Options
Rinker battery management
Stever00
Member Posts: 145 ✭
1997 Rinker 240. These boats come with two batteries. They have have the built in charger and battery switch. It's one or both batteries best I can remember. My question is do most of you with batteries set up this way swith to one when anchored and not running and switch back to both to make sure you save a battery for starting engine? I haven't had this boat in the water since I bought it last fall. I have no idea how long battery would last things like radio, refrigerator, lights.
Space is limited on 24 foot boat. Carring a generator would be lot of work not to mention noise and fumes. Solar panel and controller not to practicle. Guess you could buy a third battery for emergency starting. I have a compact lithium jump starter power pack. No one wants to be dead in the water with no help. Any ideas?
Space is limited on 24 foot boat. Carring a generator would be lot of work not to mention noise and fumes. Solar panel and controller not to practicle. Guess you could buy a third battery for emergency starting. I have a compact lithium jump starter power pack. No one wants to be dead in the water with no help. Any ideas?
Comments
I dont run a fridge. Some refrigerators are very energy efficient, especially if you pre chill your food and drink before putting them in the fridge. Some will drain the battery in a few hours. I run group 31s.
I keep a 2300 watt generic quiet generator to set on the swim platform to run the a.c. at night, watch tv, charge batteries, etc. Co2 detectors are in my cabin.
The generator throttle is load based. Run the microwave or a.c. and she revs up pretty good. Run the battery charger and it's barely off idle. Only run where there is good air circulation. The smell goes downwind, its a tailgating generator msrp approx 799
If you dont want generator I'd add an extra battery or two if you over night without shore power, choose a couple batteries that dont mind being run down(deep cycled)
Without a genny you won't have A/C, but you could use an inverter to push a microwave and other small items. I replace my TV and installed a BluRay that are both 12v so as long as I have a charge I can use those.
I have not every tried to run the A/C or genny unless at a marina. I can, but prefer not to. On the hook I mostly used the genny in the morning to heat water for showers, make coffee and charge up the batteries.
2002 FV 342 on Lake St. Clair - Past Commodore SHC - Vessel Examiner USCGAUX
Prob go with new traditional lead acid batteries. Get a 27,29,31 deep cycle/dual purpose for the house battery. (size depends on room avail)
Get a good quality lead acid 24 for starting battery.
Turn the batt switch to 'both' while running.
On the hook - switch to single battery (assume house batt) while using lights, stereo, drinking beer, etc.
Do not change the batt selector switch while engine is running!
I just dont turn the selector back to a near dead battery, i always turn it to both when i have run my battery down all day listening to tunes.
I plan on adding a 2nd battery to my number 2 bank for additional power reserves during the day. I have room to mount a third between my water tank and the aft berth bulk head. I never fully filll my water tank so she lists port thanks to the two batteries and hot water heater on that side, i hope an extra battety balances me out.
To run an fridge plus tunes on a hot southern day you're going to need lots of un obstructed sun and several hundred watts of solar panels! As a sailor i love solar panels, my 9.9 puts out enough amps to charge it's self. I dont link my starting battety to house batteries in the saiboat.
Two 31s and a 50 watt on my sailboat are pretty dead in 3 or 4 days of phone charging. No amplified tunes, all led lights, 2 small 12v fans at night.
Without using an isolator, that entire theory is flawed.
Leaving in the both position while not running could cause issues, running both down.
My boat doesn't have an isolator, i only charge the battery im selected on via alternator. I have thought about making my own manual isolator using a trim solenoid, turn on the spare bank charging while running or when plugged in at the house/genny.
The whole reason for an isolator is to match up un-even numbers of alternators and battery banks. I have a "2 in/3 out" isolator. Where I could see it getting tricky is when you have 2 engines and 2 banks where 1 starts both engines and the other is the house.
Trying to remember how my 280 was set up. It had 3 banks but I recall the battery selector for starting bank had 1/2/both positions.
2002 FV 342 on Lake St. Clair - Past Commodore SHC - Vessel Examiner USCGAUX
From what I have been "told", having the switch to both, is only for starting situations, grabbing the extra juice from both batteries at same time. I believe it is the incorrect way, to operate the boat, with it set to both. I've always followed that rule, and also used an isolator. I have gotten 3-4 years out of batteries, on a few different boats. I have fairly extensive audio on my boats, and I run the CRAP out of the stereo. Never had a charging issue yet..... *knock on wood*
The only time i see it being an issue is jamming on the boat all day at anchor then realizing "oh crap I'm on still switched to both batteries"
An isolator is still connected to "both" but works as a diode and from the ones I've seen usually only allow current to bleed to the weak battery once the strong battery is topped off. You're not running off of both, you're just bleeding off excess power to the weak battery.
Unless you have a very complicated stereo system with multiple amps most any inboard should have enough amps coming from alternator that running "both" with one good and one weak battery wont be an issue, you should be generating plenty of power to spare.
The trick here is run time. You cant run for 5 min and charge a dead battery or top off your good one you just started with. I have customers with huge mowers and little yards that dont understand this. Their small 15 amp charging systems are a joke compared to our alternators.
Im a battety dealer. So long as both batteries are rated for both starting and house battery work 2 to 4 seasons is the norm. Some battery brands are better than others and we recently made a vendor switch because of that.
What batteries did you stop carrying, and which ones did you pick up? I used to use Energizer deep cycles, then went to Interstate deep cycles, and nowadays I am using Deka Marine batteries. They by FAR are better, but are definitely not cheap. But worth it!
As for 12 vs 24 volt, your thinking wired in series vs parallel, when looking at the Volt meter switching from 1 or 2 to both it still reads 12v. Our boats are not wired like a golf cart so you'll be ok so long as you keep neg black and pos red. If you really want some good amp hours running (4) 6 volt golf cart batteries, run as a group of two in each individual bank( you have two banks) wired as series =12 volt per bank you'd be better off than 2 banks of one individual 12v battery in each Bank. The 2 individual banks of series wired batteries, if put in the both position, would still read 12 volt as the perko switch is connecting them parallels and not in a series.. If you cut out the perko and wired (4) 6 bolt batteries in series then it would be 24 volt. Head hurt yet??? Mine does.
Other than military applications most all of USA diesel trucks run 2 batteries and it's a 12v system. The rule of thumb is if you have one dead battery replace both as a match set.
.
When running on both i suppose there could be an issue if you have mismatched batteries, there could be an overload of current going into the weaker/smaller one and you would probably want a load acting on the system to help balance that out. As most of us would only do this when the boat is running then there is your load, ignition system, radio, nav, lights, ecu, etc.
I always run a matching set of battiers, same as i do in my power stroke for this reason.
Many people do run mismatch batteries and boats, our alternators have a voltage regulator and will only put out so many amps and 14.5 volts, most people never have issues with it. Plenty of cheap people in old diesels replacing batteries one at a time and they dont usually blow themselves up but it can cause the new battery to fail prematurely.
2018 Cherokee 39RL Land Yacht (Sorry...)
2002 FV 342 on Lake St. Clair - Past Commodore SHC - Vessel Examiner USCGAUX