On our 34 we have 3 batteries. One starting and two house. I must say upfront, I am not that great with this stuff. I have about five wires connected to one battery on the positive and the over two batteries have only one. About every two or three weeks I check the fluid and the battery with more wires attached is always low on fluid. I need to figure out if I have a problem the way they are wired or if this is ok. Can someone give me a short list on how to attack this. My system has never let me down, but on the other hand we sail on the river and are never out of reach for someone. I would fee alittle better knowing this is all hooked up right. Thanks. Craig
- Status
- Not open for further replies.
R
Ron Dague
Spaghetti Wiring
Craig, I am also a Hunter 34 owner. I have spent the last 2 months rewiring my boat. Much of that was removing wires added by previous owners. As to the wires on your positive terminals, there normally should only be the one heavy positive battery cable wire to the battery switch, and another cable, positive battery to positive battery, to join any batteries wired in parrallel. But many owners have added lots of other stuff there some a good idea, such as voltage meter to check battery status or battery temperature sensor, positive voltage supply to high capacity alternator; and some arguably smart, bilge pump (to give the straightest course to the pump, least number of intervening connections); and some demonstrating laziness or bad wiring technique. As to the last category, the imagination of a previous owners are the limit. Often, it is done because the "electrician" doesn't want to bother threading the wires up to the electrical panel or intalling a terminal bus. I persononally believe in the "KISS" principal, and undertook to understand every wire on my boat. To that end, I traced and either removed or re-wired 6 wires to the positive terminals on my batteries, and in total, removed close to 200 feet of improper wiring in my h34. This was wiring added by the two previous owners (and their friends?.) Feel free to contact me directly at photoron@earthlink.net, if you want to correspond about the wiring harness of your h34, and what does or does not make sense in the modifications/additions that may have been done. Ron
Craig, I am also a Hunter 34 owner. I have spent the last 2 months rewiring my boat. Much of that was removing wires added by previous owners. As to the wires on your positive terminals, there normally should only be the one heavy positive battery cable wire to the battery switch, and another cable, positive battery to positive battery, to join any batteries wired in parrallel. But many owners have added lots of other stuff there some a good idea, such as voltage meter to check battery status or battery temperature sensor, positive voltage supply to high capacity alternator; and some arguably smart, bilge pump (to give the straightest course to the pump, least number of intervening connections); and some demonstrating laziness or bad wiring technique. As to the last category, the imagination of a previous owners are the limit. Often, it is done because the "electrician" doesn't want to bother threading the wires up to the electrical panel or intalling a terminal bus. I persononally believe in the "KISS" principal, and undertook to understand every wire on my boat. To that end, I traced and either removed or re-wired 6 wires to the positive terminals on my batteries, and in total, removed close to 200 feet of improper wiring in my h34. This was wiring added by the two previous owners (and their friends?.) Feel free to contact me directly at photoron@earthlink.net, if you want to correspond about the wiring harness of your h34, and what does or does not make sense in the modifications/additions that may have been done. Ron
J
Joe O
What's running the battery down?
Craig, I would think you may have either an old battery that gases and uses water or that one of your direct wires to that battery may be a bilge pump that runs alittle too often. So, I would check what runs off the battery and how often, then swap batteries around. Also check for corrosion at the terminals...this causes high resistance and also eats up battery capacity. I just added a 3 bank "Tru-charge" battery charger to my H34. It acts as a power supply for the house systems and charges the batteries at the same time. So it truely is a set and forget unit. Hope this helps. Joe
Craig, I would think you may have either an old battery that gases and uses water or that one of your direct wires to that battery may be a bilge pump that runs alittle too often. So, I would check what runs off the battery and how often, then swap batteries around. Also check for corrosion at the terminals...this causes high resistance and also eats up battery capacity. I just added a 3 bank "Tru-charge" battery charger to my H34. It acts as a power supply for the house systems and charges the batteries at the same time. So it truely is a set and forget unit. Hope this helps. Joe
W
Wayne Estabrooks
Excellent Response Ron !
Ron, You should write a book on marine electrical wiring and ABYC. I too am meticulous about wiring and electrical on my boat. Your explanation was very good. Wayne SV Windrift
Ron, You should write a book on marine electrical wiring and ABYC. I too am meticulous about wiring and electrical on my boat. Your explanation was very good. Wayne SV Windrift
B
Bryan C.
Hard wired to battery
There might be a couple things you would want to hard wire straight to battery -- like your bilge pump. It wouldn't work so good if you have it wired to the panel and the selector switch is off. Maybe the input from a solar panel you use to keep the batteries topped off would be another thing. But you must have anything hard wired to the batteries fused close to the battery on the positive side. An unfused circuit that is connected to the battery and shorts out can cause a fire. The only way you can figure out your wiring (assuming the prior owner didn't mark them) is to follow each wire as best you can and connect and disconnect them to see what they are hooked up to. Ron's solution is best, wire everything thru the panel except maybe the couple items I mentioned which must be fused. DC wiring systems seem confusing but basically are really pretty straighforward. Having a multimeter you can use to test voltage is your indicator into how your system is working. I'd buy a book on DC electrical systems to help you learn more about your DC system. Not only will you learn about wiring and circuits but you will learn how to keep your batteries healthier. Until Ron writes his book, I have found Nigel Calder's book: "Boat Owners Mechanical and Electrical Manual" to be an excellent resource for this area (as well as very useful on your boat's other systems)
There might be a couple things you would want to hard wire straight to battery -- like your bilge pump. It wouldn't work so good if you have it wired to the panel and the selector switch is off. Maybe the input from a solar panel you use to keep the batteries topped off would be another thing. But you must have anything hard wired to the batteries fused close to the battery on the positive side. An unfused circuit that is connected to the battery and shorts out can cause a fire. The only way you can figure out your wiring (assuming the prior owner didn't mark them) is to follow each wire as best you can and connect and disconnect them to see what they are hooked up to. Ron's solution is best, wire everything thru the panel except maybe the couple items I mentioned which must be fused. DC wiring systems seem confusing but basically are really pretty straighforward. Having a multimeter you can use to test voltage is your indicator into how your system is working. I'd buy a book on DC electrical systems to help you learn more about your DC system. Not only will you learn about wiring and circuits but you will learn how to keep your batteries healthier. Until Ron writes his book, I have found Nigel Calder's book: "Boat Owners Mechanical and Electrical Manual" to be an excellent resource for this area (as well as very useful on your boat's other systems)
G
Gene Barton s/v Paradigm
Need Isolation/Regulation
You can't just put batteries of different types in parallel. Sounds like maybe you've mixed types with different characteistics. What you are probably doing is drawing down the battery with all the wires, and then the others, with different characterisitcs, are "recharging" the low one, but at a rate that exceeds what is expected. That causes the electrolyte to boil away. Battery charging needs to be controlled, and the other batteries are doing it on the unregulated side. Normally, when a battery draws down, it is recharged through the charging system, which regulates the rate of charge. If you just have other batteries in parallel, they will attempt to level without the benefit of regulation. If you are going to have multiple batteries of different characteristics, then you need a multiple-battery isolator/charger.
You can't just put batteries of different types in parallel. Sounds like maybe you've mixed types with different characteistics. What you are probably doing is drawing down the battery with all the wires, and then the others, with different characterisitcs, are "recharging" the low one, but at a rate that exceeds what is expected. That causes the electrolyte to boil away. Battery charging needs to be controlled, and the other batteries are doing it on the unregulated side. Normally, when a battery draws down, it is recharged through the charging system, which regulates the rate of charge. If you just have other batteries in parallel, they will attempt to level without the benefit of regulation. If you are going to have multiple batteries of different characteristics, then you need a multiple-battery isolator/charger.
- Status
- Not open for further replies.