Dual banks of 3 or 4 6volts

[warrior35]

Thats what i was thinking, just another bank of 4 on other side of boat to balance out the boat

Sent from my LGLK430 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Cadence]

I would suggest a little reading on basic DC. All of the ah stuff is great once you are wired right. Not meaning to sound condescending but your post sounds?

[SteveSails]

Find a marine electrician and discuss it with him. Based on your questions I don't think you have enough knowledge to tackle this yourself. Nothing wrong with that, we can't be experts in everything... despite what some people will tell you.

[newhaul]

Ok you have ten 6 volt batteries which would give you 5 pairs wired in series to get 12volts with each pair then parallel two pairs to give you two banks of equal size and a third smaller bank. Either to use as backup or sell to put a bit back into the kitty.
(See I read your origional post twice before replying so I had everything correctly interpeted)

[warrior35]

Yep. Sounds simple dunnit (wink wink)

[kas_1611]

Originally Posted by warrior35

Umm. Cause I couldn't pass up the batteries

Fairy 'Nuff, cheap or free is always good.

In that case I'd create 2x 12v units from 4x 6v. Wire 2 of the 6v together in series to make a single 12v bank. Link the negative of batt A to the positive of batt B and have the "load" wires on positive of A and negative of B. Do the same for the other 2x 6V to make your second 12v bank.

What you do with these now is up to you but you could use them as 2 separate 12v domestic banks with 1 bank running say the fridge and the cabin lights and 1 bank running the navigation equipment and the nav lights (as an example).

Or you could connect the 2x 12v banks in parallel to create a single, larger capacity 12v bank to run all your domestic needs. Personally I'd go for a single large capacity bank (which is what I plan to do by adding a second 12v batt to my setup). This is probably the easiest set up.

As you have a separate starter battery you need to think about how the alternator charge is "split" between the banks. I use a Sterling ProSplitR with 3 outputs for my starter, house and thruster batts which is the simplest way to do it but you might want to think about an Alternator to Battery charger as this will give you a better charge regime which will aid getting a full (100%) charge in the house bank from the engine.

Remember "series" you add the voltages and "parallel" you add the capacity.

Hope that helps

Keiron

[TeddyDiver]

Before rushing anything some more basics please. What you source for loading the bank?

Ps. Meaning anything else but the alternator..

[jeepbluetj]

Originally Posted by dfelsent

Two banks, one on each side.
Parallel the 6V batteries on the starboard side for 6V.
Parallel the 6V batteries on the port side for 6V.

Put the two 6V banks in series. 12V.

1,2,3,4,n batteries in each bank does not matter if you wire them this way.
......

This is the best response thus far.

Easy way to have 6 GC2s without running wires all over the place, or feeling that you must wire them in groups of 2.

Fuse them. Read up at Maine Sail's site.

[bumpman]

This is just the kind of "problem" i used to put on my tests in high school physics class. See dfelsent for the answer.

[warrior35]

Ice maker, fridge, 30inch flat-screen, x box , led lights on boat and the radio and laptop are all going to be the load
Plus bilge pumps and fuel polisher, but they are automatic and fuel polisher is on a switch, i also have a d400 wind generator.
Might add ac unit later, but I doubt it

[thunderhoof]

On this general subject (series / parallel batteries) I suggest you acquire a battery load tester. With the array of batteries you have one will eventually die a natural death and you will embark on a series of strange electrical events. If you want to avoid a series of battery swapping, charging and discharging I submit it is easier to apply the load tester to each isolated battery. This will quickly identify the bad guy.

[kas_1611]

Originally Posted by TeddyDiver

Before rushing anything some more basics please. What you source for loading the bank?

Ps. Meaning anything else but the alternator..

If you mean charging the batteries then I have a 115amp Alternator, 3 way Mains charger and 2x 35w flexible solar panels with a solar charge controller. There are other options for charging but this is a simple, basic charging setup.

If you mean items that draw power and put a load on the batteries then it is everything that uses electrical power. Such as fridge/freezer, nav lights, navigation equipment (chartplotter, instruments, sensors etc), VHF, TV, music player etc etc etc

[TeddyDiver]

Just my thoughts.. If one of the main charging sources is allready 12v a 12v bank makes perfect sense unless it's time to get a new alternator and or charger anyway. Then it's a good option to get a 24v alternator and charger, they are more efficient and less prone to overheating. Less loss in the circuitries if old wires are used or cheaper if renewd. Most battery banks could be wired only in series at 24v totally trouble free of balance issues of cable lengths and battery resistance. Main bus 24v where the leads to DC/DC converter where 12v is needed. Better and steadier current for most electrics than directly from a conventional 12v bus (11.5 to 14.8v at best)

BR Teddy