House Batteries in my Westsail 32

[endoftheroad]

i didn't even think of the shading of individual panels and how individual controllers would greatly benefit.
awesome this is good stuff,
thanks everyone.

I'm as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. Solar is way cool.

[Pete7]

Good isn't it We have two panels with two PWM controllers. I now find myself looking around the boat in the afternoons for stuff to charge up when the batts are full.

Pete

[endoftheroad]

Maine sail,
on a previous sailboat, an electrical friend of mine told me I burned out my diode on my solar panel from charging my batteries with my engine or from flipping my combiner switch while the engine was running. something like that anyway.

Are there any big no~no's that I should be concerned about with this setup?

I also have a 10 amp battery charger installed should I ever be on a dock or need to use a generator.


2 Kyocera 140's
2 gv10's
4 trojan t105's in series
And The battery monitor.

Thanks

[endoftheroad]

Maine Sail Quote, A Victron BMV-600 is the best deal IMHO. It is a battery monitor/Ah counter, % charged meter (Peukert corrected), volt meter, ammeter, history etc. etc...

Maine Sail,
Check out this link for the Victron installation, it's a good read and review for existing installs.
Installing A Battery Monitor Photo Gallery by Compass Marine at pbase.com




And, a great video for the Victron display setup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO8AG...e_gdata_player

Good stuff!

The only concern I have is for the reliability of a "shunt" because the entire electrical system is on the other side of the shunt from the battery. Can a shunt go bad? Because there is alot depending on it. I'm totally electrically uneducated so this could be a silly concern.

endoftheroad

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by endoftheroad

Good stuff!

The only concern I have is for the reliability of a "shunt" because the entire electrical system is on the other side of the shunt from the battery. Can a shunt go bad? Because there is alot depending on it. I'm totally electrically uneducated so this could be a silly concern.

endoftheroad

I have never seen a 500A continuous rated shunt go bad and there are literally thousands and thousands of them out there.. Perhaps it could, in a freak incident, but it is a rather massive shunt compared to your loads and your over current protection should go well before the shunt or wiring..

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Good isn't it We have two panels with two PWM controllers. I now find myself looking around the boat in the afternoons for stuff to charge up when the batts are full.

Pete

Play loud music, Pink Floyd, Marillion etc. My subwoofer loves to eat some amps

[zboss]

Originally Posted by four winds

That's the same West Marine AGM battery I have. (2) And I need new ones as well.

Last time I looked they were about $320 each at WM.

Sam's club sells Duracell (Deka) group 31 AGM 12v 105ah for $166 each.

They also have the lead acid Duracell in that 105ah capacity for $90 each. It's a group 29 but that's actually a group 31 size. (don't know why)

I'm hoping to spring for the AGMs sometime soon. But it's amazing that for the lead acid price of about $200 for 2 one gets the same capacity as WM's $600+ agm offering. Or in your case, $400 lead acid vs. $1200 AGM.

edit to add,.... I may have mistakenly thought your batteries were AGM. I have the Sea Volt brand AGMs, guessing they make lead acid also and haven't looked for the WM price for those.

I believe that if you look at the charge acceptance rates for each type of battery you may find that the cheaper ones cannot accept charge as fast although they have the same capacity. This translates to longer charge times and thus lower available daily amp hours [assuming the charging method/time remains the same]. I believe this is covered by Casey in on of his books.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by zboss

I believe that if you look at the charge acceptance rates for each type of battery you may find that the cheaper ones cannot accept charge as fast although they have the same capacity. This translates to longer charge times and thus lower available daily amp hours [assuming the charging method/time remains the same]. I believe this is covered by Casey in on of his books.

Yes but in any sort of battery bank with multiple batteries, charge acceptance max current will likely be beyond any source you have onboard and therefore relatively unimportant.

Dave

[analogtraveler]

Hello, didn't go through the entire thread but I use 4x GC2 type golf car batteries to run an off grid installation. I have used costco type generics and interstates, and the Interstate GC2-XHD's are a better battery worth the money. The bank weighs about 280 pounds, and isn't too large. I use it as a primary bank, with two group 29's (125AH) as a secondary. Both are charged by PV. If you go with GC2's, the Interstates are equivalent or better than T105's.

I'm in the process of researching and testing lithium iron phosphate batteries for house use, and I design off grid photovoltaic systems. If you have any questions about lead acid, PV, or LiFePo drop me a line.
Fair Winds,
-Christopher

[cheoah]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Play loud music, Pink Floyd, Marillion etc. My subwoofer loves to eat some amps

Gotta feed the subwoofer. I like the way you roll..

[cheoah]

I used Flooded lead-acid batts in my install, two Grp 31's. Since they are fed by a Kyocera 130 on the mooring, with Genasun controller, they are kept fully charged. I looked at AGM's but they are just so far out of my price range, and given current configuration I hope to get good service out of them - we'll see. Holding strong a couple of years in, but no battery monitor currently so I have no real data to share except voltage, which stays quite high. Also have a 70A Interstate controlled by a Balmar ARS-5.

The trojans are a good bet too, I think, but my battery box accommodated 2 Grp 31's plus a start battery without any changes, and made it simpler.

Endoftheroad, you'll be happy with your configuration. All quality components, a really good investement for your boat. Take care with the cabling and controller location. Maine Sail's pictures show a quality install with good tinned wire, and adhesive heat shrink terminals. Check out this site for cabling:

Genuinedealz > Marine Electrical Supply - Boat and Marine Electrical Connectors, Tubing

Having good cabling throughout -including the ones connecting your batteries is crucial.

[endoftheroad]

yes I'm ordering it all tomorrow.
2~gv10's
2~Kyocera 140's
And the batt monitor.

The 4 new trojan t105's were installed a few days ago.

I'll be pimpin.

[cheoah]

So I have a Victron to install, but there's one part of the current 20 year old monitor I do not understand. There is an alternator shunt, which I think serves to provide charging info on the battery monitor..... the Balmar ARS-5 doesn't utilize this does it?


I'm thinking I can get rid of the alternator shunt when I remove the old battery monitor, and re-wire alternator directly to the house bank at the same time, but haven't had a chance to figure out what is going on here. Thanks for any input. My last monitor on previous boat - Xantrex XBM - did not need anything except the negative shunt to provide loads and charging info.

There are also two load sensing shunts on the negative circuit, and I've thought about installing the Victron board on one of the existing shunts but I'm not sure it bolts up right. Easy enough to swap the whole thing.

Here is a picture of the shunt, and also the old monitor.

[endoftheroad]

Cheoah,
did you see the first link in post number 49?
maybe that can answer your question. it's a great link for installing the battery monitor.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by cheoah

So I have a Victron to install, but there's one part of the current 20 year old monitor I do not understand. There is an alternator shunt, which I think serves to provide charging info on the battery monitor..... the Balmar ARS-5 doesn't utilize this does it?


I'm thinking I can get rid of the alternator shunt when I remove the old battery monitor, and re-wire alternator directly to the house bank at the same time, but haven't had a chance to figure out what is going on here. Thanks for any input. My last monitor on previous boat - Xantrex XBM - did not need anything except the negative shunt to provide loads and charging info.

There are also two load sensing shunts on the negative circuit, and I've thought about installing the Victron board on one of the existing shunts but I'm not sure it bolts up right. Easy enough to swap the whole thing.

Here is a picture of the shunt, and also the old monitor.

Holy mother, that is some monitor you have there The switch position for alternator amps is what used that shunt on the alternator. Just check if the two yellow wires from the shunt actually go to this monitor to make sure.
If you remove the shunt, you need a way to interconnect the cables again and may not have enough length available...