Catalina 350 International Association

Hello All -

A conundrum re my Automatic Charging Relay

[b]Background - [/b]
I have a dedicated starting battery and use the standard batteries for house bank only.
I use a Blue Seas On/Off/Combined style switch rather than a 1,2,both.
Alternator charging wire terminates at the House bank side of the auto charging relay.
When the ACR says the batteries are combined while motoring, the voltage on my house bank always reads higher (at a typical charging value), than the starting battery. I can confirm this at either the voltage meter on the electrical panel or on the meter at the engine control panel.

Question/Problem -
Shouldn’t the voltages read equal if the batteries have been combined for charging?

I’ve been scratching my head over this for quite a while.
On a practical level the question is moot, as I’ve never had a problem starting, but I’d like to sort it out regardless.

Thanks.

Bill Berner
Spartina 2003 #66
Stamford, CT

Update for any interested parties
I finally broke down and called Blue Sea today to try to trouble shoot my ACR problems.
After some testing, I was informed that it's toast.
The good news is they are sending me a new one for free.
That's despite mine being vintage enough that it's discontinued.
Major kudos to them

Bill Berner
2003 C350 #66
Spartina
Stamford, ct