Sailfish 320 EXP - VSR Battery System; What a VSR Does; VSR in Real World Boating

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04/24/2019
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TheVSR,orVoltageSensitiveRelay,isaveryhandylittlebox
thatsolvesaloadoftraditionalchargingproblemsonmarine
electricalsystems.Itessentiallyservesasasmartbatteryswitch
decidingautomaticallywheneitheroneortwobatteriesare
charged–ordischarged.Itworksgreatonalmostanyboatwith
multiplebatteries–andeliminatesalloftheguessworkthatused
tocomewithmanualbatteryswitches.
What a VSR does
TheVSRisinstalledbetweentwobatteries.ManyPeopleare
surprisedtolearnthatitisNOTconnectedtoeitherthealternator
orchargeroutputwires!Itssetupismuchmoreclever.
Iteitherbatterygoesabove13.7volts(duetoeitheralternatoror
chargeroutput),theVSRconnectsbothbatteriestogether.Both
batteriesarenowcharging–withouttheboateverhavingtothrow
aswitch.
Alternately,whenthesystemvoltagedropsbackbelow12.6
volts,i.e.,nomorecharging,therelayopensandthebatteries
areseparate.Thismeansthatbothbatteriesnowdischarge
independently.
How a VSR changes real
world boating
Let’ssaythatashingboathasatwobatterysetup.Asisoften
thecase,oneofthebatteriesisdedicatedtoanimportantjob–
startingtheengine.Theotherbatteryisusedforotheroperations.
Astheshermanrunstheboatfromholetohole,theengine
alternatorelevatesthevoltagetothecrankingbatteryabove13.7
volts.ThistriggerstheVSRtoautomaticallyconnectthestarting
batteryandhousebatterytogether.Botharenowcharging.
Uponreachinghisdestination,theboaterkillstheengine–and,
thealternatoroutput–andbeginstrolling.Becauseofthelowered
voltage,theVSRnowdisconnectsthebatteries.Becauseheis
nowdischargingonlyonebattery,ourshermanisgoingtohave
startingpowerwhenheneedsitlater–nomatterhowlonghe
usesthetrollingmotoranddepletesthattrollingbattery.Once
underwayagain,thealternatorpowercausestheVSRtorecon-
nectthebatteriesandbeginsreplenishingthetrollingbattery.
Backhome,theshermanpowersuphisonboardbatterycharger,
thisincreasedvoltagecausestheVSRtoonceagainlinkthe
batteries.Thismeansthatevenasingleoutputbatterycharger
wouldnowbechargingbothbatteries!
VSR Battery System -
“The Smart Battery Switch”