CliffA
Well-Known Member
- Dec 29, 2009
- 4,712
- Boat Info
- 2001 Sea Ray 340DA
Name: 'Happy Place'
4.5kW West. Generator
Purchased Nov. 2014
Fresh Water Use
- Engines
- Twin Merc. 6.2L (MPI)
640 hp (Total)
Raw Water Cooled
V-Drive Transmissions
i will be installing a new AC/DC powered cockpit refrigerator soon and the cabin AC/DC powered refrigerator is working fine....we have not been on extended cruises with the 340 yet so i don't have any experience with battery draw yet...i have 4 deep cycle group 27 batteries on the boat....i am not 100% sure but i think one battery is dedicated to the genny, one battery is dedicated to the starboard engine, and two batteries in parallel for the house battery and port engine....
will the alternators on the engines be able to keep all the batteries fully charged while cruising when both refrigerators are running and other misc. things like the stereo and GPS also running?....
if we decide to drop anchor for a while (or maybe camp overnight) and later need to replinish the battery charge is it better to simply run the engines and let the alternators charge the batteries or should i start the genny and let it charge the batteries?.....i understand that running the engines will require buning more fuel than running the genny but which method will recharge the batteries the fastest?....
assuming a fully charged state in the late evening, should the two batteries in parallel have enough reserve power to run both refrigerators overnight as well as running other items such as a few lights and the stereo/TV for a few hours and still be able to start the port engine the next day?.....
i thought about running a test of the battery draw while docked at the marina just to get a feel about how long the batteries will last under different circumstances before we actually go on an extended cruise and/or stay on the hook overnight.....
any insight from those with a similar battery set-up is appreciated...
cliff
will the alternators on the engines be able to keep all the batteries fully charged while cruising when both refrigerators are running and other misc. things like the stereo and GPS also running?....
if we decide to drop anchor for a while (or maybe camp overnight) and later need to replinish the battery charge is it better to simply run the engines and let the alternators charge the batteries or should i start the genny and let it charge the batteries?.....i understand that running the engines will require buning more fuel than running the genny but which method will recharge the batteries the fastest?....
assuming a fully charged state in the late evening, should the two batteries in parallel have enough reserve power to run both refrigerators overnight as well as running other items such as a few lights and the stereo/TV for a few hours and still be able to start the port engine the next day?.....
i thought about running a test of the battery draw while docked at the marina just to get a feel about how long the batteries will last under different circumstances before we actually go on an extended cruise and/or stay on the hook overnight.....
any insight from those with a similar battery set-up is appreciated...
cliff
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