Third domestic battery on a 43

[Mark and Karen]

We have the standard two batteries in the aft cabin (2 cabin version) and after a long weekend away think we need to do some serious power management, which includes a third battery.Anyone fitted one and if so where did you put it

thanks

Mark

[sam]

 I have two 6v AGM's in series in the normal location behind the battery switches, two behind the engine under the aft bunk, and two more in the port lazarette. Each is 220 AH, so 660 AH total. It is pretty easy to run the wiring, using appropriate fuses to wire the banks in parallel. Alao added an upgraded Balmar alternator, external voltage regulator, and Victron battery monitor. The system is now better matched to the loads and needs of the boat.

Sam

LONGHAWK , B43 hull #9

[James Taylor]

Sounds like a nice setup Sam. How many days on anchor before recharging is necessary while running most appliances?

We have two 200ah AGM's in rear cabin, led cabin lights and led anchor lights help. We get a little better than 1 day (about 30 hours) before hitting the 70% remaining threshold ( we generally recharge at 70% to optimize battery life). We have a "link lite" battery monitor (a must have item) to monitor battery status in real time. The dc panel volt meter is pretty much useless in determining battery status except when  batteries are fully charged and no load ( rare). We use a honda eu2000i to recharge at anchor versus engine, this allows us catch a little TV, charge up phones, and other rechargeable items while batteries are being fairly quickly recharged by on-board battery charger (40ah) and the honda weighs 35 lbs versus the added weight of batteries. We modified our honda gen to run on gasoline or propane and it is fairly quiet on "eco" mode. I am still considering adding one more agm to extend time between recharging but it may require us to install a larger battery charger. Our 40ah charger mathematically would require 5.25 hrs to recharge a 700ah bank from 70% to 100%.

James

B43 #19 "RaJean"

[Mike Brown]

There should be room under the aft bunk for two sets of batteries. We already have a pair of 6V under there and at some point in time I plan on adding another set in the same location.

[Jeff Shukis]

In the US, the dual house battery setup gets you one 4D battery in the compartment aft under the bench seat and one under the bed. There is enough room under the bed for several large batteries and that's where I would add them.

Even cheaper, however, might be a set of LED cabin and anchor lights - if you haven't already done so.

[Mark and Karen]

The battery layout is two Titan 140Ah, in the rear cabin, the next usable space would be where we have mounted the inverter which is still in the rear cabin behind the prop shaft. The capacity seemed to be quite low but a quick tip from Alain (who has the same batteries) and some distilled water (I thought these would have been sealed batteries) and we seem to have some capacity back.
We have switched to LED internal lighting and will do for the nav and anchor light which alone is a nice 2A drain, however the fridge and (converted cool box to) freezer pull 7A when on.
Longer term we are looking for wind/solar capability but an additional battery would seem a reasonable short term fix.

[Mike Brown]

I swapped out the two 4Ds that at best gave us 350ahr for two sets of Trojan 6V types and now have 450ahr. Some other things to check that could cause battery problems are:

1. Not a problem but it does take some time and cycles before deep cycle batteries put out their max power.

2. Undercharging. The battery isolater diodes can drop up to 1v which will undercharge the batteries and eventually cause premature failure.

3. The fridge/freezers do draw 7amps when both on but if you monitor them you'll find they usually average 3.5ahr as they cycle independantly. Make sure you keep the coils on the compressors located under the stove clean. The grills that give you access are glued on. I gently pried ours off which gave me easy access. There was enough glue on our grills that they stick and stay back into place without regluing.

4. We like to set the anchor alarm and start the tracks feature on the E120 when we first anchor, especially in windy conditions. The systems uses a lot of power so I shut down all the individual instruments to reduce the amp draw. I also shut the entire system down once I'm confident we're not going to drag anchor.

5. You already have the LED lights so no additonal comments other than they work great.

As you may have found out recharging with the stock Hitachi 80A alternator while on the anchor takes a while as it rarely puts out the full 80A. Add the problem with the batttery isolator and it's not the best system. As you suggested solar or wind would be a good addition. I'm thinking of replacing the isolators with a zero voltage drop model from Sterling. I just need to do some more voltage checks before I do so. I'll also upgrade the alternator and add an external regulator once the bank account allows. These are great boats but very power hungry.

Mike

[foster]

Hello,

 

We upgraded the whole electrical system.

 

Mastervolt SLIM AGM 4x150AH fits where the two standard batteries.

Mass Combi 2500/100A inverter charger

Whisper 3,5KVA generator

Mastervolt 90A regulated alternator, with possibility of a second one.

Mastervolt bus controlers.

Full LED exchange.

This has transformed the live aboard capaxity with the Watermaker.

 

Good day

 

Denis

 

I will try to find pictures of the batteries.

[Mark and Karen]

Are these 6v or 12 v units? i

[foster]

12 V units that are more compact, lighter and higher than the regular AGM model. You can fit 4x150AH where the 2x140AH were installed by Beneteau.

 

I will try to get some pictures.

 

Denis

[David]

Hi
I replaced std batteries with 4 AGM Lifeline 105AH batteries in two banks (second bank behind engine) plus AGM lifeline starting battery.
Also Paguro 4000 generator and second 40 amp charger (next to original) to charge banks independently and hopefully reduce charging time.
But I have noticed the chargers do not output 40amp for very long and output seems to drops quickly. So I am not sure how much the extra charger helps??? David

[foster]

Here are some pictures.

 

The 40 amp original charger is for starting and bow thruster.

An Mastervolt Mass COMBI charger (100A) inverter (2500W) works with the service batteries.

 

This allows quick charge by shore power or the Generator. '100A charge realy makes things much faster.).

 

For the moment everything works well.

 

Denis

[Mark and Karen]

This is great, I really like the idea of not having to expand elsewhere with another battery to get the capacity up. We have put a charger/inverter in as well as battery monitor.
I'm not sure about whether to stick with the wind/solar or to can that idea and put a generator