And another question about the Perko switch

Dear all, sorry about so many questions. I'm trying to figure my boat out and am in the middle of nowhere. This switch (attached) has only on and off. I'm used to 1, 2 and off. So I'm not sure what this does when it only has on and off? Next to it the main switches for house and engine batteries. All the best, Bart

I think it is a switch to connect the house and engine batteries together. This is useful if the engine battery is dead and you need to start the engine off the house battery. Maybe after leaving everything connected to the engine battery after a long week on anchor. The other clue is that the word pararol means "to stop" in spanish so that would go against my theory. Allen On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:10 AM, Bart van Halteren b_… [at] outlook.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > [Attachment(s) <#m_-2369630755961318656_TopText> from Bart van Halteren > included below] > > Dear all, sorry about so many questions. I'm trying to figure my boat out > and am in the middle of nowhere. > > This switch (attached) has only on and off. I'm used to 1, 2 and off. So > I'm not sure what this does when it only has on and off? > > Next to it the main switches for house and engine batteries. > > All the best, Bart > > >

Any chance the p.o. left a log book with work done info? Can you get behind the panel to see where the wiring goes? Follow the wiring from the shore power to that switch for starters. Helen Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:10 AM, Bart van Halteren b_… [at] outlook.com [Cal_Boats]<Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: [Attachment(s) from Bart van Halteren included below] Dear all, sorry about so many questions. I'm trying to figure my boat out and am in the middle of nowhere. This switch (attached) has only on and off. I'm used to 1, 2 and off. So I'm not sure what this does when it only has on and off? Next to it the main switches for house and engine batteries. All the best, Bart -- {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;margin:10px 0;padding:0 10px;} hr {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;} {color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:700;line-height:122%;margin:10px 0;} {margin-bottom:10px;} .yiv8474255454ad {padding:0 0;} .yiv8474255454ad p {margin:0;} .yiv8474255454ad a {color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;} {font-family:Arial;} {margin:10px 0px;font-weight:700;font-size:78%;line-height:122%;} .yiv8474255454ad {margin-bottom:10px;padding:0 0;} {font-family:Verdana;font-size:11px;padding:10px 0;} {background-color:#e0ecee;float:left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;padding:10px;} span {font-weight:700;} span:first-child {text-transform:uppercase;} span a {color:#5085b6;text-decoration:none;} span span {color:#ff7900;} span .yiv8474255454underline {text-decoration:underline;} .yiv8474255454attach {clear:both;display:table;font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;padding:10px 0;width:400px;} .yiv8474255454attach div a {text-decoration:none;} .yiv8474255454attach img {border:none;padding-right:5px;} .yiv8474255454attach label {display:block;margin-bottom:5px;} .yiv8474255454attach label a {text-decoration:none;} blockquote {margin:0 0 0 4px;} .yiv8474255454bold {font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;font-weight:700;} .yiv8474255454bold a {text-decoration:none;} dd.yiv8474255454last p a {font-family:Verdana;font-weight:700;} dd.yiv8474255454last p span {margin-right:10px;font-family:Verdana;font-weight:700;} dd.yiv8474255454last p span.yiv8474255454yshortcuts {margin-right:0;} div.yiv8474255454attach-table div div a {text-decoration:none;} div.yiv8474255454attach-table {width:400px;} div.yiv8474255454file-title a, div.yiv8474255454file-title a:active, div.yiv8474255454file-title a:hover, div.yiv8474255454file-title a:visited {text-decoration:none;} div.yiv8474255454photo-title a, div.yiv8474255454photo-title a:active, div.yiv8474255454photo-title a:hover, div.yiv8474255454photo-title a:visited {text-decoration:none;} div p a span.yiv8474255454yshortcuts {font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;font-weight:normal;} .yiv8474255454green {color:#628c2a;} .yiv8474255454MsoNormal {margin:0 0 0 0;} o {font-size:0;} div {float:left;width:72px;} div div {border:1px solid #666666;min-height:62px;overflow:hidden;width:62px;} div label {color:#666666;font-size:10px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;width:64px;} {font-size:77%;} {font-size:77%;} .yiv8474255454replbq {margin:4px;} div a:first-child {margin-right:2px;padding-right:5px;} {font-size:13px;font-family:Arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif;} table {font-size:inherit;font:100%;} select, input, textarea {font:99% Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif;} pre, code {font:115% monospace;} * {line-height:1.22em;} {padding-bottom:10px;} p a {font-family:Verdana;} p span {color:#1E66AE;font-weight:700;} {color:#ff7900;font-weight:700;} {margin-bottom:20px;padding:0px;} li a {font-size:130%;text-decoration:none;} li {font-size:77%;list-style-type:square;padding:6px 0;} ul {margin:0;padding:0 0 0 8px;} {font-family:Georgia;} p {margin:0 0 1em 0;} tt {font-size:120%;} ul li:last-child {border-right:none !important;}

I think Bart is in the Realm of the Golden Dragon so Pararol would clearly be the Asian spelling of Parallel. I think it's exactly what Joe and Allen think it is. I'd still follow the wires. (I'm curious that way) They are probably only a few inches long and go back and forth from the other two switches on the right. Kris From: "Allen Edwards al… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> To: "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>; Bart van Halteren <b_… [at] outlook.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 7:17 AM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch I think it is a switch to connect the house and engine batteries together. This is useful if the engine battery is dead and you need to start the engine off the house battery. Maybe after leaving everything connected to the engine battery after a long week on anchor. The other clue is that the word pararol means "to stop" in spanish so that would go against my theory. Allen On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:10 AM, Bart van Halteren b_… [at] outlook.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: [Attachment(s) from Bart van Halteren included below] Dear all, sorry about so many questions. I'm trying to figure my boat out and am in the middle of nowhere. This switch (attached) has only on and off. I'm used to 1, 2 and off. So I'm not sure what this does when it only has on and off? Next to it the main switches for house and engine batteries. All the best, Bart

I had a relay on my motorhome that would connect the two batteries together. The motorhome was strange as the engine was hooked up to the house battery and only the generator was on the other (fourth) battery. But if you don't have a 1,both,2,off switch, you pretty much must have a way to connect the batteries together so you will be sure of being able to start the engine. The interesting question to me is the other two switches. They are labeled engine and house. My bet would be that they actually determine which battery runs the house and that you could turn them both off and start the engine. They just don't look beefy enough to switch starter current. Allen On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:48 PM, Kris Jensen <cr… [at] att.net> wrote: > I think Bart is in the Realm of the Golden Dragon so Pararol would clearly > be the Asian spelling of Parallel. > > I think it's exactly what Joe and Allen think it is. I'd still follow the > wires. (I'm curious that way) They are probably only a few inches long and > go back and forth from the other two switches on the right. > > Kris > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* "Allen Edwards al… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats]" < > Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> > *To:* "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>; Bart van > Halteren <b_… [at] outlook.com> > *Sent:* Wednesday, October 25, 2017 7:17 AM > *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch > > > I think it is a switch to connect the house and engine batteries > together. This is useful if the engine battery is dead and you need to > start the engine off the house battery. Maybe after leaving everything > connected to the engine battery after a long week on anchor. The other > clue is that the word pararol means "to stop" in spanish so that would go > against my theory. > > Allen > > On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:10 AM, Bart van Halteren > b_… [at] outlook.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > [Attachment(s) > <https://mail.yahoo.com/?.lts=1498144812&soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma#m_-2369630755961318656_TopText> > from Bart van Halteren included below] > Dear all, sorry about so many questions. I'm trying to figure my boat out > and am in the middle of nowhere. > > This switch (attached) has only on and off. I'm used to 1, 2 and off. So > I'm not sure what this does when it only has on and off? > > Next to it the main switches for house and engine batteries. > > All the best, Bart > > > > > >

They look like those HELLA panel mount 500A switches. I've always thought they looked a bit slight to be carrying 500A but hey, they're German, they never get anything wrong, right? If wired "right", those two should be ON/OFF switches and wired inline with the house and engine banks. There would be a couple short jumpers from them over to the Pararol switch. I have abolished all 1/Both/2/Off switches on my boats and don't recommend them to anyone. 3 On/Offs (House-Engine-Parallel) and a voltage controlled charging relay (VCR) is more brother-in-law proof and it often allows you to shorten the leads since they don't all have to meet up at a "conveniently" located single switch. There's no real reason to locate your switches together. They generally aren't ever used at the same time and are used so rarely that I feel no compunction to locate them conveniently either. I removed over 8 feet of 2/0 cable from my start circuit and when I'm done with the house bank redo, my leads to the inverter and house distribution will be only about 2 feet long with the switches located near the battery, (but outside the locker) on the now shorter direct route to the point of use. House bank is split. Half on one side of the boat and half on the other. For a single switch setup, I'd need to make another full heavy gauge run across the boat. The start batt is in the locker with one side of the house bank and the VCR leads are less than a foot long. It also has a momentary remote control switch so I can "Parallel" using the VCR in the remote possibility that I have a dead start battery. Easy as cake! From: "Allen Edwards al… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> To: "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 6:27 PM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch I had a relay on my motorhome that would connect the two batteries together. The motorhome was strange as the engine was hooked up to the house battery and only the generator was on the other (fourth) battery. But if you don't have a 1,both,2,off switch, you pretty much must have a way to connect the batteries together so you will be sure of being able to start the engine. The interesting question to me is the other two switches. They are labeled engine and house. My bet would be that they actually determine which battery runs the house and that you could turn them both off and start the engine. They just don't look beefy enough to switch starter current. Allen On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:48 PM, Kris Jensen <cr… [at] att.net> wrote: I think Bart is in the Realm of the Golden Dragon so Pararol would clearly be the Asian spelling of Parallel. I think it's exactly what Joe and Allen think it is. I'd still follow the wires. (I'm curious that way) They are probably only a few inches long and go back and forth from the other two switches on the right. Kris From: "Allen Edwards al… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> To: "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>; Bart van Halteren <b_… [at] outlook.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 7:17 AM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch I think it is a switch to connect the house and engine batteries together. This is useful if the engine battery is dead and you need to start the engine off the house battery. Maybe after leaving everything connected to the engine battery after a long week on anchor. The other clue is that the word pararol means "to stop" in spanish so that would go against my theory. Allen On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:10 AM, Bart van Halteren b_… [at] outlook.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: [Attachment(s) from Bart van Halteren included below] Dear all, sorry about so many questions. I'm trying to figure my boat out and am in the middle of nowhere. This switch (attached) has only on and off. I'm used to 1, 2 and off. So I'm not sure what this does when it only has on and off? Next to it the main switches for house and engine batteries. All the best, Bart

Looked at the catalog online and they seem to make 50 or 100 amp versions of those house and engine switches. My guess is still that the engine battery is hard wired and the house and engine switches connect to house current. Either that or the starting current is much less that I am able to find with Google. On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 8:32 PM, Kris Jensen <cr… [at] att.net> wrote: > They look like those HELLA panel mount 500A switches. I've always thought > they looked a bit slight to be carrying 500A but hey, they're German, they > never get anything wrong, right? > > If wired "right", those two should be ON/OFF switches and wired inline > with the house and engine banks. There would be a couple short jumpers > from them over to the Pararol switch. > > I have abolished all 1/Both/2/Off switches on my boats and don't recommend > them to anyone. 3 On/Offs (House-Engine-Parallel) and a voltage controlled > charging relay (VCR) is more brother-in-law proof and it often allows you > to shorten the leads since they don't all have to meet up at a > "conveniently" located single switch. > > There's no real reason to locate your switches together. They generally > aren't ever used at the same time and are used so rarely that I feel no > compunction to locate them conveniently either. > > I removed over 8 feet of 2/0 cable from my start circuit and when I'm done > with the house bank redo, my leads to the inverter and house distribution > will be only about 2 feet long with the switches located near the battery, > (but outside the locker) on the now shorter direct route to the point of > use. House bank is split. Half on one side of the boat and half on the > other. For a single switch setup, I'd need to make another full heavy > gauge run across the boat. The start batt is in the locker with one side > of the house bank and the VCR leads are less than a foot long. It also has > a momentary remote control switch so I can "Parallel" using the VCR in the > remote possibility that I have a dead start battery. > > Easy as cake! > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* "Allen Edwards al… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats]" < > Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> > *To:* "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> > *Sent:* Wednesday, October 25, 2017 6:27 PM > > *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch > > > I had a relay on my motorhome that would connect the two batteries > together. The motorhome was strange as the engine was hooked up to the > house battery and only the generator was on the other (fourth) battery. > But if you don't have a 1,both,2,off switch, you pretty much must have a > way to connect the batteries together so you will be sure of being able to > start the engine. > > The interesting question to me is the other two switches. They are > labeled engine and house. My bet would be that they actually determine > which battery runs the house and that you could turn them both off and > start the engine. They just don't look beefy enough to switch starter > current. > > Allen > > On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:48 PM, Kris Jensen <cr… [at] att.net> wrote: > > I think Bart is in the Realm of the Golden Dragon so Pararol would clearly > be the Asian spelling of Parallel. > > I think it's exactly what Joe and Allen think it is. I'd still follow the > wires. (I'm curious that way) They are probably only a few inches long and > go back and forth from the other two switches on the right. > > Kris > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* "Allen Edwards al… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats]" < > Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> > *To:* "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>; Bart van > Halteren <b_… [at] outlook.com> > *Sent:* Wednesday, October 25, 2017 7:17 AM > *Subject:* Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch > > > I think it is a switch to connect the house and engine batteries > together. This is useful if the engine battery is dead and you need to > start the engine off the house battery. Maybe after leaving everything > connected to the engine battery after a long week on anchor. The other > clue is that the word pararol means "to stop" in spanish so that would go > against my theory. > > Allen > > On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:10 AM, Bart van Halteren > b_… [at] outlook.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: > > > [Attachment(s) > <https://mail.yahoo.com/?.lts=1498144812&soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma#m_-2369630755961318656_TopText> > from Bart van Halteren included below] > Dear all, sorry about so many questions. I'm trying to figure my boat out > and am in the middle of nowhere. > > This switch (attached) has only on and off. I'm used to 1, 2 and off. So > I'm not sure what this does when it only has on and off? > > Next to it the main switches for house and engine batteries. > > All the best, Bart > > > > > > > > >

The Hella switch ratings are 100A continuous, 1000A ( at 12v) for 10 seconds. Adequate for most folks unless you will run a big Inverter current through it. I use a separate 500 A rated switch for my inverter but all house loads come through one of those honking T fuses before they go anywhere else. If a house pulls more than 100A regularly, you should probably not be running at 12V. You may need 1000A to start a big 6 or 8 cylinder diesel but my guess is that no Cals had anything much bigger than a 4-236 which can't use that much juice. Who knows who wired this boat but, I've seen stupid stuff like 2 GA battery leads strung around for 18-20 feet of run and starting a pair of big gas V8's. Damned if they hadn't been working just fine and not burned the boat down for decades. Go figure... Blows me away what passes for adequate. Refresh my memory, what is he starting with this boat? Too many threads in my head... From: Allen Edwards <al… [at] gmail.com> To: Kris Jensen <cr… [at] att.net> Cc: "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 8:44 PM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch Looked at the catalog online and they seem to make 50 or 100 amp versions of those house and engine switches. My guess is still that the engine battery is hard wired and the house and engine switches connect to house current. Either that or the starting current is much less that I am able to find with Google. On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 8:32 PM, Kris Jensen <cr… [at] att.net> wrote: They look like those HELLA panel mount 500A switches. I've always thought they looked a bit slight to be carrying 500A but hey, they're German, they never get anything wrong, right? If wired "right", those two should be ON/OFF switches and wired inline with the house and engine banks. There would be a couple short jumpers from them over to the Pararol switch. I have abolished all 1/Both/2/Off switches on my boats and don't recommend them to anyone. 3 On/Offs (House-Engine-Parallel) and a voltage controlled charging relay (VCR) is more brother-in-law proof and it often allows you to shorten the leads since they don't all have to meet up at a "conveniently" located single switch. There's no real reason to locate your switches together. They generally aren't ever used at the same time and are used so rarely that I feel no compunction to locate them conveniently either. I removed over 8 feet of 2/0 cable from my start circuit and when I'm done with the house bank redo, my leads to the inverter and house distribution will be only about 2 feet long with the switches located near the battery, (but outside the locker) on the now shorter direct route to the point of use. House bank is split. Half on one side of the boat and half on the other. For a single switch setup, I'd need to make another full heavy gauge run across the boat. The start batt is in the locker with one side of the house bank and the VCR leads are less than a foot long. It also has a momentary remote control switch so I can "Parallel" using the VCR in the remote possibility that I have a dead start battery. Easy as cake! From: "Allen Edwards al… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> To: "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 6:27 PM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch I had a relay on my motorhome that would connect the two batteries together. The motorhome was strange as the engine was hooked up to the house battery and only the generator was on the other (fourth) battery. But if you don't have a 1,both,2,off switch, you pretty much must have a way to connect the batteries together so you will be sure of being able to start the engine. The interesting question to me is the other two switches. They are labeled engine and house. My bet would be that they actually determine which battery runs the house and that you could turn them both off and start the engine. They just don't look beefy enough to switch starter current. Allen On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:48 PM, Kris Jensen <cr… [at] att.net> wrote: I think Bart is in the Realm of the Golden Dragon so Pararol would clearly be the Asian spelling of Parallel. I think it's exactly what Joe and Allen think it is. I'd still follow the wires. (I'm curious that way) They are probably only a few inches long and go back and forth from the other two switches on the right. Kris From: "Allen Edwards al… [at] gmail.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> To: "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>; Bart van Halteren <b_… [at] outlook.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 7:17 AM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch I think it is a switch to connect the house and engine batteries together. This is useful if the engine battery is dead and you need to start the engine off the house battery. Maybe after leaving everything connected to the engine battery after a long week on anchor. The other clue is that the word pararol means "to stop" in spanish so that would go against my theory. Allen On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:10 AM, Bart van Halteren b_… [at] outlook.com [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: [Attachment(s) from Bart van Halteren included below] Dear all, sorry about so many questions. I'm trying to figure my boat out and am in the middle of nowhere. This switch (attached) has only on and off. I'm used to 1, 2 and off. So I'm not sure what this does when it only has on and off? Next to it the main switches for house and engine batteries. All the best, Bart

Hi all, on the switch: it turns out it was indeed not doing what it is supposed to be doing, which is 'bridging' the house and starter engine in the 'on' position. I found that out when my engine didn't start because the battery was dead (10.4 V, need a new one) but the switch was in the 'on' position and I have 5x110Amp house batteries. That should blown the starter engine out of the water... I can't be bothered to actually repair that switch. I'll just buy a jump starter cable in case my engine battery is dead. The two other switches are indeed master switches that turn off all house or 'all' (it's only one...) engine batteries. Thanks for your mails and I just wanted to let you know what the result was. Bart From: "Kris Jensen cr… [at] att.net [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Date: 10/26/17 12:26 (GMT+08:00) To: Allen Edwards <al… [at] gmail.com> Cc: "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <<Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch The Hella switch ratings are 100A continuous, 1000A ( at 12v) for 10 seconds. Adequate for most folks unless you will run a big Inverter current through it. I use a separate 500 A rated switch for my inverter but all house loads come through one of those honking T fuses before they go anywhere else. If a house pulls more than 100A regularly, you should probably not be running at 12V. You may need 1000A to start a big 6 or 8 cylinder diesel but my guess is that no Cals had anything much bigger than a 4-236 which can't use that much juice. Who knows who wired this boat but, I've seen stupid stuff like 2 GA battery leads strung around for 18-20 feet of run and starting a pair of big gas V8's. Damned if they hadn't been working just fine and not burned the boat down for decades. Go figure... Blows me away what passes for adequate. Refresh my memory, what is he starting with this boat? Too many threads in my head... From: Allen Edwards <al… [at] gmail.com> To: Kris Jensen <cr… [at] att.net> Cc: "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 8:44 PM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch Looked at the catalog online and they seem to make 50 or 100 amp versions of those house and engine switches. My guess is still that the engine battery is hard wired and the house and engine switches connect to house current. Either that or the starting current is much less that I am able to find with Google. On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 8:32 PM, Kris Jensen <cr… [at] att.net<mailto:cr… [at] att.net>> wrote: They look like those HELLA panel mount 500A switches. I've always thought they looked a bit slight to be carrying 500A but hey, they're German, they never get anything wrong, right? If wired "right", those two should be ON/OFF switches and wired inline with the house and engine banks. There would be a couple short jumpers from them over to the Pararol switch. I have abolished all 1/Both/2/Off switches on my boats and don't recommend them to anyone. 3 On/Offs (House-Engine-Parallel) and a voltage controlled charging relay (VCR) is more brother-in-law proof and it often allows you to shorten the leads since they don't all have to meet up at a "conveniently" located single switch. There's no real reason to locate your switches together. They generally aren't ever used at the same time and are used so rarely that I feel no compunction to locate them conveniently either. I removed over 8 feet of 2/0 cable from my start circuit and when I'm done with the house bank redo, my leads to the inverter and house distribution will be only about 2 feet long with the switches located near the battery, (but outside the locker) on the now shorter direct route to the point of use. House bank is split. Half on one side of the boat and half on the other. For a single switch setup, I'd need to make another full heavy gauge run across the boat. The start batt is in the locker with one side of the house bank and the VCR leads are less than a foot long. It also has a momentary remote control switch so I can "Parallel" using the VCR in the remote possibility that I have a dead start battery. Easy as cake! From: "Allen Edwards al… [at] gmail.com<mailto:al… [at] gmail.com> [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com<mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>> To: "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com<mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com<mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 6:27 PM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch I had a relay on my motorhome that would connect the two batteries together. The motorhome was strange as the engine was hooked up to the house battery and only the generator was on the other (fourth) battery. But if you don't have a 1,both,2,off switch, you pretty much must have a way to connect the batteries together so you will be sure of being able to start the engine. The interesting question to me is the other two switches. They are labeled engine and house. My bet would be that they actually determine which battery runs the house and that you could turn them both off and start the engine. They just don't look beefy enough to switch starter current. Allen On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:48 PM, Kris Jensen <cr… [at] att.net<mailto:cr… [at] att.net>> wrote: I think Bart is in the Realm of the Golden Dragon so Pararol would clearly be the Asian spelling of Parallel. I think it's exactly what Joe and Allen think it is. I'd still follow the wires. (I'm curious that way) They are probably only a few inches long and go back and forth from the other two switches on the right. Kris From: "Allen Edwards al… [at] gmail.com<mailto:al… [at] gmail.com> [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com<mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>> To: "Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com<mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com<mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>>; Bart van Halteren <b_… [at] outlook.com<mailto:b_… [at] outlook.com>> Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2017 7:17 AM Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] And another question about the Perko switch I think it is a switch to connect the house and engine batteries together. This is useful if the engine battery is dead and you need to start the engine off the house battery. Maybe after leaving everything connected to the engine battery after a long week on anchor. The other clue is that the word pararol means "to stop" in spanish so that would go against my theory. Allen On Wed, Oct 25, 2017 at 5:10 AM, Bart van Halteren b_… [at] outlook.com<mailto:b_… [at] outlook.com> [Cal_Boats] <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com<mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com>> wrote: [Attachment(s)<https://mail.yahoo.com/?.lts=1498144812&soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma#m_-2369630755961318656_TopText> from Bart van Halteren included below] Dear all, sorry about so many questions. I'm trying to figure my boat out and am in the middle of nowhere. This switch (attached) has only on and off. I'm used to 1, 2 and off. So I'm not sure what this does when it only has on and off? Next to it the main switches for house and engine batteries. All the best, Bart

Whichever battery or bank the switch is wired to, that is what it is turning on and off On Wednesday, October 25, 2017 8:10 AM, "Bart van Halteren b_… [at] outlook.com [Cal_Boats]" <Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com> wrote: [Attachment(s) from Bart van Halteren included below] Dear all, sorry about so many questions. I'm trying to figure my boat out and am in the middle of nowhere. This switch (attached) has only on and off. I'm used to 1, 2 and off. So I'm not sure what this does when it only has on and off? Next to it the main switches for house and engine batteries. All the best, Bart -- {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;margin:10px 0;padding:0 10px;} hr {border:1px solid #d8d8d8;} {color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:700;line-height:122%;margin:10px 0;} {margin-bottom:10px;} .yiv9577469283ad {padding:0 0;} .yiv9577469283ad p {margin:0;} .yiv9577469283ad a {color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;} {font-family:Arial;} {margin:10px 0px;font-weight:700;font-size:78%;line-height:122%;} .yiv9577469283ad {margin-bottom:10px;padding:0 0;} {font-family:Verdana;font-size:11px;padding:10px 0;} {background-color:#e0ecee;float:left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;padding:10px;} span {font-weight:700;} span:first-child {text-transform:uppercase;} span a {color:#5085b6;text-decoration:none;} span span {color:#ff7900;} span .yiv9577469283underline {text-decoration:underline;} .yiv9577469283attach {clear:both;display:table;font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;padding:10px 0;width:400px;} .yiv9577469283attach div a {text-decoration:none;} .yiv9577469283attach img {border:none;padding-right:5px;} .yiv9577469283attach label {display:block;margin-bottom:5px;} .yiv9577469283attach label a {text-decoration:none;} blockquote {margin:0 0 0 4px;} .yiv9577469283bold {font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;font-weight:700;} .yiv9577469283bold a {text-decoration:none;} dd.yiv9577469283last p a {font-family:Verdana;font-weight:700;} dd.yiv9577469283last p span {margin-right:10px;font-family:Verdana;font-weight:700;} dd.yiv9577469283last p span.yiv9577469283yshortcuts {margin-right:0;} div.yiv9577469283attach-table div div a {text-decoration:none;} div.yiv9577469283attach-table {width:400px;} div.yiv9577469283file-title a, div.yiv9577469283file-title a:active, div.yiv9577469283file-title a:hover, div.yiv9577469283file-title a:visited {text-decoration:none;} div.yiv9577469283photo-title a, div.yiv9577469283photo-title a:active, div.yiv9577469283photo-title a:hover, div.yiv9577469283photo-title a:visited {text-decoration:none;} div p a span.yiv9577469283yshortcuts {font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;font-weight:normal;} .yiv9577469283green {color:#628c2a;} .yiv9577469283MsoNormal {margin:0 0 0 0;} o {font-size:0;} div {float:left;width:72px;} div div {border:1px solid #666666;min-height:62px;overflow:hidden;width:62px;} div label {color:#666666;font-size:10px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;width:64px;} {font-size:77%;} {font-size:77%;} .yiv9577469283replbq {margin:4px;} div a:first-child {margin-right:2px;padding-right:5px;} {font-size:13px;font-family:Arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif;} table {font-size:inherit;font:100%;} select, input, textarea {font:99% Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif;} pre, code {font:115% monospace;} * {line-height:1.22em;} {padding-bottom:10px;} p a {font-family:Verdana;} p span {color:#1E66AE;font-weight:700;} {color:#ff7900;font-weight:700;} {margin-bottom:20px;padding:0px;} li a {font-size:130%;text-decoration:none;} li {font-size:77%;list-style-type:square;padding:6px 0;} ul {margin:0;padding:0 0 0 8px;} {font-family:Georgia;} p {margin:0 0 1em 0;} tt {font-size:120%;} ul li:last-child {border-right:none !important;}