I am buying a 26' sailboat tommorow. Very new to it all. What can a battery operate on a boat? How many, what type batteries do I need? I want to be able to leave dock on friday evening, and come back sunday. Maybe hitting a marina if I have to.
battery question
- Thread starter lingarner
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The more info you can provide, the better the answer is-
This may not be helpful but the only way to answer that is for you to estimate your power needs by figuring out what electrical equipment you have and the demands of each over the period of time you expect to be away from the dock or between recharging. We also don't know if you have an alternator capable of recharging. As you are asking what can work off a 12VDC battery, I infer you might need to do some homework before estimating the total power demand.
In brief, everything except the battery charger is probably 12VDC powered, e.g., lights, electronics, refrigeration, radio(s), engine starter, etc. Once you figure out the total power consumption of these over the period of use and you know also learn how much your alternator (inboard or outboard engine?) is capable of producing to recharge, you have a good basis to figure it out.
This may not be helpful but the only way to answer that is for you to estimate your power needs by figuring out what electrical equipment you have and the demands of each over the period of time you expect to be away from the dock or between recharging. We also don't know if you have an alternator capable of recharging. As you are asking what can work off a 12VDC battery, I infer you might need to do some homework before estimating the total power demand.
In brief, everything except the battery charger is probably 12VDC powered, e.g., lights, electronics, refrigeration, radio(s), engine starter, etc. Once you figure out the total power consumption of these over the period of use and you know also learn how much your alternator (inboard or outboard engine?) is capable of producing to recharge, you have a good basis to figure it out.
Electrical System spreadsheet
Hi Lingarner
You have to design the system (production-loads-storage) for your situation. The quick and not to accurate answer is put in what was in there before.
I made an excel spreadsheet to help me design my boats system so I could size the components.
email me if you want a copy. It's free
Bill
william-roosa@us.army.mil
Hi Lingarner
You have to design the system (production-loads-storage) for your situation. The quick and not to accurate answer is put in what was in there before.
I made an excel spreadsheet to help me design my boats system so I could size the components.
email me if you want a copy. It's free
Bill
william-roosa@us.army.mil
Tuff Question
Anything that works off 12 Volts will work but than you need to monitor the battery and be able to recharge it,West Marine has a good selection of books
that will explain it all.
You will get more help here if you tell us what boat and more info about what you have on your boat would be good.
Nick
Anything that works off 12 Volts will work but than you need to monitor the battery and be able to recharge it,West Marine has a good selection of books
that will explain it all.
You will get more help here if you tell us what boat and more info about what you have on your boat would be good.
Nick
It would really help if you did an electrical budget to figure out how much electrical power you will use on a daily basis. Generally, you should do one for the boat under sail and one for the boat at anchor—since your usage is very different between the two. Once you have a basic idea of how much electrical power you will be using per day, you can figure out how large a battery bank you will need. Remember, unless you're going with expensive, high-tech batteries, generally, you'll only be able to use the batteries to the 50% point before recharging.
For example, say you calculate that you need 75 amp-hours of electricity for each day you're out. You're looking at two days out before recharging as your goal, Friday eve-Sunday eve. So you need to have 150 amp-hours of house battery bank available to use. That means you need a minimum of 300 amp-hours of house battery bank overall—remember the 50% discharge rule.
Not having refrigeration, using LED navigation and house lighting, and adding some passive recharging capability like solar panels, can reduce your usage overall.
However, without more information, like what kind of 26' boat you've got, and such... can't really give you much more advice.
Bill—might want to edit your e-mail address so you don't get spammed.
For example, say you calculate that you need 75 amp-hours of electricity for each day you're out. You're looking at two days out before recharging as your goal, Friday eve-Sunday eve. So you need to have 150 amp-hours of house battery bank available to use. That means you need a minimum of 300 amp-hours of house battery bank overall—remember the 50% discharge rule.
Not having refrigeration, using LED navigation and house lighting, and adding some passive recharging capability like solar panels, can reduce your usage overall.
However, without more information, like what kind of 26' boat you've got, and such... can't really give you much more advice.
Bill—might want to edit your e-mail address so you don't get spammed.
Go to http://www.ccis.com/home/mnemeth/12volt/12volt.htm
Everything you need to know is at "12 volt Side of Life."
Everything you need to know is at "12 volt Side of Life."
interests for battery power
I just bought my new sailboat today. I have never sailed, but very eager to. But, i still want to try and maintain the same comforts of home. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I would like to have enough power to have things like a radio or t.v.. I can just imagine anchored out on the water, relaxing in the cabin, watching a little tv. Also, i do want the rest too. The atmosphere and view. But mainly taking my family out, and entertaining a 8 year old too. Can this be achieved with a battery or 2?
I just bought my new sailboat today. I have never sailed, but very eager to. But, i still want to try and maintain the same comforts of home. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I would like to have enough power to have things like a radio or t.v.. I can just imagine anchored out on the water, relaxing in the cabin, watching a little tv. Also, i do want the rest too. The atmosphere and view. But mainly taking my family out, and entertaining a 8 year old too. Can this be achieved with a battery or 2?
Inverter application
Our Hunter sailboat is fully equipped with the usual AC and DC stuff. Two 8D batteries deliver a total of 500 amps or 250 amps of useable power, which will last about two days on the hook. Our Xantrex Freedom 25 (2500 watt) works pretty hard operating the microwave, too. Instead I try to use the CNG stove for all our cooking needs and save the microwave for when we're connected to shore power.
We just spent a long weekend in Eagle Cove on the east side of Cypress Island, a part of the San Juan Island group. Weather was mostly clear but hovered around freezing most of the time. Our diesel furnace was on around the clock to keep the boat cozy warm. Even with the fridge and freezer on, watching a movie or two, the furnace, etc., the DC system did its usual masterful job. Later on in the second day I ran the Genset for two hours to recharge the house bank and heat water so the admiral could take a bath.
All in all a wonderful long weekend on the water with spectacular Mt. Baker views, soaring eagles, good food and loving companionship. Life is great.
Bud
Our Hunter sailboat is fully equipped with the usual AC and DC stuff. Two 8D batteries deliver a total of 500 amps or 250 amps of useable power, which will last about two days on the hook. Our Xantrex Freedom 25 (2500 watt) works pretty hard operating the microwave, too. Instead I try to use the CNG stove for all our cooking needs and save the microwave for when we're connected to shore power.
We just spent a long weekend in Eagle Cove on the east side of Cypress Island, a part of the San Juan Island group. Weather was mostly clear but hovered around freezing most of the time. Our diesel furnace was on around the clock to keep the boat cozy warm. Even with the fridge and freezer on, watching a movie or two, the furnace, etc., the DC system did its usual masterful job. Later on in the second day I ran the Genset for two hours to recharge the house bank and heat water so the admiral could take a bath.
All in all a wonderful long weekend on the water with spectacular Mt. Baker views, soaring eagles, good food and loving companionship. Life is great.
Bud
I basically have at this point 1 battery i suppose for power. What do I need to start with purchasing? At the minimum?
You should start by purchasing a book on how to figure out what we already suggested in replies #2,3,4,5 and 6
We had a 26' MacGregor. Used one 100AH battery for starting and two 6-volt GC batteries for house. Ran an inverter and powered a computer, lights, stereo, and small refrigerator which was on for the duration of our trip. Three days on the hook was not uncommon before needing to power up the engine to recharge.
http://www.dynobattery.com/SpecD145.pdf
http://www.dynobattery.com/SpecD145.pdf
Gotcha
Exactly the answer of was looking for Tom. Thats sort of what i'll be running on my boat. Thanx alot.
Exactly the answer of was looking for Tom. Thats sort of what i'll be running on my boat. Thanx alot.
It is all a balance act between Battery Capacity, Power consumption and the ability to recharge.
While I like and often recommend the T105 golf-cart type batteries, I really suggest people not use them for their house bank, unless the house bank is large enough to use FOUR or more of them. If you have just TWO GC batteries as your house bank and one goes bad, you will lose your entire house bank, where if you had two similar size/weight 12 VDC batteries, you'd still have one of two batteries to run the house loads off of. If you want to use GC (6VDC) batteries, make sure you have at least four of them, since if one goes bad, you'll still have a house bank of two GC batteries.
There is no difference between having two golf carts and having a cell go bad or having one 12 volt of any kind and having a cell go bad. The difference is you will need to buy a fairly less expensive battery to correct the situation rather than a larger more expensive battery for replacement. Trojans are good batteries but we have used Interstate 6volt golf cart style batteries for 12 years now, pay half the price as Trojans, get the same amp hours, and they typically last about 7 years of heavy use while cruising. One should not depend on a singe battery or combination of 6 volt battery as a house bank but sometimes as with possibly the MacGregor, space and weight will determine the ability to carry more. BTW, 2 6volt GC batteries will give you about 220 AH where 2 12 volt batteries of the same AH will take up considerably more room.
Actually, there is a significant difference. If you have two 12 VDC batteries ad your house bank and one goes bad, you can remove the bad one and use the remaining one as the house bank temporarily. If you have two similarly sized 6 VDC golf cart batteries, and one goes bad, you only have a good SIX VOLT battery left...so you have NO HOUSE BANK.
This is why I say, if you only have space for TWO house batteries, make it TWO 12 VDC batteries, not two 6 VDC batteries.
This is why I say, if you only have space for TWO house batteries, make it TWO 12 VDC batteries, not two 6 VDC batteries.
ChuckBear—
I did, but the way you wrote it, it really downplays the problem of using just TWO 6 VDC batteries.
I did, but the way you wrote it, it really downplays the problem of using just TWO 6 VDC batteries.
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