Charging your batteries is a necessary evil while away from the dock. Most boats achieve the large portion of this via alternators, which have traditionally been less-than-optimal in terms of charge control. The Wakespeed WS-500 regulator changes all of that, and then some.
This article was super influential + helpful in my decision to get Wakespeed (installing it this week). They included ATC fuses + holders in your bundle? Dang. Not with mine, guess they’re no longer included. I think that explains why the manual says they recommend ATC fuses. I was scratching my head trying to figure out why I need to go specifically buy an ATC fuse/holder when I have tons of AGC glass fuses/holders on hand.
Interestingly, you note battery temp sensor is not needed because lithium batteries aren’t temperature compensated. That’s what I thought too but the Dragonfly sales/tech rep told me to get the battery temp sense too. He said it could still be used to shut down charging if the batteries were too hot or cold. (this may actually be useful because our home base is Alaska now and the batteries can’t charge below about 32F - although this is unlikely given the seawater influence on bilge temps).
That’s good to know! It doesn’t surprise me that some things have started to change since Dragonfly bought them. There were a few different harnesses you could choose from in the past, and they had some different options.
That’s a good point. The temperature sensor would help with extreme temp situations for sure. I know some folks have had issues with engine rooms and high temperatures with BMS shutdowns, so that makes sense! Thanks for providing updated info on Wakespeed via Dragonfly.
Hello,
I have to replace the Balmar MC-614 in my campervan due to corrosion. Would the WS-500 be an appropriate replacement? I like the fact that it has a cover since my Balmar is installed on top of the wheel well and is subject to water from rain or washing the van.
Thank you!
The WS-500 can definitely replace the MC-614 in terms of functionality, and it has a lot more features than the Balmar. It is in a waterproof case but I would check the specifications as to how waterproof it is.
Hey Steve, Thanks for sharing all this - I’ve been a lurker for quite a while reading your posts!
I’ve recently took the plunge to redesign and upgrade our boat’s existing Battleborn / Balmar 12V system to a 24V system. This involved going to Wakespeed WS-500 and a larger ATS alternator.
One issue still lingering is the engine tach (on analog engine instrument panel) cuts out now that Wakespeed completely shuts off the field signal as needed. Worse is that engine hours also die. Our engine doesn’t use a flywheel sensor, so everything comes from the alternator/Wakespeed.
Question: If Wakespeed can calculate its own engine RPM and transmit via NMEA (which is seems to do nicely and without interruption) then why can’t I get an uninterrupted tach signal? Is there any way to get a simulated field output back from NMEA or Wakespeed to keep my tach going?
Thanks so much!
Oooh that’s an interesting issue. I’ve not heard of that before. Quite annoying I can imagine! Have you engaged with Wakespeed technical support to see if they have any ideas? They may have a mode or option that could help here.
Alternatively, you could just switch to NMEA 2000 gauges / displays and abandon the analog gauges I suppose… 
Hi Steve - thanks for the inspiration here. I have bought dual balmar alternators and WS500s and hope to connect them to my 24V House bank which is also charged via a Victron Mulitplus with SmartShunt. I’ve seen conflicting info about where to connect the current sense for the WS500s - some are saying I need a separate shunt on each alternator source but then I’m confused how the WS500 knows what the other charging sources are contributing to the overall charge current. In your system do you have a single shunt and connect both WS500s current sense inputs to that? Appreciate any guidance here!
Hi Richard,
I sold this boat a while ago, but have worked on a number of dual alternator configurations with WS500s. Where are you getting the info on multiple shunts? You should have gotten install documentation that outlines options for using an existing shunt, one you provide/they provide, or even getting that information from a BMS via CANbus.
Thanks for the feedback. Perhaps I can forward you the technical advice I received from the company that I purchased the WS500 regulators from and maybe you can comment on that? Ideally, since the Victron Lynx Smart BMS device that I am using has a built-in shunt, it can send current-sense data to the WS500s via CAN and I would not need to connect the analog current sense wires at all. But I haven’t seen any specific documentation that confirms that this will work. Thanks!
A full system diagram would be helpful
The Lynx BMS should be able to send everything the WS500 needs via CAN without having too much of the dedicated wiring. There are some things you still need to connect, but that is pretty well covered in the WS500 documentation.
Happy to look at whatever they’ve sent you. You can reach me here or via DM here in the forum.