BEP VS. Blue Sea

[chet]

I'm going to rewire my batteries and I have been trying to figure out any big differences in BEP products verse Blue Sea System products for battery switch's and VSR stuff.  Any bad or good thoughts on either manufacturer?

Thx..Chet

[Hydro-Therapy]

Both are a good product. Here in the Portland area the blue sea stuff is what is available. Don't forget the West Marine price match for best prices. I saved over 40% on the stuff I bought.  And that was off of best price anyone in town had.


  Hydro-Therapy

[Danno]

I like the way that BEP is modular and eliminates the need for extra wires by using stamped bars for the connections. Their switch system allows you to control each battery separately.  But that's all I like.

The Blue Sea Add-a-Battery kit has a double pole switch that turns both batteries on and off with one switch yet keeps them isolated. There is a third position in the switch that allows you to combine them if you need the second (house) battery to help start your outboard. Thus, just one switch for the Blue Sea and three for the BEP Marine when you add a charging relay.

The Blue Sea ACR (charging relay) that comes with the Add-a-Battery kit includes two additional features that are not found with the BEP marine relay:

1) Starter lockout. The Blue Sea ACR, when wired to the ignition, forces the relay to disengage the two batteries so that the house battery doesn't see a power drop which could affect you electronics causing them to restart or fail.

2) LED light that you can wire into your helm to provide a visual on when your ACR has both batteries connected.


The BEP setup is great if you're running two batteries and just using the second as a back up. The Blue Sea is better for keeping a battery and house battery separate.

[Threeweight]

You can check out both of them at the Seattle Boat Show (Fisheries Supply up on the 2nd floor had displays with sales reps from both companies on Saturday.) 

I have the Blue Sea Add-A-Battery kit, and have always envied the compact size of the BEP unit.  The Blue Sea stuff looks/feels much beefier, but takes up 2 or 3 times the space.

[chet]

I actually talked to one of the Marinco sales guy and asked a lot of questions at the show.  He didn't explain as much as Danno did though.   After Danno's additional info, it's really tuff to choose and item.  I like that the Blue Sea can disengage the House when starting.  So what do people with BEP do to insure no overload or potential issues on start up for the house? 

[addicted2fishing]

I like the way that BEP is modular and eliminates the need for extra wires by using stamped bars for the connections.

Instead of creating a new thread, I thought I would revive this one after 12 years. 

In the 12 years, just wondering if there's any additional thoughts or opinions from our group about the BEP products over Blue Seas. Im specifically curious about the BEP Pro Installer series. I know many of us members here have used Blue Seas, including me. But like Danno said above, the modular design and compactness is really appealing.