New batteries ,charger,galvanic isolator

[Chance]

Looking for advice on winter projects as Chance , is sitting high  and dry for winter Milwaukee Wi. Replacing batteries and 120 volt shore power charger.  larger alternator on my atomic 4 engine  now has standard 30 amp. Battery bank now is two house hook in parallel , 9 years old . One starter battery 2 year old.  A new 120 volt electrical charger size and brands to use ? Looking for galvanic isolator type and brand ? Looking for a bullet shape anode in magnesium or aluminum  1 1/8"  stainless shaft fresh water.  If I can't find a bullet would use streamline mg or al near hull and keep my zinc bullet on the same stainless shaft  3/8" from the strut  ? Bob K

[Alma]

I have found the DEKA brand batteries to be the longest lasting. I have had a pair last over 7 years. A magazine cut apart the top brands and DEKA had the most robust plates. I bought an 80AMP Balmar alternator and smart regulator NOS on Ebay 13 years ago and it works very well with the A-4. I found the alternator to be so strong I needed to use the Balmar Regulator "small engine" setting that cuts the output to half. It uses the battery temp sensor circuit to half the output. It us a simple jumper wire on the regulator that could also be wired as a switch so the output could be switched from full 80 Amps to the 40 Amp setting. It is amazing to hear the engine slow down when the alternator kicks in... the switch prevents a loss of power to the propeller when navigation is tight. With the battery banks in the 323 and an atomic four the issue is smart charging not huge output so this system has been very effective for me.

I have also found the Professional Mariner company to be very good with their smart chargers and galvanic isolator. I have an old Pro Mariner Fly-Back that has worked perfectly for over 20 years- Sadly it is no longer available but Pro Mariner has several choices for smart chargers that are ignition protected- an important consideration with propane and gasoline around. I found a New Old Stock Pro Mariner galvanic isolator and it also has worked for over ten years. It is old school with no monitoring- but an annual test with a VOM meter is simple enough. If you have the time you can build your own galvanic isolator- It is just a bridge rectifier and capacitor. http://quinco.net.au/Library/GalvanicIsolatorDIYAssy.pdf


You will find off the shelf galvanic isolator pretty expensive- this one costs next to nothing. There is a website- zincs for boats I get my anodes from. They also sell an ablative bottom paint I tried last year. It is half the price of Micron CSC and it was satisfactory.