Some ideas, please. I am beefing up the electrics on our 1990 H35.5 and am converting over to a bank of 4 golf cart batteries and adding a Heart 20 inverter. Specifically, I am wondering where others have located these on this model. I am considering securing the batteries into the forward, starboard side cockpit lazarette, but am concerned about weight and temperature considerations. I do like the access though. I am also thinking of putting the inverter in the lazarette as well, but have concerns on having it so close to the batteries. Any thoughts or better ideas on placement would be appreciated.
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Inverter Location
Previous owner mounted mine on the underside of the navigation table. It's outlets are handy for everything in the salon. Also wired it to work on all outlets on the boat. By putting it there all the wiring was within easy access to panel and shore/inverter switch,etc. Naver has been in road as far as sitting at nav. table. He also mounted battery charger to the wall behind nav. table. All seems to be out of the way. He also mounted 4 batteries 2 on top of other 2 by building a shelf to support the top 2 batteries. Only a problem if I need access to bottom 2 batteries. No idea as to the safety aspects of all this.
Previous owner mounted mine on the underside of the navigation table. It's outlets are handy for everything in the salon. Also wired it to work on all outlets on the boat. By putting it there all the wiring was within easy access to panel and shore/inverter switch,etc. Naver has been in road as far as sitting at nav. table. He also mounted battery charger to the wall behind nav. table. All seems to be out of the way. He also mounted 4 batteries 2 on top of other 2 by building a shelf to support the top 2 batteries. Only a problem if I need access to bottom 2 batteries. No idea as to the safety aspects of all this.
H2 Gass
We've been extreemly happy with our golf cart battery installation, with high voltages and lots of ampere hours. Our inverter is a Hart 1000w which puts out 50 amps at maximum output and can cause the batteries to off-gas significantly. With regard to installing batteries, it's very important to keep anything that can cause a spark away from their enclosure. Just the smallest spark in a hydrogen gas enriched atmosphere will blow any enclosure apart. Both ABYC and NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) have good code requirements that cover marine installations. On our Legend 35 the four golf carts are located under the aft berth and the inverter is in the lazarette, which keeps the weight aft. We carry 45 feet of 3/8-inch BBB chain so, in combination with 65 gallons of water in the bow, causes our bow to settle down to, or just above, the bottom paint, even with all the electrical additions aft. Our goal has been to keep the bow as light as possble to keep the boat on her lines, and it hasn't been easy.
We've been extreemly happy with our golf cart battery installation, with high voltages and lots of ampere hours. Our inverter is a Hart 1000w which puts out 50 amps at maximum output and can cause the batteries to off-gas significantly. With regard to installing batteries, it's very important to keep anything that can cause a spark away from their enclosure. Just the smallest spark in a hydrogen gas enriched atmosphere will blow any enclosure apart. Both ABYC and NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) have good code requirements that cover marine installations. On our Legend 35 the four golf carts are located under the aft berth and the inverter is in the lazarette, which keeps the weight aft. We carry 45 feet of 3/8-inch BBB chain so, in combination with 65 gallons of water in the bow, causes our bow to settle down to, or just above, the bottom paint, even with all the electrical additions aft. Our goal has been to keep the bow as light as possble to keep the boat on her lines, and it hasn't been easy.
Battery Balance/Placement
John, I appreciate your thoughts on the placement of the golf cart batts. under the stern bunk. I am concerned with the explosion factor, as well as the weight problems that you seemed to experience. I have found that the batteries would physically fit into the stern transom lazarettes (down with the diesel tank). This would keep the weight low, and as stern-ward as possible. My only concerns back there are the potential for water getting in, and the relatively long run the cables would have to make.
John, I appreciate your thoughts on the placement of the golf cart batts. under the stern bunk. I am concerned with the explosion factor, as well as the weight problems that you seemed to experience. I have found that the batteries would physically fit into the stern transom lazarettes (down with the diesel tank). This would keep the weight low, and as stern-ward as possible. My only concerns back there are the potential for water getting in, and the relatively long run the cables would have to make.
Upgrade to AGM or GEL batteries.
If you upgrade your system to AGM or GEL batteries your problems with gassing will be over. They can also me mounted in any orientation that is required. The additional life of the batteries more than offsets their cost too.
If you upgrade your system to AGM or GEL batteries your problems with gassing will be over. They can also me mounted in any orientation that is required. The additional life of the batteries more than offsets their cost too.
Cable Run
First I want to say that I don't know how much room is available under the 35.5 aft cabin berth. Our boat is the earlier H-35 and, as I remember it, the 35.5 has the berth slightly lower to provide more clearance between the matress and the overhead. As for cable runs, we used 00 throughout the battery area and to both the master switch (new high amperage Blue Sea) and the OEM house switch and fuses. For the run to the engine ground, alternator, and main panel, 16 ft x 2, I used #2 conductors. The plan is to install a sub pannel near the battery compartment (but not in it) to handle motor loads such as the forced air heater, autohelm, refrigeration, and water pump. This way the wire runs will be much shorter (from around 50 or 60 ft round trip to about 16 or 20 feet in the case of refrigeration). Motors like high voltage. The other battery types previously mentioned offer advantages in installation and placement but for shear low cost $/amp-hr/cycle the golf carts can't be beat. The book says to assume 700 (or 750?) 50 percent cycles but in actual use they can often beat that whereas some of the other types can have problems meeting their numbers. Also, with regard to voltage, our 'carts are now 8 years old and the voltages are still way up there in the 12.6 V range (after 24 hours stabilization period) and this is consistent with what I've read. The fully charged voltage/cycle curve for 'carts shows the voltage stays quite high and then makes a sudden drop toward the end of their life which is good. I've yet to see the beginning of the drop off and since they don't get used between the end of October and April/May I consider this exceptional service. These Trojans cost me $55 ea in '93; it's the rest of the installation that has cost the better part of $1,000. If you can make them fit - great. If not, well, you fall back to plan B.
First I want to say that I don't know how much room is available under the 35.5 aft cabin berth. Our boat is the earlier H-35 and, as I remember it, the 35.5 has the berth slightly lower to provide more clearance between the matress and the overhead. As for cable runs, we used 00 throughout the battery area and to both the master switch (new high amperage Blue Sea) and the OEM house switch and fuses. For the run to the engine ground, alternator, and main panel, 16 ft x 2, I used #2 conductors. The plan is to install a sub pannel near the battery compartment (but not in it) to handle motor loads such as the forced air heater, autohelm, refrigeration, and water pump. This way the wire runs will be much shorter (from around 50 or 60 ft round trip to about 16 or 20 feet in the case of refrigeration). Motors like high voltage. The other battery types previously mentioned offer advantages in installation and placement but for shear low cost $/amp-hr/cycle the golf carts can't be beat. The book says to assume 700 (or 750?) 50 percent cycles but in actual use they can often beat that whereas some of the other types can have problems meeting their numbers. Also, with regard to voltage, our 'carts are now 8 years old and the voltages are still way up there in the 12.6 V range (after 24 hours stabilization period) and this is consistent with what I've read. The fully charged voltage/cycle curve for 'carts shows the voltage stays quite high and then makes a sudden drop toward the end of their life which is good. I've yet to see the beginning of the drop off and since they don't get used between the end of October and April/May I consider this exceptional service. These Trojans cost me $55 ea in '93; it's the rest of the installation that has cost the better part of $1,000. If you can make them fit - great. If not, well, you fall back to plan B.
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