Cruisers Forum
 


Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on Cruisers Forums. Advertise Here
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Rate Thread Display Modes
Old 14-04-2012, 10:35   #16
Registered User

Join Date: May 2008
Location: daytona beach florida
Boat: csy 37
Posts: 2,976
Images: 1
Re: batteries for a 32 footer

lots to say from personal experience.

1. you may not need that much fridge/freezer. we have 6 cubic feet but found it's much more than we need so i filled in the bottom of the fridge with insulation boards; we now have about half that much. uses much less power. as for cold beer, just put a warm one in each time you take out a cold one out....

2. use regular flooded golf cart batteries. cheaper and easier to service. will give you a chance to get to know your batteries and what they need. you might start out with just two but leave enough room for two more as you'll probably discover on your own that you need to upgrade.

3. yes, the honda 1000 works. half my power comes from a solar panel. if i had two solar panels i would almost never need any other recharging source. i'm working on it. so every few days i find that i have to run my honda 1000. i bought a 35 amp smart automobile charger that i have to hook up to the batteries with jumper clamps. the other end plugs into the honda. but two hours of running the honda every few days keeps the batteries topped up. i generally just put a few pints of gasoline in the honda and let it run till it's out of gas. and don't worry about the noise. you can't hear a honda from 100 feet away. i was in an anchorage with a guy who had two honda 2000's on his stern going all night to run his air conditioner. couldn't hear them although he was anchored fairly close to me.

good luck....
onestepcsy37 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-04-2012, 10:35   #17
֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎

Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
Re: batteries for a 32 footer

Packet, is this a boat that was factory-built with an outboard? Of what size?

Or is this something someone bolted on after pulling out the original inboard engine?

I ask because usually a 32' would have an inboard, and most outboards simply won't have enough powermaking capacity to recharge or run what you've got, unless some buba really bolted up a monster.
hellosailor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-04-2012, 10:44   #18
Marine Service Provider
 
mitiempo's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Victoria B.C.
Boat: Wauquiez Centurion 32
Posts: 2,874
Re: batteries for a 32 footer

Quote:
Originally Posted by onestepcsy37 View Post
you may not need that much fridge/freezer. we have 6 cubic feet but found it's much more than we need so i filled in the bottom of the fridge with insulation boards; we now have about half that much. uses much less power. as for cold beer, just put a warm one in each time you take out a cold one out....
The op doesn't have that much fridge. What he has is shown below. He has 2 apparently. They are efficient, but not as efficient as their specs suggest. This type is the least power hungry refrigeration you can get - Engel being a bit more energy efficient due to its compressor.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	1.jpg
Views:	143
Size:	48.8 KB
ID:	39945   Click image for larger version

Name:	2.jpg
Views:	106
Size:	25.6 KB
ID:	39946  

mitiempo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-04-2012, 10:52   #19
Registered User

Join Date: May 2008
Location: daytona beach florida
Boat: csy 37
Posts: 2,976
Images: 1
Re: Batteries for a 32 Footer

mitiempo -

those little fridges are terrific. my neighbor's built in fridge/freezer crapped out and he replaced it with one of those, although somewhat bigger. says it uses half the power of his old fridge/freezer.
onestepcsy37 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14-04-2012, 11:03   #20
Marine Service Provider
 
mitiempo's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Victoria B.C.
Boat: Wauquiez Centurion 32
Posts: 2,874
Re: Batteries for a 32 Footer

Quote:
Originally Posted by onestepcsy37 View Post
mitiempo -

those little fridges are terrific. my neighbor's built in fridge/freezer crapped out and he replaced it with one of those, although somewhat bigger. says it uses half the power of his old fridge/freezer.
I have an Engel and to my knowledge there is not a more amp miserly refrigerator available that it and the Waeco.
mitiempo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-04-2012, 03:50   #21
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 9
Re: batteries for a 32 footer

Thanks for your replies,
Every one has been very helpful, turns out that i really know nothing about DC systems but i am reading up on it and starting to understand a little more.
Obviously I completely underestimated my needs.
And looking at solar power theres a couple of arrangements i have been thinking about which wouldn't be too intrusive, like flexible solar panels that can be interchangeable e.g. bolt down some clips on the foredeck to attach them there when underway and get the sailmaker to sew up little eyes with clips on my sun awning so they can be up there out of the shade at anchor!
Obviously you can never have enough solar power but what would be a good comfortable figure in watts? Im a tropical sailor so sun is not a problem!
With regards to batteries
Seems that a 4 x 225/250 6v flooded cell is the way forward! i was under the wrong impression that a smaller charger would charge agms allt he way up fairly quickly ..
Im going to stick with the EU1000i generator, I havent got the space for a bigger one unfortunately!

Getting there slowly !!!
Cheers
TP
Thepacket is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-04-2012, 04:43   #22
Registered User

Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: North Carolina
Boat: 1984 Pearson 34, Sirena
Posts: 55
Re: Batteries for a 32 Footer

I just went through energy calculations for my boat so I would know what size solar to get. A small Engel fridge uses about 22 amp hours per 24 hours and one running as a freezer would use a lot more than that. Your fridge /freezer combo is 44 amp hours per day and could be up to 80 or 90.

I think you have to decide how badly you want the freezer.

I estimated up to 70 amp hours per day total for two people with an Engel fridge, small water maker, small TV/radio/laptop, no microwave or anything like that. The minimum day would be 40 amp hours. I plan on carrying enough of a battery bank for 3 days.

The difficulty is deciding how bad you want the comforts that power gives you then paying the price in power generating.

Dale
DaleM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-04-2012, 06:03   #23
Registered User
 
w32honu's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New Hampshire
Boat: Custom Marples 40 FC
Posts: 507
Images: 2
We estimate our power use between 30 and 40 amps per day (total). We have 4 Trojan 6 volt batteries with a capacity of 480 AH. We recharge with two 54 watt solar panels. The panels are our only source of power to recharge the batteries. Works great. Have not put alot of time on the batteries and over taxed the system.......... So all is good so far. We are sailing Maine waters at the moment........... Not really known for super sunny conditions. At peak the panels will put out slightly over 7 amps per hour.

So with good conditions we can replace all the amps used in one day of recharge. Less than optimum conditions still allow some charging capability and I estimate we can go for 10 to 14 days before reaching 50 percent battery capacity. Thats two weeks with little or no sun. Chances are there will be optimum sunny conditions in much less time. In fact I would bet on it. Besides this scenario doesn't even include any attempt to ration our use.............it's figured at peak demand. I think that is the key......... To try and control the demand side of the equation.

Maybe the freezer isn't necessary.......

Perhaps the water maker isn't really needed....

Whatever you decide you will have to match the system to the demand for sure. It's just your own personal preference.........

One last note.......research your solar panel choice carefully. Not all panels are created equal. And they are temperature sensitive. The more heat the less power. I found the manufactures performance data to be a bit misleading and somewhat confusing. Then again i am not an electrician. Found Nigel Calders work to be a good reference . IMHO this is an area (panel choice) where quality should over ride all other considerations.
w32honu is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-04-2012, 06:03   #24
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 9
Re: Batteries for a 32 Footer

It seems that the whole fridge and freezer idea is not viable at all!!
i think i am going to can that and go for a slightly larger model and use it only as a fridge for some food and beer!
I normally sail with 4 or 5 of my beer chugging friends so large capacity for cold beer is a must! ..
Thepacket is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-04-2012, 06:32   #25
Registered User
 
Triton318's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hayes, Virginia
Boat: 1962 28' Pearson Triton
Posts: 289
Re: batteries for a 32 footer

Quote:
Originally Posted by btrayfors View Post
Best economy is 4 (not 2) 6-volt 225AH golf-cart batteries in series/parallel, giving you 450AH total capacity.
I thought batteries were either wired in series OR parallel. Can you please explain "...in series/parallel..."?

Thanks.
__________________
Jay White
S/V Dove
1962 Pearson Triton, #318
Triton318 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-04-2012, 07:07   #26
Registered User
 
w32honu's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: New Hampshire
Boat: Custom Marples 40 FC
Posts: 507
Images: 2
They can be wired for both to double the amps and the volts.

4 six volts at 240 amps can be wired to achieve 12 volts and 480 amps.

www.usbattery.com has some good diagrams of various ways to wire for different outcomes. Link to "configurations" on their web site......
w32honu is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-04-2012, 07:08   #27
Registered User

Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 9
Re: Batteries for a 32 Footer

you connect 2 6 volt batteries in series it gives you double the volts
you connect 2 pairs of 6 volt batteries (total of 4 batteries) in parallel you double the amps!
BOOM!
Thepacket is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
battery

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Advertise Here


All times are GMT -7. The time now is 02:24.


Google+
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Social Knowledge Networks
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.

ShowCase vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.