Onboard charging system

[Kelper]

Curious if anybody has any recommendations for a good 3 bank onboard battery charging system. I'm just wrapping up a complete rewire, and put 3 new 8d batteries in the ol' Adagio. It's got and old True Charge 20 that was cobbled together as a temporary charger. I could use it, but it's got what looks like a deadly mix of cat hair and hydraulic oil that contaminated it. (fixed those hydraulic leaks too) While my wallet is wide open (yeah, it's scary) I figured maybe I'd update to perhaps something new? I've read mixed reviews on the newer Xantrex true charge, (and customer service horror stories) so I'm not sure I want to go with them. I also am looking at this one:http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... pAC2uKmZBc

Any suggestions would help me. Thanks!

[Trnaround]

I rewired about 5 years ago, best thing I ever did. Got rid of a lot of ghosts and the gremlin that shuts things off at critical times. You said you put three 8D's. I was wondering if you are dedicating one of the batteries to run the "house" and having a separate "start" battery. Prior to rewiring I was going through an 8D every couple of years. We rewired in that way and used deep cycle batteries for the house and a standard wet cell 8D for the start. So far they are still working fine after 5 years. Definitely made things better, we could leave the refer on at night and not worry about having a dead start battery in the morning.

[Kelper]

I've got 2 of the 8Ds dedicated to the house in parallel, and 1 8D for starting that is isolated from the house. I used the interstate HD batteries for all 3. I wish I had some deep cycle batteries for the house, but I didn't find any locally. Hopefully I can get some decent life out of them and it's not an expensive mistake.

I hired help for the project, as it was a bit over my head and was a learning process for me that I really needed. It turned out great and I now know what every single wire in my boat does. Brand new tinned wire throughout, and all connections have heat shrink. Took us about 7.5 days to do the wiring and a ton of other work, that involved fixing other things we found as we went that I wasn't confident I could do on my own. I still have a pile of things to do on my own, so I'll be down in the harbor for at least another month.

[Trnaround]

That sounds like a learning experience for sure, nice to know where and what things are doing on your boat. We used 2 6v golf cart batteries in series (to gain 12v). They are deep cycle and I can't remember how may amps they store but it was more than the single 8 deep cycle. The only minor problem was they are an inch taller so the battery box had to be altered a little. The big advantage to deep cycle is that you can run the amps down and the battery will come back to 100% when it is re-charged where the wet cells will only reach 80% if you draw them down. The wet cells are better for releasing a lot of amps fast like when you start up but if they continually get drawn down they degrade more quickly. That was they way it was explained to me and it seems to be working that way. You do need a voltage distributor (I think that's the term) that sends the charge from your alternator to the battery that needs it after you start up. Anyway good luck with the project.

[Furuno]

Roger the above posts about having a separate bank of two 6v deep cycle batteries in series (12v) for house use. I've got two 8D's in the engine room and the engine can start on either one. Last time I looked I had 10years on 1 8D and 7 on the other. One real nice thing about the 6v deep cycle batteries is they are way easier to remove and replace than the 8D's. I probably get about 4years on the 6v house batteries. They get a lot of heavy use, especially during hunting season! Your battery selector switch should be on 1 or 2, never both. On a hunting trip this fall I forgot and left the switch on "both" and unknowingly one bad cell sucked both batteries dead. Thank goodness for my little Honda generator or I'd be on a permanent hunting trip! The 10 year old battery (now replaced) was the culprit.

[Trnaround]

Furuno, that's good to know, I did not know the other battery could do that. I have 5 years on the 6v house batteries and 5 years on the 8D. I am wondering when they will give up but so far they are ok. Sorry to change the thread here, I am not much help on the onboard charging system.

[kjwelder]

http://www.batterystuff.com/battery-cha ... 2611A.html
Above is what i have and am happy with. Costs 50 bucks more t Murrays in Sitka.

[Kelper]

Thanks Kjwelder for the heads up. Found it on amazon for $111 and free shipping. I'm going to go with it.

[Salty]

One of the the things I love about this forum is people helping each other. Was just talking to another contributor about how Garret Hagan was always so helpful. Miss him.

[JKD]

Lots of good information here. I had the Apex completely re-wired early this year and was amazed at the difference. One of the best [and most simple] things that the electrician suggested I add to the new system was a digital voltage meter set up with a selector switch so I can check the voltage in either of my two 4-D batteries. This meter pointed-out low-voltage problems I would not have been aware of while fishing for Chum at low engine/alternator RPMs.

I currently have a Delco-Remy 105-amp alternator to power this system, but I am researching other [higher amperage] "marine" alternator options that will provide adequate amperage required at lowest Chum trolling RPMs. On my last troller I had a high-amperage Leece-Neville alternator (and a matching spare) and I never experienced low voltage problems at low RPMs. I suspect I am probably going to go that route again. The Honda generator mentioned by Furuno above is great insurance to have stashed on the boat for emergencies. I highly recommend getting one if you haven't already.

[lone eagle]

I'm going to rig up a digital voltmeter too. This summer I would check the batteries with a handheld meter before shutting down each night. The existing meter is a colored bar type and not much help. My inverter gives a digital readout but doesn't give me a reading of the starter battery voltage

[JYDPDX]

Enjoying this thread! I love learning about electrical stuff because I know so very little. I ended up getting a new alternator last season and the guy at ACDC in Juneau informed me he didn't have any 130 amp units and urged me to get a 160. I noticed a very substantial difference in my battery health or at least what I feel like their health is. That alternator seemed to be able to take on bigger loads without bogging down my batteries, IE. I could turn everything on at an idle (in neutral, 400W sodium through inverter included) and the battery voltage would not drop as far as it did with the 130 amp unit I had before. Maybe that was a result of a different setting on the alternator. Also, the batteries seemed to "top off" faster and would sustain their charge longer after the engine was shut down. As a caveat, I did have a battery die last season. I was very lax on checking the level on them, I may not have done it all season Maybe the 160s aren't the cats meow but I intend to switch out the 130 on the new boat in favor of a160 again. I think it made a big difference.

I am now running four 8D batteries (2 in each bank) with my selector switch left on "both" at all times. I have a gas generator as a back up in case I have a problem. It is shit tons of power and I am really digging it but am wondering about a new charging system for at the dock. I have an ancient "constavolt" and was told by a reliable source that was not a very good way to go. I had a xantrex "true charge" before and felt like it scorched my batteries at times even on the "hot" setting. I could hear them sizzling lightly like bacon.

Really good idea to have 2 alternators on hand. I will start doing that next year too.

On an off-topic or side note I got some of those rigid industries LEDs last year and no more sodium needed. They draw basically nothing and are a great safety feature for fishing in the fog. I had numerous comments that I could be seen very well cutting though. As a performance reference, the two twenty inchers do not put out as much illumination as the 1000 watt sodium I have now but are completely adequate for running in pitch black. They pit out more concentrated light in front of the boat than the 400 watt sodium and Its really nice to be able to flick them on while shut down too. They really don't draw very much.

I am interested to know what are the pros of having a professional rewire your boat vs. DIY? Obviously the only con is cost.

[Kelper]

I was hoping alternators would come up. I have an 87amp alternator on my engine right now. (Lugger 6068, 130hp) I have a spare 65amp alternator. I was thinking of upgrading.. Not sure I want to spend the money yet as I don't think I'll be in the chum patch for a few years.

One thing that amazed me was how many burned, chaffed, and stray wires we pulled out of the boat. It was a nightmare, with many "dark" areas you were afraid to look into because you just couldn't make any sense out of it. It was overwhelming. Once we yanked it all out, and realized that 50% of the wiring was abandoned, things got simple. It looked like there should have been a ton of stray current in the boat, so hopefully the rewiring job will pay for itself by putting more fish in my totes.

In case anybody is interested in doing a rewire, here is what I did. I ordered all the materials off the internet, and I spent some time searching to find the best deals. The guy who did mine pointed me towards genuinedealz.com. Good prices on tinned, made in the USA wire. Alot cheaper than anything I could buy local. It was a big order with lugs, heat shrink, etc. Free shipping and it came within 4 days. Always order more lugs than you think you will need. They ship in flat rate boxes. I got my 13 breaker blue seas from byownerelectronics.com. They had the best price I could find with USPS flat rate shipping. That panel has a built in dc meter and amp meter and I like it. Just realize you need to build jumpers to light it all up and tie it together, which I didn't have the lugs for. I paid a fortune for the lugs when I got them at napa. My bilge pumps, super switches, and 8D battery boxes came off of Amazon. (free shipping) My LEDs came from marinebeam.com which had $7.50 shipping for all orders.

[Salty]

I have used all kinds of alternators and go thru them at about 1 per year. I have become quite adept at changing them out. To get the rpm and charge out of a standard delco -remy at chum troll rpm of about 5-700 rpm I put a small shiv instead of the standard one. I burned one up last summer running the coffee maker, radar, two computers, lights, radios, house pressure pump, Fathometer, deck hose, autopilot, and two monitors at the same time though. Would have been fine without the darn coffee.

[F/VNightingale]

I use the Deltran Battery Tender 800 milliamp waterproof charger. The trickle charge doesn't overheat and boil your batteries, so you don't have to worry about keeping them topped off constantly. I guess it's worth mentioning that I also rewired my boat, and reused the old batteries, and still haven't had a problem with any of them. I check the water level about once every two weeks and top them off if needed (when the boat is working). I also check their specific gravity about once a month.

My system is 24 volt start, 2 x 8D batteries. House is 12 volt, 2 separate banks of 2 x 6 volt golf cart batteries.

Many people mentioned the benefits of the digital voltmeter. I installed a Blue Seas distribution panel with the combination digital voltmeter/ammeter, and cannot stress how terrific a digital readout is versus an analog one. At a glance I can troubleshoot my entire system according to the voltage or amperage status. At night, when I shut down, I flip the status to amps, and start turning every thing off until the system has a 0.0 amp load. No chance of leaving anything on that I don't want. The meters also have a high/low voltage alarm to warn you of charging problems. To sum it up: single best item I added to my electrical system when I rewired my boat's DC system.

[Trnaround]

Digital volt/am meter great idea. Good idea to keep a jug of distilled water on board for maintenance of the wet cells. That will also extend the life of the batteries. Keeping the surface of the batteries clean and dry is also important to prevent a surface charge leak. This takes a little work but if you find out what the amperage draw is on all of the things you commonly have on while fishing that would be your minimum alternator requirements. Beyond that you are starting to draw down your stored amps. I am stating the obvious but it is an important concept in figuring out what size alternator and battery capacity you need.

[lone eagle]

I went with the Pro Sport charger. worked well for over a year now and gives the impression of commercial quality construction despite the name

[JKD]

JYDPDX - In reference to your question about the pros of having a professional re-wire your boat vs. DIY - I went that way because of three main points: 1) I realised I didn't understand enough about DC power to do the job myself and I wanted to be certain that my system was balanced with the proper-sized breaker for the implements on every circuit; 2) the person I used had nearly 20 years of experience with wiring government vessels to all the applicable marine codes that insurance brokers may/can require; and 3) I also appreciated the fact that he understood enough about commercial fishing to provide multiple options for future additions/expansion in the finished system.

A related bonus for me is that this person is willing to trouble-shoot any problems that may develop, and is available to research my questions (i.e., alternator choices) as I get used to my new system. (It also didn't hurt that he had access to a substantial materials discount for his business.)