[C320-list] Flooded acid battery and refrigeration questions

[Scott Thompson]

Early during our final cruise of the fall I noticed LED cabin lights 
flickering one evening, and when I checked battery voltages on the house 
bank they were very low. (We spent every night anchored out so were not 
on shore power.) We determined that our fridge was running too often. I 
started the engine to charge the batteries and shut the fridge off and 
we were fine overnight. The next morning I realized that I hadn't 
checked the level in the flooded batteries in the house bank (two 
connected in parallel since we have a separate starting battery) for 
months. When I checked it they were quite low. I didn't have distilled 
water with me at the time, and so didn't get around to watering the 
batteries until this weekend. (We hardly used the boat in between, but I 
did have a solar charger connected.) When I watered the batteries the 
levels were still above the plates, but they were lower than I've ever 
seen them. I added probably about 3/4 of a gallon total of distilled 
water to the bank. Interestingly, the low levels were not even. The 
cells towards the starboard side often (but not always) seemed 
considerably lower than their neighbors immediately to the port side.

I'm not sure what it means when batteries have low levels unevenly 
across cells. There is no evidence of fluid leakage and all of the caps 
were tight.  Do any battery experts have a thought on what this means? 
I've gotten seven years out of these batteries so probably time to 
change them next Spring.

As for the refrigerator, we have an Adler Barbour Cold Machine. It 
probably needs recharging, but I'm guessing that we could probably find 
a replacement that is more efficient given that the unit is more than 20 
years old. Suggestions for a replacement model welcome.

-- 
Scott Thompson
Surprise, #653