Two questions, actually. First, the boat is an ODay 272 with an outboard that has no charging system to replenish the batteries. Standard factory 12V system with breaker panel, but no multi position battery switch. Part of my electrical upgrades included adding two Group 27 wet cell deep cycle batteries, which are wired in parallel. I have been recharging the batteries with an 11 watt solar panel, which has worked quite well. I am now at a marina with shore power and have considered adding a small (6 amp) charger to the boat. (The boat is AC wired) Winter's coming, but I will use the boat year round and available sunlight has been slowly disappearing. Since the batteries are connected in parallel, could I use a 6 amp, one bank, three stage charger to keep the charge up on both? I don't discharge them deeply when I use the boat so the charger wouldn't be asked to do the impossible (fast charge). Work always gets in the way of sailing, so the batts would have most of a week to recover. Does my idea sound feasibile? Second, I would like to occasionally use a small 120V space heater when at the dock. Glowing heat grids really worry me. An alcohol spill (stove, not scotch), wayward Kleenex, etc. can easily cause an unintended fire. So... I checked a Delonghi oil-filled radiant heater, with variable power settings, thermostat, and tip-over switch and wondered if this might be the answer to the fear of the glowing grids. It has no forced air fan, but I've got fans on the boat if I want to move air. Anybody using this sort of heat source?
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recharge
An 11watt P.V. panel will maintain your battery against self-discharge, but will do little to re-charge partially depleted batteries. Your consumption must be extremely low, since you were happy with it’s performance. The 6A Charger will provide something on the order of 25 - 50 times (or more) the output of the solar panel - so will certainly be adequate for your stated purposes. Fully charge the “starting” battery, then maintain it with the solar panel. Use the charger on the (2) house batteries. Don’t combine the house
An 11watt P.V. panel will maintain your battery against self-discharge, but will do little to re-charge partially depleted batteries. Your consumption must be extremely low, since you were happy with it’s performance. The 6A Charger will provide something on the order of 25 - 50 times (or more) the output of the solar panel - so will certainly be adequate for your stated purposes. Fully charge the “starting” battery, then maintain it with the solar panel. Use the charger on the (2) house batteries. Don’t combine the house
I've used an old filled heater at home for
years, they are good sources for silent, slow, even heating of small rooms. I'm in the mountains where it snows so I do know cold. They are very heavy and bulky, I use a small ceramic as Gord has suggested dockside on the boat. Fan makes a little noise but I turn it off when sleeping and it warms the cabin pretty fast in the AM. Keep it at the opposite end from the stove, but really not too hazardous around alcohol stove.
years, they are good sources for silent, slow, even heating of small rooms. I'm in the mountains where it snows so I do know cold. They are very heavy and bulky, I use a small ceramic as Gord has suggested dockside on the boat. Fan makes a little noise but I turn it off when sleeping and it warms the cabin pretty fast in the AM. Keep it at the opposite end from the stove, but really not too hazardous around alcohol stove.
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