[andrew.l.page]

Hi all, thanks in advance for your collective wisdom!

on a recent sail across the channel, we discovered that our engine wasn’t charging our house batteries, only our engine one. We decided to put the batteries in parallel to try to charge them and found that the current from the alternator wasn’t keeping up with the house load of 4-7 amps (whereas i expected that it ought to produce about 10amp). When on shore power, both charge up fine and can last a day with normal house loads.
before i start chucking loads of money at the issue, can i check my experience and conclusions with the group? I think my issues are as follows:

1) my alternator (looks like original from 2004) just isn’t producing enough current and probably needs replacing.
2) i need to review my charging points to ensure that when the engine is on, both battery systems are being charged but without putting them in parallel. I’ve spotted a number of gadgets at approx £120 that could solve this.

any help or advice would be appreciated!

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