Voltage Regulator

Does anyone have any information about the voltage regulator on a 2010 BF60? I use a AGM battery for a starter and have a Gel battery not being used that I want to use for a "house battery". If I go that route, I am considering adding a add a battery kit from Blue Sea, but not sure how well the Gel will get along with Honda. Thanks in advance for any input.

I have a 42AH gel battery as my "house" battery and a regular marine AGM for my start. I use an off the shelf VSR for my dual battery circuit and it works fine on my 1999 BF50 which has a standard 10 amp charge coil. My regulator puts out 14.7 volts. On my Gel battery it says that up to 15 volts constant voltage may be used for cycle charging.

If if you check your voltage output on the battery when you have a full charge and running at over 3000rpm you should see what your regulator is putting out, it should be about the same as mine. You should also check the specification sheet for your Gel battery to be sure that it's ok to be cycle charged at that voltage. I'm pretty sure you will be fine, although these are pretty basic tests and checks to be sure.

im not intimately familiar with your exact engine but I'd reckon it's not that different at the level we are discussing. One word of caution however, Do Not disconnect your battery from the regulator while the engine is running or you risk killing your regulator and in turn possibly your charge coils. I have personally seen this with a lose earth wire from the regulator to the block.

As a side note, Gel batteries are more fussy about proper charging and cutoff than regular SLA/AGM. If you have the choice and don't want to install a special gel cell regulator (in addition to your existing regulator/rectifier) inline with your house battery then you may be better off with a deep cycle SLA. I'm not familiar with the blue seas unit or if it is designed for gel cells but if you run your engine for long hours without discharging your house battery you do risk overcharging your gel battery and shortening its life.

It works well for me without a gel cell regulator the way I use my boat (short runs on the motor and then fish for hours with lights, radios, etc before another run on the motor) When in storage I use a semi-smart charger (plugged into the mains) that drops back to float voltage of 13.8v for periods of days-weeks.

Thanks for the reply. I was actually thinking about doing what you said, checking voltage while running, on a future outing. Sounds like or running habits are fairly similar. I live in Central Florida so its basically smaller lakes, rivers and flats fishing. Glad to hear someone already using the same setup with no problems.