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07-12-2010, 18:56
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Vancouver
Boat: 1962 Hunter Sedan 38'
Posts: 57
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Batteries - House / Starting
Hey guys, in my boat I have two battery selector switches each has 1/2/all/off. Why is there two selector switches?
I have two motors, and i was thinking of wiring it up with 2 cranking batterys, one for each motor and then maybe 2 or more deep cycle batteries for the house bank. How would you recommend going about this?
The boat came with two deep cycle batteries, one has been replaced recently, and the other i suspect is shot. I also have a new smaller deep cycle battery that i'm going to rob off my ski boat cause i'm selling it. Is there anything i need to worry about with installing two different sized deep cycle batterys in parallel?
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Never trust a man with a clean workshop
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07-12-2010, 19:18
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: puget sound/ caribbean
Boat: never wrecked a boat while awake or sober
Posts: 331
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It soundaslike, if you have a different starting batts for each engine, you have two independent circuits.
It might be simpler if you use one starting batt, for both engines , and in the #2 position, put your deep cycling batts.
Do not "marry" an old with a new batt. It will "confuse" the alternater. Either one will overcharge or the other will undercharge.
If your cranking batt fails, switch to "both" .
Using a deep cycle for starting is throwing money away
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07-12-2010, 23:57
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Vancouver
Boat: 1962 Hunter Sedan 38'
Posts: 57
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is there a way i could have one switch to separate two cranking batteries and use the other switch to separate two house batteries? that way i could use the dissimilar batteries still, because different engines would be charging different batteries.
__________________
Never trust a man with a clean workshop
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08-12-2010, 11:21
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#4
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֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
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Why are there two switches? Why dooes a dog lick his ----s? Because he can.
Doesn't mean it is advisable for you to do it that way.
" is there a way i could have one switch to separate two cranking batteries and use the other switch to separate two house batteries?"
Same answer. Every time you add more batteries, more switches, more cables, and more charging controllers, you add more places for failures and problems.
KISS. Two batteries/banks is all you need, resist the temptation to cheap out and glom all the old batteries into one boat with some more complications to hook them up. Any adequately sized house battery can be used as an 'emergency' starting battery in most situations, so all you need is one small starting battery, one larger house battery bank. Or, just two house batteries each capable of doing your starting, if what you have includes two decent deep cycle batteries of different types/ages.
Mixing batteries is like putting Tiny Tim and The Hulk both on the same oar in a roman galley. One of them is going to be unhappy ALL the time. An unhappy battery is the one that either goes dead or catches fire when you least expected it.
So, ante up, do it right, KISS. And ignore what the dog can do.<G>
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08-12-2010, 15:47
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Vancouver
Boat: 1962 Hunter Sedan 38'
Posts: 57
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basically the way i'm looking at it is the more batterys, the more storage for power and the less i have to fire up the motor and charge them back up when i'm anchored off shore.
I dont like the idea of running a generator to power all my little toys all the time, basically I will be running a laptop, and home theater amp, and maybe a second monitor as my tv. plus a few low wattage light bulbs.
any idea how many amh this will total?
what about running the..
first switch #1-starting battery, #2-second switch
Second switch #1- big deep cycle #2- smaller newer deep cycle
Basically my wallet is running on fumes and so im trying to work with as much of what i already have available
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Never trust a man with a clean workshop
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08-12-2010, 16:22
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Winnipeg
Boat: None at this time
Posts: 8,462
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If you look way down on the bottom of this thread you will find links to similar threads that may have the answers you need.
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08-12-2010, 17:27
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Houston
Boat: ‘01 Catana 401
Posts: 9,626
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I hate to tell you this, but without a sizeable batt bank and solar/wind charging you're better off with a small generator. Think honda eu1000 or eu2000. For what you're describing the 1000 would be plenty. For the short term it's cheaper than bunches of batteries and running the main engines all the time to charge them.
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08-12-2010, 21:02
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Fort Myers Beach, FL
Boat: Endeavor, ketch, 43 - Panacea
Posts: 24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DeepFrz
If you look way down on the bottom of this thread you will find links to similar threads that may have the answers you need.
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I don't see the links at the bottom of the thread. Am I looking in the right place or ia my little iPad making things invisable. Thanks.
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Capt. Paul West
s/v Panacea
Endeavor 43 Ketch
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09-12-2010, 02:58
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#9
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario - 48-29N x 89-20W
Boat: (Cruiser Living On Dirt)
Posts: 49,139
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Scroll all the way to the bottom; past the Quick Reply box, past the Posting Rules box, to the Similar Threads box.
__________________
Gord May
"If you didn't have the time or money to do it right in the first place, when will you get the time/$ to fix it?"
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09-12-2010, 07:38
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Fort Myers Beach, FL
Boat: Endeavor, ketch, 43 - Panacea
Posts: 24
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Thanks DeepFrz
Duh...
Thanks DeepFrz. It's tough being the new guy on the site. Lots of silly questions will be poppin' out from me.
__________________
Capt. Paul West
s/v Panacea
Endeavor 43 Ketch
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09-12-2010, 10:26
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#11
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֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lowride14
plus a few low wattage light bulbs. ...any idea how many amh this will total?
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Yah, there's a wattage or amperage label on each of those things, add up the watts, divide by 14.4 to get amps, multiply by however moany hours per day you plan to use it. That's a total number of "amphours" and you want your battery or battery bank to have twice that many amphours capacity, so you don't draw it more than 50% discharged every day before recharging.
If you don't want to charge more than every second day, etc., multiply capacity up again for that number of days.
The most effective way to add battery capacity is often to cut power usage. Replace tungsten bulbs with expensive LEDs, especially for long-time loads like anchor or nav lights, and they pay back faster than you'd think. Home theatre? On a boat? I'd call that a luxury, ditch it for a less hungry portable DVD player.
Your switching arrangement would work effectively for what you'd have, but you'd still be left switching switches and charging multiple small batteries frequently. Probably discharging them more than you'd really want to, and using them up faster than you'd expect. Which would bring you right back to buying new ones, one way or the other. Except then you'd also have to rewire, again.
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09-12-2010, 17:22
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Vancouver
Boat: 1962 Hunter Sedan 38'
Posts: 57
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hmmm interesting thoughts, i'm leaning towards trying to find things that will work on 12v. I could use a car deck for the sound and I have found some monitors on 12v as well. that way i dont have to run as much off an inverter.
the batteries i have are one 3 month old nautilus with 95 amp hrs and then deep cycle thats about 2" bigger all round, not at the boat so i cant remember any details. i'm guessing maybe 110 amp hrs.
The I would get a good cranking battery for the motors.
another option is i can get vairly decent used batteries from pick'n'pull in kelowna for $30 each and you get $10 bucks back for the core if you got one. so i'm contemplating grabbing a bunch of thous for the house bank, problem being they're all different and not deep cycle, but if i had like 5-8 then how do you think that would workout? verses one new deep cycle for $150?
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Never trust a man with a clean workshop
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09-12-2010, 18:26
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#13
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֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
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A bunch of junkyard batteries? Good luck with that. It might be cheap, it might work for you, but I wouldn't expect it to be a reliable solution. "Bought cheap, paid dearly" sound familiar?
You say "engines" but isn't one converted automobile engine (i.e. a Mercruiser gasoline engine) the only engine on the boat? That just needs one automotive SLI battery or a Group24 deep cycle to start it?
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09-12-2010, 19:13
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Houston
Boat: ‘01 Catana 401
Posts: 9,626
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You're still going to run the engine several hours per day to charge the batteries, a small generator will save the main engines from all the charging duty. Even with 12V appliances the current draw will eat a house bank in short order without someway to charge it.
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10-12-2010, 10:16
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Vancouver
Boat: 1962 Hunter Sedan 38'
Posts: 57
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My boat has to v6 chevy marine engines, so one standard cranking batteries is all i should need for that. i'm leaning towards using a generator to charge the batteries aswell?
Is it better to use the built in 12v charger or just plug in your own bat charger and use that?
so where would the ideal place to put the generator, for the noise factor?
I guess there used to be a large genset built into the boat that had since been removed from the bilge. so i'm assuming there has got to be a place that the exhaust from that would have went out. i guess i could find this port and reuse it for a basic smaller generator
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