on the hook battery usage?

[murf 1]

going on the hook for the weekend and wondering how bad do the batteries drain if not running much but the fridge and minimal lights at night? Can I run the moter in the daytime to recharge the batteries? Thanks for the help two batts, with switch 1 ,2 and both!

 

[Alex F]

In my 240DA I always had 1 dedicated house battery and one to stay fully charged for starting the engine. Here's the way to do it:

1. Anytime you have shore power or have engine running have the switch on BOTH (it's advised not to switch the selector while the engine is running, so switch to both prior starting).
2. When you anchor out switch to #1 to be the house battery and keep #2 as reserved starting battery.
3. Monitor the voltage, if it drops below 11v turn the swithch to BOTH and run the engine to recharge #1 and #2 for that matter.

We never had a problem following the method I've stated above. The fridge doesn't take too much, so running it all night is not an issue.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bob & Sue]

I haven't been able to get a good answer about this or find in any manuals I'm just curious how it's wired and works.

1) Use battery #1 for power saving battery #2 for starting
2) Start with switch on #2 not both

Will both batteries get charged with switch on #2 or does switch need to be on Both to charge #1?

 

[Alex F]

As far as I remember to charge both you need to keep it on both. I never took the time to trace the wires and see how everything is connected, but I think it's very simple just to use the selector on BOTH anytime there's a shore power or the engine is running. You can't go wrong by doing this, so there' no guessing. One thing I know for sure is that when selecting BOTH both batteries will be charged.

 

[Nehalennia]

Contrary to the advice here, most use #1 as starting and #2 as the house side. It really doesn't matter as long as you have the same battery types on each bank and you manage your use consistently. Many put a starting battery in for the starting tasks. It seems for us pocket cruisers SeaRay installs 2 deep cycle batteries. Since there are the same type of battery you can use either one as you wish. Both Bob and Alex are correct to leave one bank or the other as reserve so you can start your boat to get back home. This spring I replaced my batteries. I replaced the #1 with a Interstate group 27 like was in there from the factory. I replaced the other group 27 with 2-6V Costco batteries for the house side. I'm very happy so far with the additional capacity to remain on the hook for a couple of days. I'll be testing it out beginning tomorrow for 2 nights on the hook.
Best of luck.

 

[RollerCoastr]

You can also reduce the amount of battery-run compressor time in the fridge by dialing down the temp while the engine is running, and dialing up some when on battery.

Obviously, avoid opening the door when possible and try to keep the fridge stocked with dense items - they'll help hold the cool temp.

for example: a plastic, nearly empty relish jar does little but consume space, but a half gallon of nearly frozen OJ is nearly as good as a bag of ice. You can also pre-freeze drinking water bottles. They seem to be flexible enough to not burst.

 

[Tonka Boater]

In my 240DA I always had 1 dedicated house battery and one to stay fully charged for starting the engine. Here's the way to do it:

1. Anytime you have shore power or have engine running have the switch on BOTH (it's advised not to switch the selector while the engine is running, so switch to both prior starting).
2. When you anchor out switch to #1 to be the house battery and keep #2 as reserved starting battery.
3. Monitor the voltage, if it drops below 11v turn the swithch to BOTH and run the engine to recharge #1 and #2 for that matter.

We never had a problem following the method I've stated above. The fridge does take too much, so running it all night is not an issue.

Hope this helps.

This is my method for my 280 and it works perfect. You can turn off the fridge at night and it will keep things cold until morning. I wouldn't trust meat or chicken over night but your beer, water and condiments will be plenty cold in the morning.

As for which battery is the house vs. starting: Look at your batteries to see if anything else is connected to one of them. If yes, then determine what is connected and determne if that one should be the house or starting. My battery #1 has the DTS system connected to a separate terminal on battery #1 so I use #2 as the house battery.

 

[Torque]

Re: what's really happening when you're running the motor with the switch in the "both or all" position- most switch installs I've seen either have an isolator or work in conjunction with an isolator. I'm told an isolator automagically directs any charge coming from the alternator or battery charger to the lower of the 2 batteries and then draws power from the battery with the higher charge when you draw from the battery (starting, etc). The isolator is nice but it does not protect you from running both batteries down completely. It will simply ensure you do so in a balanced manner. The 1 or 2 selector function manually by-passes that option to protect you from that "feature". Whey you're charging however, even with one battery pretty dead....... the "all" position is pretty safe, you should not have to stress over which battery you're charging etc.

 

[Torque]

I recently had the 340 off shore power for about a week. I have 2 banks, each has 2 deep cycle gel cell batteries that are reasonably healthy, probably 3-4yrs old now. Minimizing power...... I only left the 2 refrigerators on continuously and had very little other power usage. I ran the generator and battery charger just about every day for 15min to an hour and a half (whatever I had time to sneak in) and did about an hour cruise charging from the alternator mid-week. By the end of the week (day 6), my power got pretty low. I killed the cockpit fridge the last 2 days and the cabin fridge was starting to defrost.

So- a weekend with conservative power consumption and minimal charging should be just fine, a week would be a stretch unless you had more run-time each day.

 

[Alex F]

I just noticed a typo "The fridge does take too much, so running it all night is not an issue". Obviously, I meant that the fridge does NOT use a lot of energy.

It could be a good idea (in case if your batteries are coupe years old) to start the engine and run for 30m-1hr before you call it a day. This will warm up your hot water and will charge the batteries. If you're staying out late the following day, maybe do the same mid day, just to keep the batteries fresh.

I recently had the 340 off shore power for about a week. I have 2 banks, each has 2 deep cycle gel cell batteries that are reasonably healthy, probably 3-4yrs old now. Minimizing power...... I only left the 2 refrigerators on continuously and had very little other power usage. I ran the generator and battery charger just about every day for 15min to an hour and a half (whatever I had time to sneak in) and did about an hour cruise charging from the alternator mid-week. By the end of the week (day 6), my power got pretty low. I killed the cockpit fridge the last 2 days and the cabin fridge was starting to defrost.

So- a weekend with conservative power consumption and minimal charging should be just fine, a week would be a stretch unless you had more run-time each day.

Wow, I'd say that you took it to the extreme here.

BTW, this is how you can kill your alternators.

... and did about an hour cruise charging from the alternator mid-week....

In the scenario you described, the best would be running the genny for much longer allowing the batteries recharge FULLY. Whatever took place put some heavy duty stress on number of components. There's just no reason to take such risk, unless you have no other choice.

 

[spikeitaudi]

Can somebody clarify as this is what my Dealer told me was that if you are on shore power and the battery charger off the shore power recharges both batts regardless of the battery switch cause the charger is hooked directly up to the batts?

 

[Alex F]

Can somebody clarify as this is what my Dealer told me was that if you are on shore power and the battery charger off the shore power recharges both batts regardless of the battery switch cause the charger is hooked directly up to the batts?

This was true on my 320DA and it is for my 420DB, but I think it should be the same for all models. Most likelly even with my 240DA I kept the switches OFF when I left the boat for a week.

 

[spikeitaudi]

Thanks Alex. So when I leave my boat I will turn the batt swich to off and turn on shorepower then switch the breaker for the batt charger to on. Thanks again for the clarification.

 

[Bob & Sue]

Re: what's really happening when you're running the motor with the switch in the "both or all" position- most switch installs I've seen either have an isolator or work in conjunction with an isolator. I'm told an isolator automagically directs any charge coming from the alternator or battery charger to the lower of the 2 batteries and then draws power from the battery with the higher charge when you draw from the battery (starting, etc). The isolator is nice but it does not protect you from running both batteries down completely. It will simply ensure you do so in a balanced manner. The 1 or 2 selector function manually by-passes that option to protect you from that "feature". Whey you're charging however, even with one battery pretty dead....... the "all" position is pretty safe, you should not have to stress over which battery you're charging etc.

Thanks for the explanation it makes the most sense I knew there needed to be some sort of isolator or balancing unit but couldn't find any good explanation not that it really matters I just want to know how as many things function as I can.

 

[JimFromMD]

BTW, this is how you can kill your alternators.

Originally Posted by Torque
... and did about an hour cruise charging from the alternator mid-week....

Alex,
Can you clarify what will kill the alternators? Not super educated in this, but I understood that the alternators were running and putting charge in the batteries whenever the engine was running. Its connected through the serpentine belt so it's not like you can turn it off while cruising. Just trying to understand.

Thanks.

 

[Alex F]

The way I was explained this ones by an alternator repair shop owner is that the biggest killer for an alternator is a weak battery that damands a lot of charging. At this point the alternator has to work very hard to bring that dead battery to normal charged state. Unlike the battery chargers, alternators seam to be much more sensitive. I think we see more failures in alternators than battery chargers, but don't hold me to that statemement as it's just my guess based on what I've read, I never seen the comparison stats. Anyway, I think you get the main point.

So, having said that I think it's worth mentioning that even though usually healthy batteries will hold fine it much better to do periodic charge by firing up the engine (or generator if you have one). This way the alternator doesn't have to work too hard the following day. Hens, it'll last longer.

 

[wvsundancer]

Follow-up question.. one of my battery terminals always corrodes #1.. the others do not any idea why ???

 

[JimFromMD]

The way I was explained this ones by an alternator repair shop owner is that the biggest killer for an alternator is a weak battery that damands a lot of charging. At this point the alternator has to work very hard to bring that dead battery to normal charged state. Unlike the battery chargers, alternators seam to be much more sensitive. I think we see more failures in alternators than battery chargers, but don't hold me to that statemement as it's just my guess based on what I've read, I never seen the comparison stats. Anyway, I think you get the main point.

So, having said that I think it's worth mentioning that even though usually healthy batteries will hold fine it much better to do periodic charge by firing up the engine (or generator if you have one). This way the alternator doesn't have to work too hard the following day. Hens, it'll last longer.

Thanks Alex. Not being all that technical, I guess I assumed that the alternator put out a certain fixed voltage and current (or maybe amperage?) output provided to the batteries for charging was based on how fast the alternator was spinning, less whatever is consumed by the engine for spark, pumps, accessories etc. I didnt realize that they could "charge harder" when the battery was way down, or do more of a trickle charge kind of thing when the batteries were already most of the way charged. Again, using laymens terms... LOL...

Learn something new every day. Thats why I love this board.

 

[Bob & Sue]

Follow-up question.. one of my battery terminals always corrodes #1.. the others do not any idea why ???

Buy some rubber boots to cover all of the cable terminal posts totally
remove cables
clean cables with battery brush inside and out
brush battery terminals with battery brush ( make sure you see clean shiny metal )
use metal brush to remove any corrosin you see on cables or battery top
wipe everything away completely ( I use small shop vac )
install cables and tighten
Put a good coating of Vaseline on all exposed metal ( always put cables on battery before vaseline or you won't get good contact or WORSE ARCHING )
install rubber boots

This will at least slow down the corrosin process every few weeks check for any corrosin, brush away any found and apply more vaseline.

 

[Frostman]

The battery charger ONLY works if turn the AC Converter breaker on. If you just hook up to shore power and don't turn this breaker on you won't be charging anything.