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 foreign [Music] welcome to another a boating Tech  talk question we've got a question from a   boater Fabio asked Jeff I'm wondering if a DC to  DC converter has a voltage drop similar to a FET   isolator do you have any insight on that  that's a good question now the advantage   let's talk about the two devices a fet isolator  is basically what they used to be called battery   isolators and they used to be done with diodes  and there would definitely be an inherent voltage   drop on that the modern battery isolators are done  with fets and there is a voltage drop albeit way   less than a diode base one so better efficiency  hence why most people are choosing fat battery   isolators over diode battery isolators now here's  the Fabio's asking a comparison uh what about a DC   to DC converter does it have uh any voltage drop  well here's the difference is the DC to DC is   actually targeting voltages and so the voltage  drop is not going to be the issue what you're   going to actually lose out on is the amperage so  whenever you convert from one voltage to the other   what you're doing is you're taking some of that  power for the conversion so yes you're going to   lose there are inefficiencies of course or if you  know changing anything costs something albeit the   cost is not that great it's not like a diode  where you would lose a significant portion I   would consider it more comparable to a fet so a  DC to DC charging converter is going to be more   similar to a fet in terms of its efficiencies  I.E whenever you do something you're it's   there's going to be a cost to it but nothing like  a diode-based battery isolator so the voltages are   not going to drop but basically the unit is going  to take more current uh to create those set point   voltages so it's a little bit of different sort of  approach right the battery isolator is just shares   and as you're sharing and it goes everywhere it's  not modulated it's just simply allowing certain   things to not see each other so there's no back  current right everything becomes directional from   alternator to batteries but not battery to battery  and with a DC to DC charging converter you've got   battery to battery you can still do this but  the difference here is you're actually going   from one voltage an input voltage to another  voltage but that voltage is very specific so   it might be 14 4 it might be whatever it is at  that point that that device figures out it needs   to do to recharge the second battery so you're not  going to be seeing lower voltages than anticipated   you're just going to be utilizing more current  or more energy from the other battery to recharge   perfectly the second battery that you're charging  with the DC DC charging converter so that's a   really good question and a good little nuanced  question for Fabio if you any of you have other   questions or trials and tribulations of using uh  DC to DC charging converters please post them on   the link below sharing is caring and to all  of you out there safe boating and thanks for   watching so if you're curious again go on our  website and find out more answers and solutions   with this sort of setup and thanks for asking and  thanks for all of you for listening and tuning in English Videolytics    Tools  Compare SUMMARY