Battery Banks

N

Naut Home

Member
Joined
Aug 25, 2008
RO Number
30670
Messages
134
"My Next Problem"
2001 Carver 356. The vessel came with 1 twelve volt battery for each engine and 1 for the generator. We do a lot of anchoring and found this set up disappointing. I have since bought 2 new 6 volt batteries and use them as 1 bank and put the 2 original twelve volt batteries in parellel as the other bank. All 5 batteries just fit in the original location in between the two engines. Has anyone else come up with anything better?
 
i don't have a genny, but i've got two 12 volt starting batteries (one for each engine) and four 6 volt trojans to make two 12 systems of house batteries with plenty of amp hours.
 
I have 2 banks of 2X6volt golf carts and a group 27 for the genny. I can anchor out all weekend on one bank if I use my genny for the big loads - heat water, stove etc. This is the best setup I've ever had.
 
I have 1 bank for starting both engines, and one bank for House. The banks can be paralleled if needed. My starting bank is 1 8D commercial truck battery (so not really a bank, but it spins the the starters with undeniable confidence.) The house bank is two 6 volt Trojan 145s. I would really like to have four 145s for the house, but space becomes an issue. I never really liked the idea of a separate battery for each engine, if one battery fails, you have to bring out the jumper cables to get the other engine started. I have one engine which always starts a little easier than the other. That one fires up first and is generating power to crank the other if juice is low.
 
Not sure how my 97 355 Aft Cabin MY compares to your boat, but we do a lot of anchoring as well. I did not want to run the generator every time I wanted to catch the news or run the microwave, and I wanted the ability to run the ice maker on the hook. I did my homework and installed a Magna 2012 pure sine wave inverter and four, 6V, 300A hour each, lifeline batteries. Under the table in the salon there is a hatch that gives me access to the hot water tank, AC unit, and holding tank. I made a frame for the batteries and installed it right under the hatch, in front of the hot water tank. I built another frame for the inverter and installed it on top of the holding tank. Works perfect, and I get 300A hours of use before the batteries are down to 50%. My refrigerator draws 2.5A and the ice maker draws 15A when making ice. I run the generator an hour in the morning and one hour at night to recharge the batteries and to "just run" the generator. Love the set up.
 
I have a 1986 3607 aft cabin with really limeited battery space. Not wide enough for 8D's. I used two Trojan scrubber batteries-same capacity as 8D's but have the same footprint as a Group 31. They are about 5 inches taller but raising the plywood battery covers was no problem. I use one starting battery for both Crusader 350's and the generator. If the starting battery goes bad, I can combine the batteries with the battery switches. No problems at all with using the one starting battery. I have a 2000 watt inverter and get about 12 hours with full size household fridge, a lot of 25 inch TV, microwave, lectrosan, etc.
Jimmy
 
Thanks all. Very good info. Tim, I believe your boat is identical to mine and your suggestions make a lot of sense. The only difference for me, is that I have the vacuflush pump and tank in the area you put you batteries. I should be able to make it happen though. How did you hook the batteries to the dc circuit and the inverter to the ac circuit?
 
Two batteries were wired in series giving me two banks of two batteries, 12V at 300Ahrs, then I wired the two banks in parallel giving me 12V at 600Ahrs. The batteries were wired to the inverter. On my AC/DC panel, I have 2 AC panels, one for the Air Conditioning/heat and one for all other AC breakers, then I have the DC panel. I connected the two wires from the inverter to the AC panel with all the other AC brekers, not air conditioning/heat. If I am hooked to shore power or the generator is running, the inverter charges the batteries. If I loose shore power or the generator, the inverter kicks in and runs all the AC breakers that are turned on. It really is a great setup. I can monitor everthing through a remote panel for the inverter/charger unit.
 
Tim, How totally awesome. That answers all my questions. That is a great idea to have the inverter charge the batteries. I hope you don't mind, but I am going to steal your plans and have mine set up like that for next boating season. The wife is going to be very pleased.
icon_speech_yes.gif
Thanks agian.
 
I am not sure what this site will allow me to print, but I have no problem sending you all the information and pictures. I will be coming out of the water in three weeks and will be disassembling the set up so I can paint the frames I made. I tried to give someone my e-mail address one time, but the site blocked it out. I'm not sure why. I am very particular (my wife says anal) when it comes to doing work on the boat, but I always want it 4.0, and this setup is just that. This is only our second season with the boat. It came from a lake and now it is on the ocean, so I have added the generator, radar, fresh water cooling system, macerators, pumps for discharging the two grey water tanks overboard, new refrigerator, etc. The boat is really starting to look good. Carver did not do well in setting up the helm for the radar/chartplotter, so I made my own platform which does not impede visibility. Next project is the stereo system. Sorry to go on, but I am willing to share any of my successes and learn from others, we are all one family.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top