Finally got all the lights: running, mast, and cabin, replaced and working. I had to replace tha battery as well - since my 18.5 has a outboard, and therefore does note recharge the battery, I will need a method of rechargning the battery. There seems to be 2 options, one a slip mate of mine had is a solar cell on his cabin top the slowly recharges the battery. the other is a regular plug-in battery charger that uses shore power when the boat is in the slip. Which is better ? What type of battery charger to you guys use ? I am only using the power for the lights, and that only infrequently. Thanks for the help !
battery recharging
- Thread starter hunterdoctor
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Do you have a bow or foredeck light on your mast? How far from the deck is it? Im wanting to put one on mine.
Thanks for any help,
Thanks for any help,
I use a 5 watt solar panel from Harbor Freight on my H260. I don't run the motor enough to charge the battery, so my experience ought to mirror yours. I've had it on the boat for about three years and the battery is always charged and ready to go.
A couple of notes. I connect it with a cigarette lighter socket (Put the male end on the solar panel). Makes it easy to remove for sailing. I ran the socket to a solar voltage regulator, then to the battery. Easy to set up.
A couple of notes. I connect it with a cigarette lighter socket (Put the male end on the solar panel). Makes it easy to remove for sailing. I ran the socket to a solar voltage regulator, then to the battery. Easy to set up.
My slip has no power option so I use a small solar panel mounted to the stern railing to trickle charge the battery. I mounted a west marine two prong deck socket near to the panel and wired the panel wire to accept the waterproof plug. The battery is used primarily for lighting so to minimize draw, I changed all bulbs to LEDs. As I also use an autopilot for long passages under power, I installed a charging kit on my Honda 5hp engine. The engine electric power output is routed to the battery via the same deck socket used for the solar panel when in the slip. The system works a treat.
Kind regards
Hugh
Kind regards
Hugh
I have both options, alternator in my outboard and a solar panel. I have two batteries on board and use a 15 watt solar panel kit, permanently mounted off the stern rail. I run the wire back to the AZEEK board, which is then mounted to the rail with two BBQ grill mounts. See picture.
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I just have a small solar panel that I plug into a cigarettte lighter type recepticle in the cabin near the sink. It keeps the battery up just fine while on the trailer. I can also plug in different appliances to the recepticle such as fans phone chargers etc. I have a 2000 watt portable generator I can take for heavy duty charging if needed. I need to get the alternator kit for my 8 hp Tohatsu.
Kevin.
Kevin.
Lights
Stefan
The bow light for the Hunter 18.5 (combo red and green) is acutally mounted on the bow pulpit, right below where the mast would come to rest if you lowered the mast for trailering. The mast (white) light in a 360 at the top of the mast, and there is a white light at the stern. There are no "steaming" lights ( white lights usually on the mast spreaders pointing down to the deck) in a Hunter 18.5 - too small I guess. These are the standard light the boat came with, ( in addition to one cabin light) but I guess you could add more if you wanted to.
Stefan
I think you might mean "deck" lights? A steaming or masthead light is used for night operations when under power, shining forward with a visible arc of 225 degrees.
If you have a slip with available power the installation and use of a small inboard electric charger is the better as it is more reliable. You could get a bttery maintainer but for a little extra Guess has a 6A charger for about $85. You would need to run at least a 14 gauge extension cord with and adapter for a 30A dock connector. There are portable chargers but I would not recommend as a battery may take hours to get to 100% charge and after an outing you may not want to hang around for that time. The inboard installed charger when properly installed and wired can be left on to charge and continue to maintain the battery.
for the ultimate in reliability and dependability, install a 60 watt solar panel with a quality controller. it will work when you are away from shore power, so you are never without unless you have equipment failure...
once installed, you should reasonably expect 20+ years from it with very little maintenance.... and with the quality controller it will keep the battery properly charged, unlike many of the cheap float chargers that is on the market....
I have installed solar on my boat after using the charger for too long, and I have become a proponent for it due to the simplicity and dependability of the system...
BUT, it depends on your use. if you are only at the boat occasionally and you dont consume much power when you are there, then a smaller panel would work, but a 5watt panel will barely keep up the natural power loss of a group 27 battery. a group 24 battery will be a bit better, but will be extremely slow to bring the battery to a full charge of 13.6 volts.
a standard music radio without an amp, and playing softly consumes 1.5 amps per hour... with the cd player working, about 2.5 amps.... if you crack the volume up, the consumption can go up to about 5amps. (unless you have LED lights, the incandescent bulbs will consume 1-2 amps per hour)
if you use the radio for 6 hours in a day, you have consumed a minimum of 9amps. in the evening with a light on for a few hours it will quickly grow to 15 amps of use.
so to bring the battery back to full charge in a reasonable amount of time you need a reasonably sized system.
5 watts = 0.384 of a volt, less than almost all trickle chargers you will find.... and that is when the conditions are perfect.
a 5watt panel works fine as a maintainer for small batteries like an ATV battery, but as the battery size increases, so does the amperage and natural power loss (self discharge of 2% to 5% per month) so you need a bigger charger to maintain it properly.
AND...when you are dealing with solar power, expect only about 50% efficiency from the rated output of the system over a period of time.... some days will be better and some days worse.
a 60watt system will give you a dependable 2 amp charge minimum and will probably keep ahead of your highest demands for now, but if you do some research on actual installations that people have done, you may come to understand it better.
its almost an "install it and forget it" system, but you will still need to service your battery regularly.
of all the modifications and add-ons i have installed on my boat, the solar power system is by far the most useful.... it has taken the time, trouble and worry out of having a dead battery and the PITA of charging it back up....
once installed, you should reasonably expect 20+ years from it with very little maintenance.... and with the quality controller it will keep the battery properly charged, unlike many of the cheap float chargers that is on the market....
I have installed solar on my boat after using the charger for too long, and I have become a proponent for it due to the simplicity and dependability of the system...
BUT, it depends on your use. if you are only at the boat occasionally and you dont consume much power when you are there, then a smaller panel would work, but a 5watt panel will barely keep up the natural power loss of a group 27 battery. a group 24 battery will be a bit better, but will be extremely slow to bring the battery to a full charge of 13.6 volts.
a standard music radio without an amp, and playing softly consumes 1.5 amps per hour... with the cd player working, about 2.5 amps.... if you crack the volume up, the consumption can go up to about 5amps. (unless you have LED lights, the incandescent bulbs will consume 1-2 amps per hour)
if you use the radio for 6 hours in a day, you have consumed a minimum of 9amps. in the evening with a light on for a few hours it will quickly grow to 15 amps of use.
so to bring the battery back to full charge in a reasonable amount of time you need a reasonably sized system.
5 watts = 0.384 of a volt, less than almost all trickle chargers you will find.... and that is when the conditions are perfect.
a 5watt panel works fine as a maintainer for small batteries like an ATV battery, but as the battery size increases, so does the amperage and natural power loss (self discharge of 2% to 5% per month) so you need a bigger charger to maintain it properly.
AND...when you are dealing with solar power, expect only about 50% efficiency from the rated output of the system over a period of time.... some days will be better and some days worse.
a 60watt system will give you a dependable 2 amp charge minimum and will probably keep ahead of your highest demands for now, but if you do some research on actual installations that people have done, you may come to understand it better.
its almost an "install it and forget it" system, but you will still need to service your battery regularly.
of all the modifications and add-ons i have installed on my boat, the solar power system is by far the most useful.... it has taken the time, trouble and worry out of having a dead battery and the PITA of charging it back up....
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