New Battery Charger Location O'35/34

[jibes138]

Anyone with a 34 or 35 installed a new battery charger and where did you locate it? My old charger was mounted inside the engine room on the fold down door in the quarter berth as the OEM installed. I have a new Promariner and want to install it outside the engine room so I can see the panel and SOC but am struggling with a good spot for it. I'm thinking of the panel in front of the chart table but that makes the wire runs long. Any good ideas out there? Thanks.

 

[eherlihy]

One of the first updates that I did on my boat was to remove the electrical panel, and to mount it on a piano hinge with a lock. This will save you a lot of headaches later on.

I believe that O'day (or maybe it was the PO) attached the ground leads together with electrical tape. I installed a terminal strip as a buss bar.

I installed a water resistant 15A 120VAC GFCI outlet in a waterproof box with a cover in the lazerette.

I then mounted my IOTA DLS-30/IQ4 (http://www.iotaengineering.com/dls30.htm) battery charger in the lazerette, and plugged it into the waterproof box. I ran the output of the battery charger to the "1" lead of the 1-BOTH-2-OFF switch. I use Bank 1 as the "House" bank. Bank 2 is maintained with a Xantrex Echo Charger.

 

[jibes138]

Thanks for the reply. Your panel looks a bit different than mine the way it is organized but all the same functionality. The piano hinge is a nice feature. I thought about the panel in the lazarette above the water heater but it will be hot as it is still the engine compartment, near the exhaust system, and potentially could get splashed winterizing the water heater. Do you have a water heater mounted right there? It is a very convenient spot for this! I'll take another look at it next stop at the boat. Maybe I can put a splash guard on it.

 

[Maine Sail]

My old charger was mounted inside the engine room on the fold down door in the quarter berth as the OEM installed. I have a new Promariner and want to install it outside the engine room so I can see the panel and SOC but am struggling with a good spot for it.

Get a remote display then mount the charger where it will fit well. The remote will fit just about anywhere.

 

[jibes138]

Why didn't I think of that? Thanks Maine Sail I like it.

 

[eherlihy]

Thanks for the reply. Your panel looks a bit different than mine the way it is organized but all the same functionality. The piano hinge is a nice feature. I thought about the panel in the lazarette above the water heater but it will be hot as it is still the engine compartment, near the exhaust system, and potentially could get splashed winterizing the water heater. Do you have a water heater mounted right there? It is a very convenient spot for this! I'll take another look at it next stop at the boat. Maybe I can put a splash guard on it.

I have a Seward (cube) 6 gallon water heater here. I have never splashed the battery charger, as I mounted the water heater as far forward and to port as I could fit it. Splashes have not been an issue.

 

[DannyS]

Mine sits right next to the water heater in the lazarette. I do take care to not get it wet when winterizing or any other time for that matter. It hasn't been an issue.

 

[jibes138]

Thanks guys, looks like that's the spot for it. The remote that Maine Sail mentioned should fit next to the breaker panel. This will also keep the wire length short. Having the old one on the hinged door in the quarterberth was always in the way when changing filters or doing any other work in the engine compartment.