1987 Catalina 22 Outboard Battery Charging

Feb 20, 2016
153
Catalina 22 Palm Harbor
Battery is located inside the starboard cockpit seat.
Outboard is on the Port Aft Transom
New Outboard has a single 16ga. pigtail pair of Red and Black Wires that need to make way to the Battery
Boats Transom has 2ea. drain holes, one of which I want to utilize to run electrical cable to the battery
The conductions ( Red/Black Wire Pair ) are encapsulated in a vinyl wrap sleeve.
What kind of a waterproof device do I use in order to get through the cockpit battery cabinet once the electrical lead extends through the transom drain. The electrical line is only 3/16" Round so the through wall waterproof device has to accommodate the wire at the same time remain waterproof.

This is the device I an considering or is there a better avenue to take to accomplish this install?
 
Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Our wire runs through a ”cable clam" on the port side right near the motor mount. Cable then runs inside to the starboard side lazarette locker (cockpit seat).
I just crawled to the stern on the port side and ran the cable

One of those cable seals should work fine. Though it requires access to the inside to install it. The cable clam I installed is surface mounted on one side.
 
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May 24, 2004
7,129
CC 30 South Florida
Before you go through all the trouble, what is the size of your outboard? Most outboards under 10HP produce very little charging current, They are mostly intended to run navigation lights. At best the output would be a trickle charge and a long cables run does not benefit any. The consensus behind small outboards charging capabilities is that they would take many hours of motoring to recharge a battery when the whole idea of a sailboat is to run with the sails and the motor off. Many opt for adding additional batteries.
 
Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Many opt for adding additional batteries
Yeah. Counting on the output of that motor to give much of a charge is a bit pointless.
Especially when the motor is almost always under 1/2 throttle and therefore not producing anywhere near the specified peak output. And that assumes the motor is actually running for more than a short time.

We have a single battery. That with a solar panel has done fine.

For what it is worth I hooked up the outboard output just because it was easy and cheap and it was there.
 
Oct 13, 2020
133
catalina C-22 4980 channel islands CA
Here are some pics of my solution. I also ran the wires under the lazerrete to the battery under the step. Ignore the negative comments on charging, my Tohatsu is run at 25-30% throttle and out puts 6 amps. it is keeping my battery charged while running VHF and GPS. I am planning on adding solar as well since I do like sailing over motoring.
Dano
 

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Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Here are some pics of my solution
Nice job. Looks great and would be cheap if you had the wood lying around

my Tohatsu is run at 25-30% throttle and out puts 6 amps. it is keeping my battery charged while running VHF and GPS
That's higher than I get. That may be due to the solar system doing most of the work.
There is a graph around that shows the output at various speeds.

For me the biggest issue is the fact that the outboard is rarely running while power for interior lights or instruments/vhf is almost constant.

Switching to all LED lighting helped a lot because that is the most common draw. Being used for hours every evening.

The VHF, wifi NMEA repeater, Lowrance depth/GPS unit and waterproof Android tablet (running Navionics) are the big draw when sailing.

I would be surprised if our Tohatsu is fully broken in.:biggrin:

Do you fire it up while sailing to simply charge the battery ? Similar to what bigger sailboats do with their.inboards ?
 
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ShawnL

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Jul 29, 2020
106
Catalina 22 3603 Calumet Mi
I installed a 10 watt solar panel and a cheap charge controller on amazon. It works well for my boat on a mooring, using minimal electronics on the weekend (depth finder, chart plotter). Upgrading to a 50 watt because I installed a web cam -- boat's on a mooring and it makes it easy to check on it.
 
Oct 13, 2020
133
catalina C-22 4980 channel islands CA
I did hav teak laying around for the block. I dont start up to charge batteries, but I usually head out when there is little wind early in the AM. I run motor for some times 1-2 hours per 10 hour day on the water. usually batteries are at 12.8 volts when I get back to the driveway.

My load is much less than yours nad that helps.
Dano
 
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Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
The VHF, wifi NMEA repeater, Lowrance depth/GPS unit and waterproof Android tablet (running Navionics) are the big draw when sailing.
Our autopilot is our #1 power hog. And the worse the conditions, the more it uses.
 
Mar 20, 2015
3,094
C&C 30 Mk1 Winnipeg
Our autopilot is our #1 power hog. And the worse the conditions, the more it uses.
Makes total sense.

Do you ever have to charge with a 120vac charger to supplement solar power ?

How many batteries and what size do you use ?

I have always been curious how things worked on your long trips like the tortugas.
 
Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
Many opt for adding additional batteries.
In my humble opinion, this is a mistake. Batteries are heavy. If one battery won't keep up, I say get some some solar. We are shameless power hogs, but our single G24 battery seldom gets below 75% charge with 60W of solar backing it up.

Whether the Tohatsu's alternator helps at all, I cannot say for sure. I guess I should buy an ammeter and find out once and for all. It definitely puts out only a fraction of what the solar does. I'm sure of that much.
 
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Likes: Leeward Rail
Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
Makes total sense.

Do you ever have to charge with a 120vac charger to supplement solar power ?

How many batteries and what size do you use ?

I have always been curious how things worked on your long trips like the tortugas.
We've never had to supplement our solar with AC power. Never really had the option for that matter.

We have a single Trojan 24TMX, flooded lead acid.

The Tortugas cruise was unique, in that the autopilot ran all night on the trip out, and the trip back 24 hours later. Coming back, I hand-steered most of the day to save battery power, 'cuz I was pretty damn tired and did NOT want to risk having to hand steer for hours at night. As it was, dawn broke with about with the battery at about 65%. That was the lowest our battery has ever been.
 
May 24, 2004
7,129
CC 30 South Florida
In my humble opinion, this is a mistake. Batteries are heavy. If one battery won't keep up, I say get some some solar.
It is not a mistake but an option. Batteries can and do fail more frequently that we like to think. Because the manufacturers could not reliably predict how long a battery would last they created the Battery Warranty Plans where the same battery would be priced differently according to the warranty plan you choose. The weight of a 2nd battery is a small price to pay just for redundancy alone. If one battery fails, they will still have another. I made the recommendation because the gentleman had a single battery and no other charging capabilities than the rectifier of a small outboard. Most weekenders will have adequate power with two batteries without having to spend money on solar panel installation they may not need. Solar panels is another choice and those that have the need for them should use them, but they are not the best solution for everyone in general. You seem to have a good setup for keeping batteries charged but if it were me I would add a 2nd battery, and perhaps a 12V compressor refrigerator.
 
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Sep 30, 2013
3,538
1988 Catalina 22 North Florida
if it were me I would add a 2nd battery, and perhaps a 12V compressor refrigerator.
A fridge would be wonderful, but where would you put the additional solar panels? Or would you just run it until the batteries died? How long would that take, along with all the other power draws?

Personally, I can't see the need for battery redundancy on a 21.5' boat with sails and a pull start engine.

30W Renogy panels sell for $60 each, so the cost of two panels is not meaningfully greater than adding a second battery.

Two batteries certainly are an option. But it remains my humble opinion that they are a less desirable option than one good battery and a small solar array to keep it charged indefinitely. Therefor ... a mistake. In my opinion. My humble, uninformed opinion. And by the way, I agree with everything else you said, back in post #3, before I completely hijacked @John Marrone 's thread. :( :banghead: