Adding a third bank on a 350 sundancer

Timvail

Timvail

Member
Sep 3, 2020
50
Georgian Bay Ontario
Boat Info
1990 Sea Ray 350 Sundancer with 13 ft avon/40HP Honda
Engines
7.4 Mercruisers
Hello all. New to me 350 sundancer. Wanting ideas for the following. Current set up.
1 X deep cycle dual purpose battery LA dedicated to port engine.
2 x deep cycle dual purpose batteries is dedicated to starboard engine/generator and 12 volt for the boat. I want to add the following to provide power to all outlets on the boat.
1) Add 400 amp hrs for 110 needs on the hook. ( freezer/fridge/ fans and coffee maker etc)
2) AGMs will go under aft cabin area with 3000 watt inverter.
3)Ty inverter into main panal for outlets.
Questions.
1) 4 x 100 amp hr or 2 x 200 amp hr batteries?
2) do all 3000 watt inverters have a built in transfer switch?
Comments welcomed. This is a winter project, and trying to formulate a plan now.
The boat has the original charger/converter on board which I will be replacing with a 3 bank smart charger.
Thanks
 
What we did
Placed a 2,500 Watt inverter that is also a 140 AMP smart charger, three phase. Put in ten 6 volt golf cart batteries for all 110 volt requirements. This system connects to a Blue Sea switch that can allow the system to be separate, direct connect at all times to the engine alternator, connect to engine alternators when engine batteries are full charged. We left the 60 AMP SeaRay converter in as we can charge the engine batteries on shore or generator power. When we are not on the boat we set the Inverter/Charger at 20% and the Blue Sea to connect all batteries. The inverter/charger only supplies power to the batteries when they need it. It was put in, in 2006 and works fine. Before that the converter would boil the batteries dry over the winter. The converter is turned off over the winter and the inverter/charger is left on. Battier are fine every spring. For a battery box that holds all the batteries, they made a large wood box that fit between the engines.
 
You mentioned a generator battery in your configuration - why not use your generator to supply 110?
 
Stee6043 said:
You mentioned a generator battery in your configuration - why not use your generator to supply 110?
Click to expand...
An inverter makes no noise. Our generator is perhaps 40 DB, OK for stove, making hot water, charging batteries, running watermaker. The inverter is used for TV. radio, ice maker and bar refrigerator. Our generator uses about 1GPH. We run it 2 hours a day normally.
 
northern said:
What we did
Placed a 2,500 Watt inverter that is also a 140 AMP smart charger, three phase. Put in ten 6 volt golf cart batteries for all 110 volt requirements. This system connects to a Blue Sea switch that can allow the system to be separate, direct connect at all times to the engine alternator, connect to engine alternators when engine batteries are full charged. We left the 60 AMP SeaRay converter in as we can charge the engine batteries on shore or generator power. When we are not on the boat we set the Inverter/Charger at 20% and the Blue Sea to connect all batteries. The inverter/charger only supplies power to the batteries when they need it. It was put in, in 2006 and works fine. Before that the converter would boil the batteries dry over the winter. The converter is turned off over the winter and the inverter/charger is left on. Battier are fine every spring. For a battery box that holds all the batteries, they made a large wood box that fit between the engines.
Click to expand...

Tks for your reply northern. Are you able to tell me the inverter make model etc as well as the blue sea information.. I have limited room on the 350, so limited to number of batteries.
 
northern said:
An inverter makes no noise. Our generator is perhaps 40 DB, OK for stove, making hot water, charging batteries, running watermaker. The inverter is used for TV. radio, ice maker and bar refrigerator. Our generator uses about 1GPH. We run it 2 hours a day normally.
Click to expand...
Yes, hope to only have to use the generator for hot water when needed. Will see how much we drain the batteries. We may find that a small solar panal may be all we need to maintain the third bank.
 
Timvail said:
Tks for your reply northern. Are you able to tell me the inverter make model etc as well as the blue sea information.. I have limited room on the 350, so limited to number of batteries.
Click to expand...
The system is a 2006
The boat is 1,000KM from us so can give you exact model and the models I can not find ones that look exactly the same
These come close
Blue Sea is like this with remote in cabin control
blue sea remote battery switch - Bing images
7622.jpg

Inverter is Xantrex. 2500 not sold any more. Similar to and it has in cabin control that allows you to set it up for charge rate, low battery voltage shuts down. You can also set it up so your generator will automatically start when batteries are low. I did not set up the generator feature as you need to run the blower when you start a gas engine.
Xantrex Freedom X 3000W Truesine Inverter Hardwire True sine 3000W Inverter - Newegg.ca
Make sure it has two outlets so you can hook up both sides of your eclectic 110 volt panel
 
Not all inverters have an automatic transfer switch (ATS), but if you get a good inverter with ATS, wiring into a sea ray panel is pretty easy. Tom (Ttmott) has a good schematic on here somewhere, I used the same for my setup.

Batteries are a whole other subject. With the advances in LiFePO batteries, that is the way to go as you can access more energy, but if cost is an issue, good old Golf cart batteries work well (4 6v cells). 400 Ah bank just for inverter use works pretty well.
 
northern said:
The system is a 2006
The boat is 1,000KM from us so can give you exact model and the models I can not find ones that look exactly the same
These come close
Blue Sea is like this with remote in cabin control
blue sea remote battery switch - Bing images
7622.jpg

Inverter is Xantrex. 2500 not sold any more. Similar to and it has in cabin control that allows you to set it up for charge rate, low battery voltage shuts down. You can also set it up so your generator will automatically start when batteries are low. I did not set up the generator feature as you need to run the blower when you start a gas engine.
Xantrex Freedom X 3000W Truesine Inverter Hardwire True sine 3000W Inverter - Newegg.ca
Make sure it has two outlets so you can hook up both sides of your eclectic 110 volt panel
Click to expand...
Tks for this information. Looking online now.
 
dtfeld said:
Not all inverters have an automatic transfer switch (ATS), but if you get a good inverter with ATS, wiring into a sea ray panel is pretty easy. Tom (Ttmott) has a good schematic on here somewhere, I used the same for my setup.

Batteries are a whole other subject. With the advances in LiFePO batteries, that is the way to go as you can access more energy, but if cost is an issue, good old Golf cart batteries work well (4 6v cells). 400 Ah bank just for inverter use works pretty well.
Click to expand...
Looked into newest battery tec, My third bank will be located under the second aft stateroom. AGM out front right now. Not feeling completley comfortable with newest battery advancements just yet. Tks for your comments. Working out options now to hopefully arrive at the right one.
 
Timvail said:
Tks for this information. Looking online now.
Click to expand...
In 2006 golf cart batteries were all that one cold afford. There are so many different types now I have no idea what one should get. Original Trojan 6 volts lasted from 2006 to 2014. Present ones Interstate seem OK. I went with small batteries rather than D type because the small ones are easy to handle. I had it all done by a marine electricians. It is a job most could do except cut, crimp and bend the cables. When you do the cable snake them so you can access the tops so you can add water as required. If you go with lead acid make sure the battery box is vented and the area is not hot. Our natteries are low in engine room so heat from engines does not warm them up.
 
northern said:
In 2006 golf cart batteries were all that one cold afford. There are so many different types now I have no idea what one should get. Original Trojan 6 volts lasted from 2006 to 2014. Present ones Interstate seem OK. I went with small batteries rather than D type because the small ones are easy to handle. I had it all done by a marine electricians. It is a job most could do except cut, crimp and bend the cables. When you do the cable snake them so you can access the tops so you can add water as required. If you go with lead acid make sure the battery box is vented and the area is not hot. Our natteries are low in engine room so heat from engines does not warm them up.
Click to expand...
As I said I will be likely go with the deep cycle AGM battery type for several reasons. No off gassing (sealed units) and no need to add any water. Basically maintenance free. About a third more then lead acid but will charge faster and can discharge up to 80% keeping the voltage up.
 
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