From memory ours cost $950 Aust which at the time was probably (5+years ago) $650 US but a Bosch alternator is probably over $300 AU and the motor $4-500 plus time which I didn't have and the auxiliary costs.
Of course I could have made one like a previous one for a farmer mate which used a direct coupled 10 hp motor and two alternators but the motor could also be uncoupled to fit other bits of machinery, pump, air comp and 240v alternator etc.
We mostly use the ampmeter for charging and working out when to change charge rate as this one will stall the motor if the batteries pull more than 50amps so wait until it drops to about 30 (10-15 mins) and then kick it up but pull it off when charging drops to about 8 amps ( unless busy fishing
)usually unless we have someting else to load it up with or needs charging at the same time eg we turn the fridge up flat out and charge computor and camera batteries etc.Batteries are not fully charged by the Christy as that is only a bulk charge and really takes only 30-60 mins depending on condition prior, we use the solar to top off with absorb and float charge.
If the outboard motor is started or the solar has been running for a while the batteries just won't accept the full charge from the Christy unit.
Just check the deep cycle batteries before purchasing as they may not be suitable for higher voltage charging and/or may not accept a large amperage in a short period it is also worth noting that if you use 50amps of power you will need to charge approx 1.5 hrs at a full 50 amps to replace it due to losses (25-30%).
Thought about mounting the unit out the back but there is too much there now and besides when camping on land it is kept in the vehicle and realistically it doesn't get used a lot on the boat on the water, in fact we didn't even take it last year (4 months) but did use it this year as we stopped for longer periods on the water.
The Etec and the two 65w solar panels do the job most of the time and even on land we use a supply from the vehicle when travelling to power up the boat inverter and then use it to run a battery charger to (fully) charge the batteries, this in effect sucks the power from the vehicle and delivers 14.5v to the batteries instead of being restricted by voltage drop in the cables, we also run the fridge and anything else flat out while travelling to build up storage as we do when the Etec is running on water.
