kostond
New Member
- Oct 27, 2010
- 58
- Boat Info
- 1986 390 Sedan Sportfish, Custom hardtop, Raymarine RL80c, Glendinning Synchronizer,Navico autopilot
- Engines
- 1996 Volvo Penta TAMD63p's
So this is my first season with new to me 1986 390 Sportfish. Previous owners have always kept the boat at a marina connected to shore power. The boat had 2 battery banks (consisting of 2 Group 24's each).
I keep the boat on a mooring and spend almost no time at a dock. As such, I upgraded the house bank to an 8D to cope with my DC demands (Frig).
Observations/Revelations about the boats electrical system:
1) The electrical panel does NOT have a main DC breaker. On my previous boat the panel had a main DC breaker. I would leave most of the load breakers on and just verify that the main breaker was off before I left the boat.(No big deal)
2) The generator does NOT have its own starting battery. The lead for the generator is connected to the emergency start solenoid on the port battery side (which is the house bank):huh:. So I spent the day on the hook. I decided to run the genny to recharge the house bank and you guessed it.....generator won't start. So I had to move the lead from the port battery side to the starboard battery side of the emergency start solenoid. Genny started right up from the starboard battery.
3) While I am in the engine room preparing to change the generator lead I discovered that both battery switches are OFF!!!??? I didn't take the time to trace the battery cables (thats this weekend) but all my DC loads have had power since the beginning of the season with the battery switches in OFF.
4) Although the boat has an "Emergency Start Solenoid" . There is no switch to activate it on the dash. The boat was repowered in 1996 with Volvo Penta diesels. They redid the dash at that time. I guess they didn't bother putting in a new switch.
Some questions I need answers/opinions on:
1) Should the battery be the only thing downstream of the switch or should the DC loads be the only thing upstream of the switch? I guess I am asking which side of the switch should the battery combiner, battery charger and emergency start solenoid be on? Should the switch isolate the battery. Or should the switch disconnect the loads while still allowing the batteries to be recharged (charger or combiner)or paralleled?
2) So if I want to wire in an "emergency start switch" which battery bank should I use to energize the solenoid? Does it matter? If I had to pick I am leaning torward using the starboard bank. Since it only has to start the starboard engine its most likely to have a better charge.
Thanks for the input
Nick K
I keep the boat on a mooring and spend almost no time at a dock. As such, I upgraded the house bank to an 8D to cope with my DC demands (Frig).
Observations/Revelations about the boats electrical system:
1) The electrical panel does NOT have a main DC breaker. On my previous boat the panel had a main DC breaker. I would leave most of the load breakers on and just verify that the main breaker was off before I left the boat.(No big deal)
2) The generator does NOT have its own starting battery. The lead for the generator is connected to the emergency start solenoid on the port battery side (which is the house bank):huh:. So I spent the day on the hook. I decided to run the genny to recharge the house bank and you guessed it.....generator won't start. So I had to move the lead from the port battery side to the starboard battery side of the emergency start solenoid. Genny started right up from the starboard battery.
3) While I am in the engine room preparing to change the generator lead I discovered that both battery switches are OFF!!!??? I didn't take the time to trace the battery cables (thats this weekend) but all my DC loads have had power since the beginning of the season with the battery switches in OFF.
4) Although the boat has an "Emergency Start Solenoid" . There is no switch to activate it on the dash. The boat was repowered in 1996 with Volvo Penta diesels. They redid the dash at that time. I guess they didn't bother putting in a new switch.
Some questions I need answers/opinions on:
1) Should the battery be the only thing downstream of the switch or should the DC loads be the only thing upstream of the switch? I guess I am asking which side of the switch should the battery combiner, battery charger and emergency start solenoid be on? Should the switch isolate the battery. Or should the switch disconnect the loads while still allowing the batteries to be recharged (charger or combiner)or paralleled?
2) So if I want to wire in an "emergency start switch" which battery bank should I use to energize the solenoid? Does it matter? If I had to pick I am leaning torward using the starboard bank. Since it only has to start the starboard engine its most likely to have a better charge.
Thanks for the input
Nick K
