[C320-list] Flooded acid battery and refrigeration questions

[Joe M]

Low levels are not a good thing. They won’t forgive you if you go too far.

How old are the batteries? My last batteries lasted 8 years. I only buy
Interstate batteries.

We are on a mooring and no solar. The only time my batteries see a charger
is during the winter in the cradle. Solar is on the list but the list is
long.

2002 C320 hull #902

On Mon, Nov 15, 2021 at 8:15 PM Chris Burti <clburti at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
>
>
>