Wild Rover
New Member
- Mar 5, 2018
- 18
- Boat Info
- 1997 Sundander 400 DA with Hurley davits on swim platform: 10 foot dinghy with 8 hp Honda outboard
- Engines
- Twin Caterpillar 3116 Diesels with westerbeke diesel generator
Hello, I am considering getting a solar panel to keep my batteries charged when on the hook. The main draw of course is my fridge, which I prefer to keep running. I need to know the power consumption of the fridge, which is the original and still works well. The battery arrangement on the boat is "port" and "starboard", and it looks like the fridge runs off the starboard battery. I then have trouble starting the starboard engine the next morning due, I assume, to the constant drain by the refrigerator. Does anyone else have this problem? I am not mechanically inclined, but I would think rearranging the batteries so that one pair are "house " batteries and the other pair are "starting" batteries would at least take care of the engine starting problem , as only the "house" batteries would be drained? That being said, I would think a solar panel would keep the battery charged as the fridge consumes power. I need to know what wattage solar panels to purchase (along with the appropriate charge controller). Any recommendations from the group? Thanks Mike K--Wild Rover