Power Needs Evaluation

[mojosailing]

I am currently evaluating a new boat (to me) with a plan to live aboard and cruise the Caribbean and southern US over the next year or so. I am a novice evaluating complex electrical systems and right now am focusing on the power generation equipment aboard...trying to understand what I have and what I need.
The boat comes with the following:
- 120 amp Power Max alternator
- Balmar three-stage regulator
- 4 Lifeline 8D AGM batteries (old - age is 2012) - will need to be replaced, but with what?
- Westerbeke 7.5w generator
- Xantrex 2000 watt inverter
- Xantrex 60 amp battery charger


Systems aboard that take power include:
- Electric primary winches & electric main furling winch
- Pur 160e watermaker
- A/C:2 16 KBTU Cruise Air reverse-cycle units
- 12 gal Water heater
- Microwave
- 2 Seafrost refrigeration systems (1 freezer, 1 fridge)
- Vacuflush head
- Splendide washer/dryer
- Full suite of Raymarine electronics (vintage 2009)
- SSB radio
- Lighthouse 1501 windlass (with it's own battery)

Anything I should focus on, upgrade, change, etc?

[sailorboy1]

What’s the question? You have lots of power and don’t “need” anything. The decision for you to make is whether you want to add solar (only practical way to get those batteries fully charged even if you are going to run the generator every day or 2)

[a64pilot]

Seeing as how I assume the charge sources are the alternator and the battery charger, 60 amps isn’t much charge source at all.
I’d consider replacing the correct inverter with a large inverter/charger.
And after you have been out awhile consider Solar.
AGM batteries and especially Lifeline’s will take an initial rather large charge current, this according to Lifeline increases their service life and of course if your charging at 180 amps as opposed to 60 amps your getting a whole lot more power in, in much less time.

Now the problem with this is that all lead acid batteries will in the last several hours of charging begin to accept less and less power, but you still need to fully charge an AGM bank as often as possible, so that means you do it with Solar or run your generator for hours and hours every day.

I assume I’m a smaller boat, and my generator is only a 3.5 KW for instance, but what I do in Winter in the Caribbean is run my generator for 30 min in the morning and with my 125 amp Magnum inverter charger and my 60 amp Sterling charger start out charging at 185 amps, so that in that 30 min each morning I replace almost half of what I used overnight, then the Solar can spend the rest of the day replacing the other half.
The key is no matter how large your charger is, it can take up to say 6 hours to fully recharge a lead acid battery bank, and in Winter we don’t often have that many Solar hours.
Depending on location in Summer you can easily have more than that, so where and when you Cruise matters too.

[smac999]

Is the 2000w inverter an inverter only? Or inverter / charger?

If it’s inverter only. That 60a charger by itself is too small for your bank and gen size.

If it is inverter / charger. Is probably another 80a or so. Make sure the 60 is also charging the house. And not just the engine.

And add solar