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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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General electrical question

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randemar
Deckhand

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USA
6 Posts

Initially Posted - 06/24/2007 : 09:40:40

New to sailing and first boat. There is room for one battery, but battery is missing. Have 25 amp shore connector. When connected, I have 110 power from outlets but no cabin or running lights. Do the lights run off 12 volt and the battery. If I install a battery, will it recharge through the AC or will I have to get it connected to the motor.

'84 TR FK

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 06/24/2007 : 09:56:28

The only things that are 110 volts are your outlets, everything else is 12 volts. Most of us have two batteries, they are located in different locations depending on the year of the boat. Always include the year, keel and rig configuration of your boat so people can zero in on your questions more quickly. Most of us put that info in our signatures.
You need to check and see if there is a battery charger on the boat. These are almost always after market additions so it could be anywhere and any type or brand, it could also easily not be there at all. Some people connect them to the batteries, some to the battery switch and I suppose there a re other ways as well. The outboard will not keep a battery up. remember we a re sailors in a powerboat world. That outboard assumes you will run it for long periods of time for the generator to actually benefit the battery, most sailors run there motors maybe 5 minutes at a time, that is not enough.
The big yellow shore power cords are 30 amp and have twist-lok connectors, what you actually connect to on shore is a question of local facilities.
Welcome to the forum and well done on picking a Catalina 25. There are a lot of photos at the pages in my sig.

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randemar
Deckhand

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USA
6 Posts

Response Posted - 06/24/2007 : 10:33:50

thx, I have a lot to learn. It is a 1984, fixed keel and tall mast. There is only provision for one battery and I'm sure there is no battery charger. There is a provision for hooking the battery up to the outboard, but I really did not expect that to be viable. Sounds like the cabin lights need to run off 12 volt and I need to get a battery, charger and/or solar panel. I have the 30 amp screw lock conector and I bought an 15 amp adapter as that is what is available on my dock. Also, there is no battery selector switch, just the fuse panel and poarization switch.

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 06/24/2007 : 10:49:26

No battery selector switch is telling, one battery and always one battery. Is your battery aft under the Starboard settee? An 84 is a very nice year, you have many factory upgrades to the design, fins are my favorite and a fin tall is probably the nicest boat of all; well done. I had an 82 and now have an 89, these are wonderful boats. There was a thread recently about battery chargers, Guest, Xantrex, and Charles are the big three real live marine, permanent install brands. Xantrex seems to be the one to buy, I have a Charles. Big issue is a real three stage charger that will have a true float setting so your battery will not boil off. Other considerations are multiple banks because you probably will add a second battery, and support for different types of batteries because we will all probably go to gel in the next five years.
Solar panels are a whole different gig, I know nothing about them and don't need to because my boat comes home to it's slip at night and plugs in so a battery charger is way better for me.

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 06/24/2007 : 10:50:18

"...need to get a battery, charger and/or solar panel."

That's the ticket.

Get a deep-cycle marine/RV battery. They are designed for the kind of service requirements you have on a C25. Be sure to secure the battery so it can't flop around when the boat is heeled.

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randemar
Deckhand

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USA
6 Posts

Response Posted - 06/24/2007 : 11:00:40

Yes, the battery is aft under the Starboard settee. I'll get a deep cycle marine battery and look into chargers. My RV uses the same battery and also has a solar panel and inverter. The solar panel always keeps the battery topped off, but I'm not sure if it would be in the way on a boat.

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John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 06/24/2007 : 11:29:06

The solar panel will work the same way on the boat as your RV. Whether it keeps the battery "topped off" or not depends on consumption and the amount of sunlight, just as on your RV. If your RV solar panel is portable enough, you might try it out to see if it will meet your needs for the boat. It would seem to me to be a safer option than leaving a 110 AC battery charger running unattended. Particularly since you have experience with it.

Congratulations on your new boat. Welcome to the forum.

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3467 Posts

Response Posted - 06/24/2007 : 15:04:08

There are many that have hooked up solar panels of different sizes, configuration (flexible or rigid) and amps. I hooked up a rigid 20 watt (1.2 amp) solar panel made by Kyocera and made my own mounting brackets set up off the stern rail above the motor. I have two batteries and have a solar controller since the amps are a bit more than needed for the 2 batteries. You could get away with a 5 watt to trickle charge 1 battery and not need a controller or a 10 watt or 20 watt which will be more than enough to recharge after using the navigation lights, anchor lights or etc low amp loads. But then you need controller so the panel does not cook the water in the batteries. The controller also prevents the small reverse discharge back out of the panel.

My hook up, photos and details are on my website.

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.