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You who know electrical systems, I beseech you...

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kevinmac
Admiral

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USA
732 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/28/2006 : 23:28:34

In phases, I want to add the following to my boat:

Shore power connection, with galvanic isolator
Two golf cart batteries as Arlyn has done under the forward berth, as house batteries.
A battery charger and panel that will show me battery condition.
A short power connection panel that will allow me to switch the boat from shore to battery power, and also will show me if the shore connection is faulty. NOTE: I am NOT talking about installing an inverter, just applying shore power to the battery charger and AC outlets or removing it.
A couple of 15 amp breakers for the outlets in the boat.

I have been studying how to do this, and I am usually pretty good with electricity, but I am a bit uncertain on a couple of things.

1.) Can I keep the battery that came with the boat (from Catalina) as a starting battery? If so, how do I arrange charging for it? I think I have read that you need to keep all the batteries the same for charging, so I'm thinking that I would leave the outboard connected to the starting battery, use the shore charger to charge the house batteries normally, and put in a switch to direct the alternator to the house batteries instead of the starting battery when I am on a cruise. Does that make sense?
2.) If I want to do #1, then I think I need a charging source switch for the starting battery, and one for the house battery, and that I need to make sure I never leave both the house and starting batteries set to the same charging source. Is that right? If I did screw up and leave it that way, I would have have the two golf cart batteries in series with each other, and as a unit have them wired in parallel with the start battery, which is a no no, right?
3.) Is there a shore power panel, with the fault detection and a 30 amp breaker, that you would recommend using?

Or do I have this all wrong?

Kevin Mackenzie
Former Association Secretary and Commodore
"Dogs Allowed"
'06 C250WK #881
and
"Jasmine"
'01 Maine Cat 30 #34

Edited by - on

Al
Captain

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USA
269 Posts

Response Posted - 01/29/2006 : 00:42:35

1) Don Casey's book is excellent:

2) I've never understood the benefit of having a house battery and separate starting battery on a boat you can pull-start in an emergency. I have my two batteries wired in parallel.

Edited by - on

JohnMD
Navigator

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USA
207 Posts

Response Posted - 01/29/2006 : 13:33:42

Since we're talking about wiring, has anyone found a good way to run wires around the boat that looks good and keeps them secure? I'm talking about wires that can't be run 'behind' or 'in' a bulkhead or wall. I have used 3M Command products, but, have a problem getting them to stick when the surface gets really hot. (I live in Texas). Thanks

Edited by - on

bear
Admiral

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USA
909 Posts

Response Posted - 01/29/2006 : 14:15:06

I have not found any of the 3M Command products that stick well, especially in the heat.

Edited by - on

bear
Admiral

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USA
909 Posts

Response Posted - 01/29/2006 : 14:15:16

I have not found any of the 3M Command products that stick well, especially in the heat.

Edited by - on

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 01/29/2006 : 15:16:57

I used some white loom I got from a auto parts store to run my VHF wires in, held the loom to the bulkhead with plastic straps and SS screws.

Edited by - on

moserd
Navigator

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USA
149 Posts

Response Posted - 01/29/2006 : 18:00:42

My dealer used small 'dabs' of silicon which works better than I thought it would.

Don

Edited by - on

kevinmac
Admiral

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USA
732 Posts

Response Posted - 01/29/2006 : 21:31:01

Al's point about the start battery is a good one. I am thinking of keeping it separated because I already have it, I want to use golf cart batteries to increase capacity, and I think you are not supposed to use different types of batteries wired together on a charger.

Edited by - on

sterngucker
Navigator

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USA
169 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2006 : 01:47:26

On <i>C Angel </i>I removed the lead acid battery from the stern and installed two gel cell batteries underneath the forward end of the port and starboard settees. Each battery is wired to it's own battery switch, with a third battery switch wired to combine them if desired. This allows me to run the entire boat off either battery. I installed a battery combiner between the two batteries so they would both charge from any source, shore power, motor, or solar panel. I also connected a LCD voltmeter to each switch so I could easliy monitor the voltage when a battery is switched on.

For shore power I installed a BlueSea AC distribution panel PN 8043.

This unit is a 120V AC Main + 3 Position Circuit Breaker Panel with a Meter. I can monitor the source voltage have the switches wired to the dual battery charger and two outlets (one by the galley and one by the vee berth).

This setup has served me well so far. The kids and I spent ten days last summer at Two Harbors, Catalina and the 22 watt flexible Unisolar panel, and what little motoring we did, kept the batteries up to provide for our modest loads (interior lights, gameboys, portable DVD, cell phone charging, camera battery charging, etc.)

If both batteries should somehow get depleted there is always the pull cord for starting the motor as mentioned previously.

Edited by - on

mday
Navigator

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197 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2006 : 12:43:33

Charlie,

I'm anxiously awaiting details on your wiring upgrades to be posted on your web pages. It sounds like you've done some masterful work there that we could all benefit from.

Kevin,

Similar to Tom, I found some spiral wire wrap very handy to contain bundles of wiring. It's also very easy to install pieces of it over existing wires. Mine is black (white would look better) and I found it in the electrical/wiring section of a hardware store. My dealer used what looks like blocks of packing material to jam the wiring in place under the aft berth liner we've been talking about. Note that this is not styrofoam, which would be squeaky ... it looks more like a vinyl sponge and compresses into place. It works well and is also easy to remove and replace when needed.

One of the best references on batteries I've found is:

http://www.solar-electric.com/deep_cycle_batteries/deep_cycle_battery_faq.htm

Max

Edited by - on

jking
Navigator

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110 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2006 : 14:16:31

Charlie:

What amp rating does your combination of Gel cell batteries have?

JKing

Edited by - on

Tom Potter
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1913 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2006 : 19:32:13

Hey Max, that's a nice web site. Simple and easy to understand. Just they way I like it!

Edited by - on

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