Complete Electronics Outfit - Caliber 40

[DDabs]

Thoughts on a battery system composed of:

Lifeline Deep Cycle AGM Battery 8D (2) - 510AH House bank
Victron BMV600S Battery Monitor
Kyocera KD140SX Solar panel (3) - 420W
Morningstar TriStar 60 Amp MPPT

The boat already has a starting batter and a house battery which I plan on using as well, but I'm trying to set up a new house bank concept. Will I have to upgrade my battery charger as well to handle to increased house bank size?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by DDabs

Thoughts on a battery system composed of:

Lifeline Deep Cycle AGM Battery 8D (2) - 510AH House bank
Victron BMV600S Battery Monitor
Kyocera KD140SX Solar panel (3) - 420W
Morningstar TriStar 60 Amp MPPT

The boat already has a starting batter and a house battery which I plan on using as well, but I'm trying to set up a new house bank concept. Will I have to upgrade my battery charger as well to handle to increased house bank size?

Good quality accessible flooded cells are considerably better batteries

Dave


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[conachair]

Originally Posted by DDabs

Thoughts on a battery system composed of:

Lifeline Deep Cycle AGM Battery 8D (2) - 510AH House bank
Victron BMV600S Battery Monitor
Kyocera KD140SX Solar panel (3) - 420W
Morningstar TriStar 60 Amp MPPT

The boat already has a starting batter and a house battery which I plan on using as well, but I'm trying to set up a new house bank concept. Will I have to upgrade my battery charger as well to handle to increased house bank size?

It might be worth spending a few dollars to read about lifeline battery experiences from Morgans Cloud:
http://www.morganscloud.com/2010/08/...y-test-part-1/
Lifeline recommend equalising them.

Sent from my SGP312 using Tapatalk

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Good quality accessible flooded cells are considerably better batteries

Dave

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Indeed; skip the AGM batteries. You will be much better off with normal flooded cells. There's a lot of good information about this, including on the Sterling Power website.

Edit: Here's the link: http://www.sterling-power.com/support-faq-2.htm

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by DDabs

Thoughts on a battery system composed of:

Lifeline Deep Cycle AGM Battery 8D (2) - 510AH House bank
Victron BMV600S Battery Monitor
Kyocera KD140SX Solar panel (3) - 420W
Morningstar TriStar 60 Amp MPPT

The boat already has a starting batter and a house battery which I plan on using as well, but I'm trying to set up a new house bank concept. Will I have to upgrade my battery charger as well to handle to increased house bank size?

You might compare the amp-hours, weight and footprint of 6x Golf Cart batteries vs. 2x 8Ds. Individually lighter and easier to move, etc.

We've had good success with AGMs, especially since checking our electrolyte levels isn't perfectly easy. Our oldest bank has 8 seasons under it's belt. That said, we're usually on shorepower at the end of a cruise or after fishing, and the charger works well... so we haven't experienced longevity (lack thereof) issues that apparently others have. Lots of threads on that around here, so a search will turn that up...

(I presume the search engine needs a minimum of 4 characters, so AGM* ought to work.)

-Chris

[DDabs]

So instead of AGM, if I go with a golf-cart battery system, which one seems more appropriate?

6x Trojan 6V T105 (675 AH)
4x Trojan 6V J305 (630 AH)

Is it just a matter of space? Or is having a larger batteries not as efficient as a smaller ones?

[Red Sky]

Originally Posted by DDabs

So instead of AGM, if I go with a golf-cart battery system, which one seems more appropriate?

6x Trojan 6V T105 (675 AH)
4x Trojan 6V J305 (630 AH)

Is it just a matter of space? Or is having a larger batteries not as efficient as a smaller ones?

DDabs, Good call to consider the 6v. As you know the lazarette opening isn't the largest, imagine getting a couple of 150#+ D8 battery in the opening and over to the battery area. It's been done, but it's not something I could do without help. If you want max. amps, you could get 8 T105's in there at 68# each. That would get you 900 AH's. The J305's are almost 50% heavier, 3" taller and twice as expensive for small increase in AH over the T105's. By the way, getting them in is way easier than getting them out, as there's no room to get above them to be able to lift up and out. You pretty much have to be in the lazarette with the battery on your lap to be able to move it over to the battery area, to remove them is the reverse, except harder.

[DDabs]

Red Sky, thanks so much for the input. I think 900 AH may be a bit overkill for my needs. Just need to run the fridge 24/7, autopilot and electronics. I'm not installing a watermaker to begin with. Do you think 675 is a big enough bank?

Also, should the 3 solar panels I've chosen be adequate enough to keep the batteries topped off? I realize it's all relative to how much sun, positioning, etc., but I figure 3 big panels ought to be enough. I can always add a D400 wind generator (the only wind gen I truly like), but I was trying to get by on solar alone.

David

[Red Sky]

Originally Posted by DDabs

Red Sky, thanks so much for the input. I think 900 AH may be a bit overkill for my needs. Just need to run the fridge 24/7, autopilot and electronics. I'm not installing a watermaker to begin with. Do you think 675 is a big enough bank?

Also, should the 3 solar panels I've chosen be adequate enough to keep the batteries topped off? I realize it's all relative to how much sun, positioning, etc., but I figure 3 big panels ought to be enough. I can always add a D400 wind generator (the only wind gen I truly like), but I was trying to get by on solar alone.

David

675AH is about 2 days worth of juice, drawing down to 50%, for $200+- you could go to 900AH and increase that to 3 days. It will also allow you to only draw them down to say 75% on a regular basis, they would last a long time. I didn't go back in the thread to see the spec.'s of your panels but on mine, I'm going to try to get around 800 watts on board. I have a hard top dodger that I can get 3 85-100 watt panels on and 3 in the 150-185 watt range on the bimini and davits. Remember, that 11cu. ft. fridge/freezer is a big one and will use more than you think, 100AH+ in a hot climate. Mine's going to get redone with Aerogel insulation before I shove off to hopefully trim some of that off.

[Red Sky]

Originally Posted by DDabs

Red Sky, thanks so much for the input. I think 900 AH may be a bit overkill for my needs. Just need to run the fridge 24/7, autopilot and electronics. I'm not installing a watermaker to begin with. Do you think 675 is a big enough bank?

Also, should the 3 solar panels I've chosen be adequate enough to keep the batteries topped off? I realize it's all relative to how much sun, positioning, etc., but I figure 3 big panels ought to be enough. I can always add a D400 wind generator (the only wind gen I truly like), but I was trying to get by on solar alone.

David

By the way, have you joined the Caliber group on Yahoo yet? It is a great place to ask these type of questions also, lots of real world experience in your exact boat.

[DDabs]

No I haven't, heading there now!

[DDabs]

Originally Posted by Red Sky

675AH is about 2 days worth of juice, drawing down to 50%, for $200+- you could go to 900AH and increase that to 3 days. It will also allow you to only draw them down to say 75% on a regular basis, they would last a long time. I didn't go back in the thread to see the spec.'s of your panels but on mine, I'm going to try to get around 800 watts on board. I have a hard top dodger that I can get 3 85-100 watt panels on and 3 in the 150-185 watt range on the bimini and davits. Remember, that 11cu. ft. fridge/freezer is a big one and will use more than you think, 100AH+ in a hot climate. Mine's going to get redone with Aerogel insulation before I shove off to hopefully trim some of that off.

From what I've read the fridge is only 6 cubic ft.? In any case, I'll consider the upgrade to 900 AH. As far as solar panels, I don't want to clutter the stainless steel arch, and was planning on mounting 3 panels flush on a rigid bimini skeleton. This would be only 420W using the 3 Kyocera 140W panels.

The refrigeration will most likely be an Isotherm unit that uses the galley sink through hull to cool the unit without any pumps. Are you sure I'd be reaching 100+AH per day? I was guestimating around 30-40.

[Red Sky]

Originally Posted by DDabs

From what I've read the fridge is only 6 cubic ft.? In any case, I'll consider the upgrade to 900 AH. As far as solar panels, I don't want to clutter the stainless steel arch, and was planning on mounting 3 panels flush on a rigid bimini skeleton. This would be only 420W using the 3 Kyocera 140W panels.

The refrigeration will most likely be an Isotherm unit that uses the galley sink through hull to cool the unit without any pumps. Are you sure I'd be reaching 100+AH per day? I was guestimating around 30-40.

I don't have the measurements handy but it's approx. 21x 35 x 24, something like that, of course the lower part narrows due to the hull shape, but it's 11cu. ft. +-.

I haven't figured out what system to install, air cooled or water cooled, evaporator or holding plate. With the tankage on the Caliber, I do like the idea of using on-board fresh water as opposed to sea water for cooling if I decide to go that way. One company, Ozfridge, looks interesting and the compressor package is very pretty.

The only thing negative I've heard about the Isotherm unit is that the galley sink thru-hull doesn't circulate enough water to cool properly if there's not enough movement of the hull in the water. I have no idea if that's true or not. If you do go that way and have usage that low, I'd be very interested.

[Roy M]

DDabs, the equipment you have selected is good stuff. I have installed several of the same package in the last year. You might also look at the fishfinder and StructureScan sonar if you fish or dive. One word of warning that no one else seems to have offered: visibility. The folks who install the NSS 12, with a nice NavPod, on the binnacle bar, find that it blocks vision forward, and is absolutely useless if you are on autopilot, hunched up under the dodger with waves and wind attacking. You might consider simply installing the display on one side or the other of the dodger interior. You'll still be able to see what's going on, and if you need more detail, sit in front of the wheel to steer and play with the display. Also, on the binnacle bar, no one else gets to see what is happening, Another thought, place a Triton on the overhead of your bunk for monitoring stuff when you are off watch. Better than a telltale compass. And by the way, I just installed a Harken Unipower 900 on a Caliber 40 for their winch to haul the main up (and several other lines). The owner was getting older, and his wife usually handles raising the sails. It made all the difference. the best thing is that the Harken doesn't have a big motor casing hanging down over your head at the stove (or the entrance to the nav station). here's a pic:
:

[DDabs]

The boat will be sailed every day so motion shouldn't be an issue. A friend of mine with a custom 48' center cockpit (huge fridge space) just installed a Frigoboat system which uses a keel cooler. Similar to the Isotherm unit but actually uses a pump and has a larger heatsink on the outside of the hull. Personally I talked to the Isotherm rep at the Miami boat show and was impressed. I'll post more about refrigeration when the outfit starts. Right now I'm trying to really nail down the specific equipment to use.

Do you have a website or any photos of your boat? Do you live aboard?