Inverter installation

Have installed one on every boat I've had. Great to have when at anchor. Tied into the AC panel with a transfer switch through the Genny line. Put the small Inverter control panel in there too. Was a tight fit. Just wish Sea Ray had a dedicated house bank separate from the engine start batteries. Had to increase the size substantially of the port bank for the inverter to run off.

Power Panel.jpg
 
It's time for new golf cart batteries this season... I was at Costco yesterday and they have 6v for $94 a piece Interstate brand... Any feedback out there ?
 
Bill Collector

How many season are you getting out of the Costco/Interstate battieries? What is the capacity?

Doing a little math for a possible install and looks like I'd need 400 Ah to make it worthwhile. The question is whats cheaper to own the costco or AGM's. AGM's are speced at 900 50% discharges...that would last multiple years on my boat, but the upfront is about 1 boat buck !!

I hate the idea of running an inverter off one of the engine start banks. Gotta add a separate house bank. Looking at automatic Generator start to make sure I always have some battery juice.
 
Got 9 years out of 10 Trojan 6V golf cart. At end they had about 50% original capacity. Now have interstate. Seem OK had them for 3 years same power output.
 
Interesting thread. I am considering adding an inverter this spring to my boat to avoid running the generator during days on the water both cruising AND at anchor to power both the refrigerator and the freezer in the galley. Possible overnighting if we head to the North Channel this summer. They each require 3.3 amps (6.6 amps total) at 115v but the compressor does not run all the time. Couple of questions:
  • What inverter make/model/size did you install
  • What size batteries (6 v versus 12v amp amp hour)
  • quantity of batteries have you installed in your boat?
  • Anyone use the bow thruster batteries instead of the engine start batteries or a battery bank?
 
We installed a Xantrex 3012 Inverter with 4 (6) volt Lifetime golf cart batts we have run the entire boat including All 110v ac appliances for 17.5 hours non stop so far. BY far the best upgrade we’ve done in a while.
 
We installed a Xantrex 3012 Inverter with 4 (6) volt Lifetime golf cart batts we have run the entire boat including All 110v ac appliances for 17.5 hours non stop so far. BY far the best upgrade we’ve done in a while.

Thanks for the information. I will look into that inverter this weekend. This is something that would be great for peaceful days at anchor when AC is not required.
 
A 6 volt golf cart battery has 200AMPS. You get to use half of that before battery is at low charge. So you get 600 Watts. From engineering in 1973 V = IR, where V is the potential difference, or voltage, I is the current, and R is the resistance of the conductor. So 600 watts gets you 5 AMPS for an hour at 120 volts.
 
Dumb question...Why 6 volt golf cart batteries? Seems easier to go with 2 x 12v batteries as opposed to 4 x 6 volt. Should be same capacity, less wiring.

I think the bigger question is flooded vs AGM. Obviously up front cost is an issue but on a 10 year cost, AGM is probably 1/2 the cost?
 
Dumb question...Why 6 volt golf cart batteries? Seems easier to go with 2 x 12v batteries as opposed to 4 x 6 volt. Should be same capacity, less wiring.

I think the bigger question is flooded vs AGM. Obviously up front cost is an issue but on a 10 year cost, AGM is probably 1/2 the cost?

The 6V Golf cart batteries have much thicker plates and higher capacity. 2 Golf cart batteries wired in series will give you ~200 amp/hours. Try finding a 200ah 12V battery that you can actually lift let alone afford.
 
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The 6V Golf cart batteries have much thicker plates and higher capacity. 2 Golf cart batteries wired in parallel will give you ~200 amp/hours. Try finding a 200ah 12V battery that you can actually lift let alone afford.

Good point on the weight, although cost from what I can see it’s pretty close, especially when looking at AGM batteries. flooded looks much cheaper. Not sure I want to fool with flooded cells...hmmm.
 
I've been collecting the pieces over the winter for this upgrade for my 420DA. Copying the setup a friend did in his 50 that powers almost everything. Here is a how to online he found and used as well as the components needed. http://helmhounds.com/aboard/invertercharger-install-ms2812/ . I'll report back once mine is in..

David
Toadally Chillin
 
Learned something today about our
Xantrex 3024 Inverter.a few weeks ago I unplugged the boat and went on vacation so 3 weeks has gone by and tried to hook up to shore power with no results after calling another member who helped with the install he called Xantrex and was told since my Inverter batts where at 5.88 vdc the transfer switch is Dc powered so the Inverter wouldn’t let either the shore power or Genny power charge them up.
So a lesson for me and anyone who didn’t know who have a Xantrex brand Inverter.
 
I've been collecting the pieces over the winter for this upgrade for my 420DA. Copying the setup a friend did in his 50 that powers almost everything. Here is a how to online he found and used as well as the components needed. http://helmhounds.com/aboard/invertercharger-install-ms2812/ . I'll report back once mine is in..

David
Toadally Chillin

Am I correct in assuming you did not ADD any additional batteries to supply power to the invertor? How are your battery banks arranged (engine starting, house, etc.) and what size are the batteries? when cruising, do the engine alternators supply enough amperage to offset the current draw through the invertor? I am concerned about using the existing starting batteries to supply power to my fridge and freezer (they currently draw 3.3amps each at 115 volts which corresponds to approximately 63 amps at 12 volts). Thanks
 
Learned something today about our
Xantrex 3024 Inverter.a few weeks ago I unplugged the boat and went on vacation so 3 weeks has gone by and tried to hook up to shore power with no results after calling another member who helped with the install he called Xantrex and was told since my Inverter batts where at 5.88 vdc the transfer switch is Dc powered so the Inverter wouldn’t let either the shore power or Genny power charge them up.
So a lesson for me and anyone who didn’t know who have a Xantrex brand Inverter.
I'm trying to understand what happened - Configuration: You have a quantity of 6 volt batteries of which each 2 are connected in series to get the 12 volts and then each bank of 2 are connected in parallel which gives you capacity at 12 volts, right? And, the inverter/charger is charging the 12 volt bank assembly in total? Also, I understand your Xantrex model has a generator supplement feature where if your generator has demand above its rating then the inverter/charger can step in and supplement; are you using this feature?
The Xantrex 3024 is an Inverter/Charger with an Automatic Transfer Switch. The normal position for the transfer switch should be at the AC Shore/Generator position; in other words if all wire connections were removed from the inverter that transfer relay would be in the Shore / Generator power position (it is not a "latching" relay). My Xantrex's transfer switch on the last boat defaulted to the Shore / Generator position regardless if Shore or Generator power was available if the batteries drooped to 10.9 volts which prevented damage to the batteries and it started alarming at 11.0 volts. So, charging of the batteries requires 1 - the transfer switch to be in the default position (Shore / Generator power) and 2 - the inverter/charger connected to a impedance load like batteries. Are you saying that the banks of 2 in series(12 Volts) were discharged to 5.88 volts? If so I think there are bigger problems going on like one of the batteries has a shorted cell or the inverter/charger has a problem, or there are other demands on the batteries that drew them down that low while you were gone. Also, you didn't say if you turned off the inverter when the boat was shut down.... Regardless, there appears to be something else going on.... And, FYI I had quite a few issues with my Xantrex inverter (it wasn't an Inverter/Charger) and it had to be replaced two times. I would probably be more inclined to use another manufacturer the next time....
 
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Tom, the way I understood it from Xantrex is the transfer switch is activated when shorepower or genny is activated of which both where off line. The only reason I can think why the Inverter batteries drew down so low is I never fully disabled the Inverter (pulling the fuse or do
Disconnect battery leads) so the Inverter panel was on for 3 weeks Xantrex advised I charge the batts and it will clear the fault .
Just to clear things up we have a Xantrex 3024 Inverter
(4). 6 vdc batteries seperate from the boat providing 24 vdc
I do not have the automatic gen start feature working now.
When you introduce shore power or gen the power passes through but if the voltage on the Inverter batts drops so low the switch won’t allow the shore power through (as per Xantrex) seems like a weird set up because now I need an external battery charger to charge the batteries to allow shorepower to be restored so I can charge myy batteries

I’m going today to charge the batts and I’ll share my findings.
 

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