Jumper Cables or Battery Combiner

Question:

Jeff, good morning. I have a 26’ Four Winns with a MagnaSine 2812 inverter. On my maiden voyage I discovered that the engine running does not recharge my Inverter battery bank. It does charge the boat batteries per the battery selector switch. When the fault light illuminated on the remote Inverter panel due to low voltage, My buddy suggested hooking jumper cables between the boat batteries and the Inverter batteries to charge them. I didn’t do that because I don’t know if it will work. The alternator on the boat is a 65Amp unit. So, my question is this: Can I direct connect the two battery systems to keep my inverter battery charged when away from shore power? Thanks in advance.  

- Steven

Answer:

Hi Steven, in order for a house battery bank to share a charging voltage with your inverter battery bank, you are better at installing a battery combiner than putting in a jumper between both battery banks.  Check out PYS website page dedicated to battery combiners:  https://www.pysystems.ca/products/power/battery-combiner/  

-Jeff