Proposed eletrical/ Batt Bank set up

[Hermit Scott]

This is the electrical system I intend to hook up on Friday. I am going to motor my boat across Corpus Christi Bay, on a 30 mile trip to a boat yard. I have no sails on the boat right now. So I need this system to hold up.
The alternator is internally self regulated.
If there is anything wrong with this set up PLEASE let me know.

I have no way to monitor the battery banks and alternator as of yet.
If I hook up a voltage meter on the battery banks + and -, will this allow me to be able to see if the alternator is charging ok and not overcharging?
What should the range be in for the battery voltage?

I have 2, 125 amp hour 12 volt batteries wired in parallel. Is my 35 amp alternator going to get burned out charging these or will it be ok? It is a marine alternator that came on the engine, hitachi brand.

 

[RAD]

Scott

Just make sure the alternator is putting out and you should be fine, the voltage should be 13.6 or higher and if the battery's are fully charged there should be no reason for the alternator to be over loaded.
do you have any sails? even old ones?

 

[Ross]

The fuse in the starter circuit may be redundant. The alternator will take care of its self. If you daily draw exceeds the alternators output you might end up with dead batteries. I monitor my batteries with a digital voltmeter only. If the voltage drops below 11.8 I start the engine. Simple and has worked for me for 9 years.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Sorry I didn't get back to you on another thread. What you have drawn will be fine. The only change I'd make which isn't important as a temp setup is connect the alt across both batteries, not just to one but no problem in the short term.

 

[RAD]

Speaking of daily amp draw

You'll be motoring for about six hours and I'll assume this will be in daylight so the load should should be light
VHF,stereo,gps

 

[Hermit Scott]

electric

Rad, I have a pretty nice main, a nice 100% jib and a 130. But I have no sheets and my roller furler is seized. I gave my word that I would move my boat as soon as the USCG document transfered from the PO of the PO. So it came through this week, finally a clear title, so I am going to move it this weekend.
Ross, Do you have the digital voltmeter hard wired and mounted to something, or are you just handheld checking it? IF it's mounted where did you get it. (You and I think alike when it come to spending money)
Why would the fuse be redundant? I wasn't going to put it in originally but I saw one in a wiring diagram so I thought it must be necessary for USCG regs, or at least a good idea.
Don, The alternator is connected across both batteries. If you follow the lines around the batteries, they are wired in parallel.

I was reading at Borders tonight about sailboat electrical, and I am going to add a regulator charger that has 3 steps, I think they are called smart chargers. But not for a few weeks. I am going to make this trip with this configuration.

 

[Ross]

Re: electric

Hermit, I have a couple of binding posts that I connect a hand held digital DVM to for monitoring purposes. My electrical panel is convenient to allow this. A good DVM only costs about 30 bucks and is essential to electrical trouble shooting.
A fuse for the whole boat makes sense but the battery circuit is about as fail safe as they get. We discussed this about a week ago and came to no concensus as to the size of the fuse because of the range of loads. The fuse size should be chosen to protect the wire from overheating.

 

[Benny]

Since you do not have sails I would be most

concerned with the reliability of the engine and the fuel system. A boat that has been laid up can have accumulated gunk in the fuel tank and all it needs is a couple of up and downs to foul up your fuel filters. Take a few spare filters with you, an extra impeller and a belt. Signing up for Boat US unlimited towing insurance may give you great peace of mind. A 30 mile ride can take from 5 to 10 hours depending on wind and current. Have a safe one.

 

[Benny]

Since you do not have sails I would be most

concerned with the reliability of the engine and the fuel system. A boat that has been laid up can have accumulated gunk in the fuel tank and all it needs is a couple of up and downs to foul up your fuel filters. Take a few spare filters with you, an extra impeller and a belt. Signing up for Boat US unlimited towing insurance may give you great peace of mind. A 30 mile ride can take from 5 to 10 hours depending on wind and current. Have a safe one.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Hermit, Looks Good

for your intended, and limited use.

The link is for your long term planning. Have the alternator AVOID THE 1-2-b SWITCH.

Link: http://www.c34.org/projects/projects-electrical-system-upgrade-2.html

Stu

PS Your 1-2-B switch is wrong, only three posts on the back, NONE makes no sense and should be deleted, the DP panel should come off the B (or common) post, as well as the wiring to the starter.

 

[Bob V]

Do you have a good anchor?

If you have no useable sails and an engine that you may not be able to trust you should have a good anchor ready to deploy.

To find out what anchor, rode combination is best check the archives. It's almost as much fun as the political and religious debates.

 

[Hermit Scott]

engine

I rebuilt the engine, new liner, piston valves, bearings, etc. Bought a temporary 6 gal tank. Cut a hole in my stock aluminium tank and had a buddy tig in a port I made. I cleaned it out completely. All that but, I haven't been able to find a suitable dip stick adapter combonation. The tank had pin holes in the bottom so I had all known holes tigged closed. Then I coated the whole bottom with JB weld. I was going to use fiberglass resin but JB weld can be powder coated, if I decide to do that.
I have all new filters also. Last time I was at the boat, I broke in the engine an hour and a half, then oil change then an hour motoring around then an oil change to synthetic. The only problem I had was the temp gage I put on never went above 100 F. I could have installed the temp gage wrong or I could have a stuck open thermostat. I will check them both when I go down Friday. The engine doesn't require power to run. It doesn't have a glow plug, and can be hand cranked.
I have a fortress anchor, 30' of chain and 250' of 1/2" rope. I had lengthy discussions on here about anchoring. You're right Bob, anchor discussions should be banned. lol I have never set an anchor before, I am a little shaky about that. But the guys here told me how it's done. I am going to weld together a small hook tomorrow. Just in case I do have to anchor I can have 2 to stop it from swinging around.
Stu, I haven't even touched that switch yet. All the wiring I will do is limited to what's in the diagram except I will not be routing anything to the DC breaker box. I haven't tested it yet.
I have followed advice the best I could and tried to think of everything. And I tried to learn all I could about sailboats before the day I have to move it.

 

[Ross]

Re: engine

My battery switch is labeled "off-1-both-2". FWIW

 

[Stu Jackson]

I understand you haven't touched the switch

and the sketch is to show us how it is wired. Only reason I mentioned it is that as you grow into your boat you'll find yourself making more electrical sketches. Just get the wiring straight in your head and your wiring diagrams.

Many people get "confused" with the 1-2-B switch anyway. There are only three points of wiring connection to the switch: 1, 2, and common (B). There are four POSITIONS to the switch, 1,2, B and off. However, OFF is NOT a wiring point of connection, it is a switch position.

Have a great trip.

 

[sailaway78]

Sounds like you have it covered

Sounds like you got it covered, and what you have drawn up should work fine. The alternator will not be overloaded. I have a standard 35 amp Hitachi on a 450ah bank. I do second the advice about getting tow insurance. It is the best 150 bucks you will ever spend.

 

[Hermit Scott]

Insurance

Stu, I undertsand how the switch works. I know there won't be a wiring point there. Thanks for checking with me though.

Tow insurance sounds good. A guy told me about it in Houston, but he didn't know if it was a local thing there so I never got the number, since I am in Corpus. I will look them up. In this post Benny recommends Boat U S unlimited towing.

 

[RAD]

Scott

Can your main sail be deployed? might want to consider that for insurance and motor sailing cause if you have some wind you can shut the engine down and enjoy the sailing or have both.
I agree about Boat US insurance and you can do it online with a credit card

http://www.boatus.com/

 

[Hermit Scott]

Main

I guess all I would have to buy is a main sheet. I have a mid ship traveller. And it has an old wire and rope halyard still on the boat.
There is ALWAYS wind in Corpus Christi. So, I can just raise the main and not have a head sail and it will sail ok? I read a post on here not long ago about people only using their head sails on furlers becasue the main was alot of work, basically becasue they didn't want to mess with the main and didn't care about speed. Will a boat sail ok with only the main OR only the jib raised?
Rad, now that I think about it. That is a great idea. I am going to go pack the main in the car and take that tomorrow. Now I am even more excited about the trip.

 

[RAD]

Atta boy Scott

Before you leave the dock when there's no wind maybe in the early morning or point the boat into the wind and set up the main sail so its all set to go and make sure the main halyard is secure before you hoist.
Some times I run with just the jib cause its a lot easier to deal with than the main and some times the jib won't cooperate with the motor running so the main gets deployed and when I motor sail the throttle gets cut back and I still move at 5 to 6 knots thus saving fuel and getting to my destination in a fair amount of time

 

[Stu Jackson]

Headsail vs main sail sailing

Hermit, at this stage don't worry about it. Consensus is that masthead sloops, like ours, can be sailed with one or the other of the two sails, but that the jib is the "powerhouse" sail and the main is slower and won't point as much upwind. You don't have a choice. It'll work, enjoy your trip.