[C320-list] Flooded acid battery and refrigeration questions

[Jack Brennan]

Hi Scott:

What I worry about a little is that the electronics manufacturers still haven’t invented a decent battery monitor that can accurately tell you the bank’s state of charge. Those costly monitors you buy now are making educated guesses, nothing more, and rely partly on your input.

My thinking is that if those monitors can’t tell with a great deal of accuracy, the controllers aren’t any better. So when the fridge kicks on and draws five amps, it might reduce the bank voltage by, say, a 10th of a volt. That makes the controller think the state of charge is lower and send more current to the batteries.

Too much current causes boil.

I base this guess partly on experience. When I take a long cruise every spring, I never have to top off the batteries because we’re using a steady flow of electricity. When I’m just day sailing and not using many amps, that’s when the batteries seem to need water.

Part of my concern with the 110-volt charger is that it is a less expensive one. (I only use it occasionally.) I guess I don’t have a tremendous amount of confidence in its ability to do sophisticated charging.

Jack Brennan
Sonas, 1998 Catalina 320
Tierra Verde, Fl.





Sent from Mail for Windows