I own a catalina 27, 1984. What is the best way to charge my 4 batteries. I have shore power...will that charge my batteries?
How to charge my battery
- Thread starter yellowood
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Not without a marine rated battery charger which is sized based on your total battery capacity and loads. If you can be more specific, we can make recommendations.
Not without more information.
What kind of batteries do you have?
How are they connected together?
How many amp hours do you have in the bank?
Are any of them separated out for the engine? Isolated?
What is your usage?
How many amp hours do you draw between charges?
How quickly do you need to recharge?
For example:
I have 2 Marine Deep Cycle Group 31's connected together in parallel for a total of 210 amp hours in the bank. I have LED lights, fans and a radio. I will typically draw 30 aH during the day, and maybe 20 overnight. Usually, my maximum usage would be 2 days and 2 nights, so I have enough aH in the bank to get me through. I'll dock up Sunday night and return Friday night...unless I get a Wednesday evening in. I've got all week to charge.
I use this Guest charger. It fits my needs and capacity.
Your needs may vary...depends on the answers to the questions above.
What kind of batteries do you have?
How are they connected together?
How many amp hours do you have in the bank?
Are any of them separated out for the engine? Isolated?
What is your usage?
How many amp hours do you draw between charges?
How quickly do you need to recharge?
For example:
I have 2 Marine Deep Cycle Group 31's connected together in parallel for a total of 210 amp hours in the bank. I have LED lights, fans and a radio. I will typically draw 30 aH during the day, and maybe 20 overnight. Usually, my maximum usage would be 2 days and 2 nights, so I have enough aH in the bank to get me through. I'll dock up Sunday night and return Friday night...unless I get a Wednesday evening in. I've got all week to charge.
I use this Guest charger. It fits my needs and capacity.
Your needs may vary...depends on the answers to the questions above.
My setup is similar to Joe's. I have two house battery's linked together, plus an isolated Group 31 through which I run a 750watt inverter. I use a Guest two station charger, one hooked to the starter battery, one to the isolated Group 31 battery. During the time that my engine is running it will charge up the second house battery, at least it seems to be. This arrangement has worked well for over two years with no starting or other power issues, although I'm sure someone will dis me once again for my setup not being "proper"
Wow 4 batteries is a lot for a boat of your size. Are you running a fridge or A/C/ off of an inverter? If not 4 batteries may be overkill, & will cost you a lot to replace when they eventually wear out. Two group 27's or better is usually sufficient for a boat 30 feet and under. I use a Guest Marine grade battery charger with electronic control to prevent boiling over the batteries from overcharging. Overcharge can be just as bad as overdrawing a battery in terms of premature wear. That said I have never been able to get the full four years out of a deep cell battery. The cruising life is hard on 'em.
Consider solar. Even if you use shore power, having solar charging greatly extends the range of your batteries. I haven't plugged in my shore charger in a long time.
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