[C320-list] Flooded acid battery and refrigeration questions

[Chris Burti]

As long as the regulator is working properly, that shouldn’t be the cause.

Fair winds
Chris Burti
Commitment #867
Farmville, NC

From: Scott Thompson
Sent: Monday, November 15, 2021 5:32 PM
To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
Subject: Re: [C320-list] Flooded acid battery and refrigeration questions

I have one of those but I hardly ever use it since Surprise lives on a 
mooring and we anchor out most nights when we go cruising. The shore 
power is rarely connected, and never this summer to the best of my 
recollection. I do have a solar charger with a Victron MPPT regulator.


On 11/15/2021 3:53 PM, Chris Burti wrote:
> Scott,
> The only time we had this issue was with the old OEM Pro Mariner battery charger. The original models had a propensity to cook the batteries. We replaced it with a Xantrex which cured the issue.
>
> Thanks,
> Chris Burti
> Commitment #867
> Farmville, NC
>
> From: Scott Thompson
> Sent: Monday, November 15, 2021 3:44 PM
> To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
> Subject: [C320-list] Flooded acid battery and refrigeration questions
>
> 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