Electrical system advice needed

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Oct 15, 2004
163
Oday 34 Wauwatosa, WI
Our 1983 boat had the original battery charger in it, which I believe has given up the ghost. I recently replaced the house battery with (2) 6V golf cart batteries with 245AH capacity, and have a separate 105AH 12V starting battery. Our boat lives on a mooring, and our engine normally only runs long enough to get us out and sailing - maybe 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back in. About once a month we travel to a neighboring city where we take a slip for a night or two with shore power, so our battery charging practices are not ideal. My plan is to replace the battery selector switch with one of the new Blue Sea switches #5511e, which turns on both banks but keeps them isolated, but can be combined in an emergency. I would add a Blue Sea 7600-CL ACR combiner, and a Xantrex Truecharge 20. There are other features I would like to add down the road, but this is what I can do at present. I can purchase all three items for under $350, which I think is reasonable. Does this sound like a reasonable approach? Is there a better alternative without breaking my budget? We use the boat a couple of times a week, and I try to keep battery usage to a minimum so we don't leave them partially discharged for long periods. I have wondered about adding a solar trickle charger, but being on the mooring, I'm not sure it's a great solution. I appreciate any input and suggestions.
 
Aug 3, 2005
181
Morgan 33 O/I Green Cove Springs FL
You might be better with

Solar. If you are on a mooring how do you plan to power the Xantrex charger? You might really want to consider solar cells. They will probably cost you more in the short run. I really don't know how many amp hours you use or what size alternator you have. I am willing to bet it is a stock one. If so then you are never getting your batteries up to full charge with just 20 minutes of run time. Stock alternators never put out their full amp rating. From there the output drops off quickly. I would suggest an 85 watt Kyocera solar panel and a Blue Sky regulator. Everything else you want to do seem good to me. Fair Winds Cap'n Dave
 
Oct 15, 2004
163
Oday 34 Wauwatosa, WI
Thanks Dave -

The Xantrex would only be for when we are in a slip once or twice a month - not ideal I know. The problem with solar is the boat is constantly moving on the mooring, and at our lattitude in the Great Lakes, I am not sure how efficient solar is going to be? We have a 55 Amp stock alternator, but with a family of 5 (three girls) we can use a fair amount of power. When we're underway, we usually have the VHF with RAM mike on, depth, speed, water pressure, gps, lights if running at night, and occasionally, the autohelm. That doesn't even account for time we spend on the boat at the mooring, with the stereo on, or a light or two in the caabin in the evening. Long term, I would like to replace the lights inside and out with LED, and it would be nice to have an inverter for an occasional DVD as well.
 
Aug 3, 2005
181
Morgan 33 O/I Green Cove Springs FL
That is why I suggested the system componets

I would use. The kyrocera cells have some of the best output in other than direct sunlite. The Blue Sky controller will adjust the amperage output to voltage input from the cell. In say a real low light condition your cell is putting out 9 volts. The controller will boostthe output to 12 volts at about 2 amps. With full output from the cell say 19.volts the controller will drop the voltage to 12 with arround 15 amps. These numbers are something I just whipped out and have nothing to do with reality. Just to give you an idea of how it all works. You can check them out for yourself. These will work for years and years on end. Fair Winds Cap'n Dave
 
C

Capt'n Bob

Good advice

Scott, Capn Dave has good advice about the solar panels. I have had a 10 watt panel on my 1976 O'day 27 for 15yrs or so and with a combiner has kept my starter and house batteries happy as you know what! My house battery is 8 yrs old and going strong. I play my stero every time I'm on the boat and only use shore power when I need to run a drill or something like that. I'm in a slip with shore power readly available. Research the solar and I'm sure you will find the right combo.
 
T

Timm R 25 Oday

Solar

Scott We keep our 25 Oday on a mooring down at South Shore .We use a 15 watt solar panel with a charge controller.We never have a problem starting the motor our running out of electricity.I don't know why you think the boat moving will affect the output of the panel.I think anything covering the panel from the sun will do more to reduce the panel effectiveness.
 
Oct 15, 2004
163
Oday 34 Wauwatosa, WI
Hey Tim,

would you mind showing me your setup sometime? You can email me - sefuller at wi.rr.com We are on a mooring at McKinley, with an Oday 34. We had an Oday 25 last year. Thanks,
 
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