[C320-list] Starter Battery and Echo Charger

[Joe Luciano]

Hi Sara,

Lots of good ideas shared in the previous posts.  A couple of thoughts from a fellow sailor in the Pacific Northwest.  Just need to recognize that the sun power in our area is nothing like that of someone who lives in Florida, for instance.  While you can get some power on cloudy days, no where near what you get on sunny days.  Just something to take into consideration in our area.  

One thing that I have done to my boat is install a Balmar high output alternator with 3 stage voltage regulation.  I find this to be one of the best moves I’ve made to keep batteries charged.  Without this, the standard engine set up is an automotive style alternator that won’t fully charge deep cycle batteries very well with intermittent engine use.  While island hopping in the San Juan’s I sail as often as I can, but I also recognize that there are times I have to motor and I want to take advantage of those times to charge my batteries.  At about an hour of motoring, I can restore batteries to 90% typically.  This allows me to spend 2-3 days at anchor easily without need for the sun to be out for charging batteries via solar.

In terms of the battery banks, I combined my two 4D banks and put them on the battery 2 terminal.  This gives me a usable 200 Amp hours of house bank.  I then installed a separate automotive type battery on bank #1 that is dedicated to engine starting only.  Typically, I don’t have to use this battery, but it’s peace of mind for always being able to start the engine.  The starting battery on my boat fits in the same area as the two 4D batteries under the starboard setee.  The automotive battery fits just forward of the other two in a dedicated battery box.  The other thing I installed was a Link battery monitor for the house bank that tells me my amp hour usage and current draw at any time.  With this instrument, there is basically no excuse for not knowing your battery state of charge.

Anyway, these are the relatively simple things that work for me in our part of the world.  They’ve been reliable for me for over 15 years.  I have contemplated adding solar, but adding panels and wiring that I’ve considered is somewhat messy and I’ve not felt a need to really go that route given my cruising style.

Joe Luciano
Second Wind
#1024
> On Aug 12, 2020, at 9:30 AM, Danny Jensen <danny at jensenshouse.com> wrote:
> 
> I meant to send you this shorter video in my previous post. Here is my test setup of basic solar. https://youtu.be/1It6JXgNAxg
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Aug 11, 2020, at 9:08 PM, Sara Skinner Schroeder <saras951 at comcast.net> wrote:
>> 
>> My 2000 C20 has two 4D deep cycle batteries.  I figure I have about 190amp hr capacity for each which if they are not discharged more than 50% I have about 80amp hrs each.  She has never had a starter battery. After a weekend rafting with friends I did some analysis on my battery usage. It goes without saying that the refrigeration was the biggest draw.  I got nervous that the batteries would not have enough CCA to start the engine so I turned off the refer the night before heading home.  I did charge the batteries for a few hours on day 2 but was still not comfortable with how fast the batteries were being depleted.  I have a few, somewhat unrelated questions, as I figure out what’s going to be added to the boat next.
>> 1.  What kind and size of starter battery do you recommend. Where did you put it?
>> 2.  What kind of echo charger do you recommend.
>> 3.  My 20 yr old Adler Barber refrigerator compressor is drawing 5.5amps at a setting of 4-5.  Does that seem reasonable?  I’m wondering if the compressor is starting to fail.  It works great and I always have ice but I have no idea how long they usually last.
>> 4.  I’m also thinking of getting a solar panel I can throw on the deck to help with battery charging at anchor.  Does anyone do this?
>> 
>> This stuff is still smoke-and-mirrors to me so I appreciate the input.  Finally, my last post was about the installation of my Raymarine autopilot. Thanks to Jack Brennan’s advice and instructions it’s up and running!  I even replaced the steering cable while I had it all torn apart.  Whew!!!  
>> Sara 
>> Wandering Star 
>> 2000/#707
>> 
>> Sent from my iPad