could do the same with my 7611. Thanks.

My boat currently has ONE battery. It already has the standard big red switch for 1, 1+2, off. I want to add a second battery to move all the "accessories" to it. Do I have to purchase the ACR kit that includes the big red switch or can i purchase just the ACR and use my existing big red switch? ALSO...question comes to mind is: I already have a "dual" on-board charger installed and ready for installing a second battery. What all do I need to purchase to have the second battery and ACR , and still have the on-board charger work like it should?

@sigmasafety

4 жыл бұрын

This is really difficult to respond to as we don't know your current wiring setup. You have 1 battery but a 1+2 switch? What's the second post go to? If you get an ACR and wire it between the 2 batteries then you wouldn't need a battery switch for the second battery, unless you wanted to put that between the second battery and the loads, in order to shut off the loads to eliminate parasitic drain. As far as the charger, you should be able to put the second set of leads directly to the second battery (insert a fuse on the + line near the battery, of course - one that will exceed by 25-50% the power the charger can output). If you hook the charger directly to the second battery then it'll work regardless of any ACR or switching you have installed. Note that since the ACR senses voltage, when the battery is in "charge" mode via your onboard charger (either battery), once the voltage gets up to 13.6vdc, the ACR will connect the 2 batteries. If this is not desirable in your setup then you'll need a battery switch between the aux. battery and the ACR, and turn that off during charging. I hope that makes sense.

@zash008

4 жыл бұрын

@@sigmasafety You really didnt seem to understand what I was trying to ask at first then at the end of your reply you answered the question I was getting at. ie'...I do not desire to attempt to charge both batteries independently if the relay will just circumvent that and join the batteries in parallel when it senses a charge coming from on-board charger. When charging boat via on-board charger at home on the trailer I want the batteries to remain separate as this is how the charger is designed. As I tried to explain the boat came with a (Off, 1, 1+2, 2) switch but only one battery. I arrived at this video because I am planning to add a second battery and a battery switching charging relay. So at first i guess i was wondering if big red selector switch would be needed any longer if the relay is installed. Since my first comment/question I have done more research and have figured out how I am going to wire it and question solved. Thanks for the reply/help tho.

Question: Let's say that engine is on and both batteries are charging and are full of power. So now I need to use my winch witch consumes a lot of power. Will ACR isolate the batteries when the voltage drops in 12,75V even with the engine on?

@sigmasafety

5 жыл бұрын

It's strictly voltage-based, but does have a delay. The voltage has to fall under 12.75 for 30 seconds continuously for the 7611 to open.

@TheSitecreator

5 жыл бұрын

@@sigmasafety Ok I got it. Can you please tell me something about the AUTOMATIC CHARGING RELAY WITH MANUAL CONTROL BLUESEA 7623: Can in the same situation like I mention above to combine the batteries and use them for longer period without a problem, or you can combine the batteries just to start the engine in case of emergency? And also can you combine or isolate the batteries when the engine is on with 7623?

@sigmasafety

5 жыл бұрын

@@TheSitecreator Yes, the 7622 (12 volt) might be a better solution for your application. The 7623 is for use on 24 volt systems. It will handle up to a 500 amp load, and has a remote (mount on the dash or wherever) switch to set the ACR to "auto" or force it to "connected" or "disconnected" at any time. The 7622 also has a manual lock-out lever on the ACR itself. If you don't need that manual override you can use the 7620 (if you have a 12 vdc system).

@TheSitecreator

5 жыл бұрын

@@sigmasafety Thank you very much for the info.

Could I use such a product in my solar array (from the charge controller) for the purpose of having a secondary (standby) battery bank maintain charge.

@sigmasafety

6 жыл бұрын

The ACR would only close (allow power to flow) when the primary battery's voltage exceeds 13.0 volts for 2 minutes (or 13.6 for 30 seconds). You'd need to check the voltage on your primary battery to confirm that when it is fully charged and the solar is generating power, that the primary battery's voltage exceeds 13.0. If it does, then the ACR should work fine to provide the 2nd battery with 'overflow' power from the primary. If it doesn't reach 13.0v then the ACR would never close and the system wouldn't work. I hope that helps. Thanks for the comment.

@science2726

5 жыл бұрын

I'm wondering if this ended up working for you?

@compupro4556

5 жыл бұрын

My batteries require a 13.7v charge per specs from the battery manufacturer and that is what I have programmed in to my charge controller. For the second (backup) set of batteries that I am wanting to do like Mirriulah Water Dog is doing, would it allow the charge controller to completely fill my first set of batteries to 13.7v (or 13.6v) before the ACR closes and allows the charging of the second set?

Hi all can one ACR handles 3 starter battery and 2 home battery?

@sigmasafety

5 жыл бұрын

It's not enough info for me to answer your question. The ACR will handle up to 120 amps of power continuously. You'll have to determine how much power flows from one bank to the other battery bank.