Adding to the house battery

[daveme]

Hello,
Has anyone added house battery capacity? Is there room? How much did/would you add? Seems like a useful consideration and good winter project.

Thanks!
Dave Melin

 

[j&lgray]

Yes, I added two 6-volt batteries and installed them on the opposite side of the boat (in battery boxes) for balance. Solved the issue of not being able to spend a second night at anchor without going below 12.2 volts.

 

[BB marine]

Adding house battery or batteries capacities is electrically fairly simple to do. The complicated part of it is do you have room in the compartment or compartments and will the added battery or batteries upset the balance of the boat. ( will the batteries cause the boat to list? ) The additional batteries will help with capacities for extended anchorage time but the additional weight can be noticed in boat performances. The wider beam Cutwaters the additional weight may not effect the performance as much but it will effect it at some level. The semi-displacement hull vented Cutwater Hull is a stern heavy boat. This is not to say it is a bad design, it isn't! Realizing its running attitude should be taken into consideration when adding weight.

Questions to ask yourself before installation

Location
will this install cause the boat to list?
Will this install change noticeable performance changes (weight) ?
will this location be accessible to maintain the batteries?

Capacity
How many batteries do I install ? AH capacity increase desired.

Install
What will be required in the install (Cable size, cable lengths, fuse requirements). What are the ABYC requirements for this install?

What is the best battery bank to add this battery or batteries to?

Do I add two batteries to the house bank?

Do I add one battery to the thruster bank and install a parallel switch between the thruster bank and house bank ? This can be a good choice to reduce weight and space. This adds twice the added capacity to the thrusters while docking.It also is Increasing the house battery bank using the two batteries while at anchor. This can be achieved with the install of one battery and a battery switch. Example: Thruster bank now 92ah battery, add an additional you increased the thruster bank by 92ah for those days when wind and current is not in your favor. (thruster bank 184ah) Parallel switch on to house bank you increased the house bank by 184 ah by adding one battery.


The (Adding to the house bank) is a good doable option. Give it some thought as to what you are trying to achieve, benefits, obstacle, disadvantages. Then proceed with your project. Good Luck and have fun with your winter project.

 

[daveme]

Thanks John for sharing your design, your goal was the same as mine is now.
Brian- good idea to bump the thruster battery to help offset the weight of added house battery. Thanks.

 

[JeffRad54]

Speaking of batteries on my 2019 R-27 OB...
Has anyone made a slide out tray on rails for when it comes time to change the Thruster or 2nd house batteries?
Is that even possibly a good idea?

BTW, I LIKE the idea of switching in an extra thruster battery.

Thanks,

 

[nzfisher]

Added two 105 ah gei batteries to house, switched, for the purpose of running radar all night when adrift chasing tuna off Oregon coast. Used cable one size larger than factory cabling. R25 was already prone to favor port side so extra weight on starboard evened it out. Polypropylene tray served to prevent a short between terminals on top of batteries when stuff in port lazarette jumps around. Might not be similar configuration on your model.

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[serpa4]

Yes, I added two 6-volt batteries and installed them on the opposite side of the boat (in battery boxes) for balance. Solved the issue of not being able to spend a second night at anchor without going below 12.2 volts.

I'm picking up my C30 in Mid Jan (2018 model).
I currently have a small 24ft RV with 200 amp hours of batteries (2x200Ah 6volt) and thus 100 amp hours usable at 50 discharge. With that and a single 130 watt panel, I can go for 5+ days.
What on the boat you have consumes so much electricity when you have 400Ah of batteries, 200Ah usable but only get one nights use.
Maybe the fridge in the Cutwater/Rangers..... since my RV is propane and the boat is electric 12v?

Thanks.

 

[forfun1960]

I also have RV with 100 watt panel and propane frig and during decent sunny weather I can run frig for days without issue.

On my R-23 with 200 watt panel and decent sun I can keep up with frig but just barely. And that is turning the frig down to 3 on the temp dial.

So the propane frig doesn't use that may amps and the one on the Tug is pretty hungry.

I have recently put in a cross over switch and cable from my Windless/Thruster battery to house batteries so I can get a few more amps to give me more run time when I need, especially when doing Boater-homing when traveling over the road. . Will be testing that next month on our Florida trip. Will report back later on if that helps.

Hope this helps.

Donnie

 

[knotflying]

Before I made any changes I would determine my requirements. Adding batteries without the need for the additional amperage is not a good use of time, weight and money. Joining the thruster battery with a switch is probably the easiest on cost effectiveness. Changing the solar panel controller to a MPPT type can make a difference as well as adding a panel. Making those two changes could make a difference without adding a lot of weight and running more wire etc. for batteries.

 

[mikey]

thanks for all your input Brian. could you give a description or a wiring diagram of your wiring the thruster battery to your house bank.

 

[Submariner]

Hello,
Has anyone added house battery capacity? Is there room? How much did/would you add? Seems like a useful consideration and good winter project.

Thanks!
Dave Melin

I'd recommend upgrading your solar first if you haven't already. It may reduce or eliminate the need to upgrade your house bank entirely.

 

[BB marine]

thanks for all your input Brian. could you give a description or a wiring diagram of your wiring the thruster battery to your house bank.

There are two ways to do it. (1) add a ON/OFF battery switch and two 2/0 battery cables one cable attached to the thruster battery + terminal and the other cable attached to the House battery + terminal. the two cables attached to the battery switch. When the battery switch is on the thruster and house batteries are parallel. Off isolated.

(2) I used a off /batt 1/ batt2/both switch. This was my inverter battery switch. When switched to batt (1) the inverter was powered by the house battery bank, when on batt 2 the inverter was powered by the thruster battery bank, When on Both the inverter, all house and thrusters when all combined.

 

[mikey]

thank you again for your prompt info Brian . If you are out to the PNW give me a call as I'm in Vancouver BC and do fishing charters so with the every 4 year Adams sockeye return happening in 2022 fishing should be great in front of the Fraser R.

 

[JeffRad54]

thanks for all your input Brian. could you give a description or a wiring diagram of your wiring the thruster battery to your house bank.

There are two ways to do it. (1) add a ON/OFF battery switch and two 2/0 battery cables one cable attached to the thruster battery + terminal and the other cable attached to the House battery + terminal. the two cables attached to the battery switch. When the battery switch is on the thruster and house batteries are parallel. Off isolated.

(2) I used a off /batt 1/ batt2/both switch. This was my inverter battery switch. When switched to batt (1) the inverter was powered by the house battery bank, when on batt 2 the inverter was powered by the thruster battery bank, When on Both the inverter, all house and thrusters when all combined.

I, too, am considering adding to my House Bank capacity. From what I've read / heard to the contrary, is it a good idea to combine 'Starter' type batteries (Rated in CCA) with Deep-Cycle batteries (Rated in Amp Hours) in one bank?
I've no idea what type of battery my Thruster/GenSet Starter battery is, but I would imagine it is of the CCA type.

The last time I anchored out, my V-berth LED lamps would dim when the either of the refrigerators would cycle. Plus, I got warnings of low Radar Input voltage even though my radar was off. I had the batteries tested and they both read good, although one of the house batteries initially failed and passed after being charged. I'd been on shore power for most of the season, so I'm surprised at the low charge.

Additionally, I previously asked if any one had ideas on installing a slide out tray for easier battery access. On my R-27 (2019), the second house battery and thruster batteries are very difficult to access. How do you get to those two anyway?

Thanks,

 

[BB marine]

I, too, am considering adding to my House Bank capacity. From what I've read / heard to the contrary, is it a good idea to combine 'Starter' type batteries (Rated in CCA) with Deep-Cycle batteries (Rated in Amp Hours) in one bank?
I've no idea what type of battery my Thruster/GenSet Starter battery is, but I would imagine it is of the CCA type.

Jeff, I would nor want to combine a engine starting battery with a deep cycle battery for (house bank use) If you have a engine cranking battery for the thruster battery bank. It would not be a good idea to use the battery switch to parallel thruster to house. When my C26 Cutwater was new it came with 3 DP dual purpose batteries with the same rating 2 house bank and 1 thruster. The engine battery was a higher rated CCA battery but still DP dual purpose. I replaced the batteries after the third season because the original installed house batteries would not hold a full charge. I replaced all the batteries with Northstar NSB-AGM 27M Group 27 Battery Purpose. Combining the Dual purpose batteries in any configuration would not be an issue.

I can't help you with the slide out tray. Good luck with that project.

 

[JeffRad54]

I, too, am considering adding to my House Bank capacity. From what I've read / heard to the contrary, is it a good idea to combine 'Starter' type batteries (Rated in CCA) with Deep-Cycle batteries (Rated in Amp Hours) in one bank?
I've no idea what type of battery my Thruster/GenSet Starter battery is, but I would imagine it is of the CCA type.

Jeff, I would nor want to combine a engine starting battery with a deep cycle battery for (house bank use) If you have a engine cranking battery for the thruster battery bank. It would not be a good idea to use the battery switch to parallel thruster to house. When my C26 Cutwater was new it came with 3 DP dual purpose batteries with the same rating 2 house bank and 1 thruster. The engine battery was a higher rated CCA battery but still DP dual purpose. I replaced the batteries after the third season because the original installed house batteries would not hold a full charge. I replaced all the batteries with Northstar NSB-AGM 27M Group 27 Battery Purpose. Combining the Dual purpose batteries in any configuration would not be an issue.

I can't help you with the slide out tray. Good luck with that project.

Thanks for the reply Brian,

I found a very good thread here on upgrading the battery 'system' from Submariner titled R27-OB Electrical Upgrade(s).
I'm going to look into that for a winter project. He also mentioned changing any battery in 5 minutes. I'm definitely interested in how he does that.

I'm glad to see you are still posting here, having moved up to another boat. See you on the AGLCA site.