E-TEC Battery Charging

[clipperboat]

This will be my first newbie posting in search of information. As I mentioned in my intro, I am new to boats and to electrical so bear with me on this if I am off the mark here.

I have been studying the auxiliary charging circuit that Jim (jimh) drew for his etec where the circuit allows for charging of the house bank separately from the starting bank (albeit at reduced amperage). Elsewhere I have read about 120 V AC Chargers that are designed to charge batteries in multiple phases (bulk, acceptance, and float).

I understand the need for the multiple phases on the AC charger, but what is not clear to me is if the outboard needs something similar when charging from the onboard charging circuit. Is this perhaps handled by the EMM or maybe for this type of charging it is not a requirement?

And if I understand Jim's description of the auxiliary circuit correctly, this is an alternative to the automatic charging relay that might be put in place on an outboard that does not contain the auxiliary charging circuit that the ETEC has. They both essentially perform the same function which is to split the charging between the house and starting batteries. Is this a correct assumption?

I appreciate being able to use this forum to further understand the electrical circuits as I design the system for my boat build. Thank you for any responses.

[jimh]

The E-TEC charging output is not a multi-step, varying- voltage output. It just pushes current into battery.

With the addition of the Auxiliary Charging Kit, the E-TEC has two charger output. It charges two batteries individually, not in parallel, as an ACR does.

[clipperboat]

Would I need to add a multi step voltage regulator between the E-TC and the battery? Or, is this unnecessary?

[jimh]

Unnecessary.

[clipperboat]

Unnecessary.

Thanks Jim