Interesting project involving my SAT dish

Odyssey

Active Member
Jan 8, 2007
1,346
Delray Beach Florida
Boat Info
44EB
Engines
CAT 3116
I just finished a little boat project that was kinda cool and wanted to share it. As my boat is a 1995, I have older electrical technology and I'm sure the newer boats don't have the issue I have.

A while back, I replaced all 4 main batteries (my boat has 2 banks of 2 batteries, not including the genny battery). One bank of batteries starts the port engine. The other bank not only starts the starboard engine but also provides power for the "house". Every time change my batteries, (after the batteries have been disconnected), I check the charger to make sure it is putting out the correct voltage to charge the system. This time, I checked inside the charger instead of checking at the cable ends. I discovered was that my charger has 4 positive 12 volt charging posts which means that it can charge 4 separate batteries or banks of batteries at the same time. I guess this type charger is rare and most chargers have less than 4 posts. Anyway, the 2 main banks were connected to 2 of the posts, the genny was connected to 1 post and the other post was not being used.

Where am I going with this you ask – as each of my main battery banks are used to start one of the CAT engines, I do not have a battery that only operates the "house". So when I start each engine, it pulls all the voltage away from everything else because the engines draw so much power from the batteries. So every time I start the engines, my sat dish dies and re-starts because of the voltage drop. It can take up to 10 minutes to find a signal, sometimes even longer. So, with the vacant charging post available, I decided to buy a small 12 volt battery to separately feed to sat dish. The battery could be connected to the spare post on the charger so it wouldn't lose its charge. I also installed a small UPS so the Direct TV receiver doesn't re-start when I switch from shore power to generator. That can take 10-15 minutes to re-start too.

Nick helped with the fuses, block and connections and we set it all up. It works like a charm. Like I said, I'm sure most of the boats out there don't have that problem but it was aggravating to go through that process every time I went to use the boat.

Thanks for listening
 
Did you take any pictures of what you did? This sounds like a great idea. JC
 
So when I start each engine, it pulls all the voltage away from everything else because the engines draw so much power from the batteries. So every time I start the engines, my sat dish dies and re-starts because of the voltage drop. It can take up to 10 minutes to find a signal, sometimes even longer. So, with the vacant charging post available, I decided to buy a small 12 volt battery to separately feed to sat dish. The battery could be connected to the spare post on the charger so it wouldn't lose its charge. I also installed a small UPS so the Direct TV receiver doesn't re-start when I switch from shore power to generator. That can take 10-15 minutes to re-start too.

Another way to accomplish this is to but a 12v-12v regulator on the sat dish circuit. I put in a bus on a Carnetix regulator for the Internet router, ethernet hub and the sat dish... I posted a picture of it over here: http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/57275-12v-DC-router-For-Fusion-head-unit

But the guys over on that thread find it too complicated....

I also did the UPS thing. I had to wire it up so I could switch off the power after the UPS as shutting off the UPS from the breaker panel would just kick on the thing and drain the batteries down. That was one project that ended up being harder than originally anticipated... but I agree on the need for it when switching from shore power to generator and back...
 
Another way to accomplish this is to but a 12v-12v regulator on the sat dish circuit. I put in a bus on a Carnetix regulator for the Internet router, ethernet hub and the sat dish... I posted a picture of it over here: http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/57275-12v-DC-router-For-Fusion-head-unit

But the guys over on that thread find it too complicated....

I also did the UPS thing. I had to wire it up so I could switch off the power after the UPS as shutting off the UPS from the breaker panel would just kick on the thing and drain the batteries down. That was one project that ended up being harder than originally anticipated... but I agree on the need for it when switching from shore power to generator and back...

I looked at your post, very well done and a great idea especially for equipment like the router. The problem I was having was not just a lowered amount of volts going to the dish, it was shutting the dish off for the 1-2 seconds it take to fire the engine up. I'm sure the newer boats have better electrical systems and dedicated "house" batteries That don't start the engines, right? How is your 12 or 24 volt system set up?
 
The system I have for the network/AV stuff has really held up well. I will admit it took 3 designs and installs over 8 years to get it "right." I also installed a NAVPAC on my bridge electronics. Like you said, starting the engines creates havoc on some 12v stuff and my GPS units would get all catty wumpus if I had them on when I hit the ignition. This the company I used:

http://www.newmarpower.com/DC_Power_Conditioners/DC_Power_Conditioners.html

I got the NP-12 but they have bigger units (I regret not getting).
 

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