Battery Winterization - or lack thereof

[rpmerrill]

This one should be a pretty easy question but it will probably generate a dozen different postings (and opinions).

This is my first winter with the BAY RANGER. She is hauled out on blocks and stands. Plus shrink wrapped.
She is only about three miles from home and I have several projects planned so she will be well attended.

All battery switches turned off and all ckt breakers and switches are off. However, I still have the solar panel and charger running. AND, even under the shrink wrap, it is still putting out but at a reduced rate. I check the battery voltages every time I stop by the boat and I'm going to start watching the charging amperage. Yesterday is was partly cloudy and a bit overcast .... running at 1/2 to 1 amp. (AGM batteries)

Is this a good idea?

 

[Osprey]

One concern I might raise is "are the ACRs closing?" On my R-27, the factory setup of the Morningstar Solar Controller's battery charging priority was 90% engine / 10% house. If the ACRs close, then there is essentially one multi-battery bank such that all batteries are receiving more or less equal charge current. (could vary somewhat depending on the condition of a particular battery). This is okay for storage maintenance. However, If the ACRs remain open then the engine gets most current, the house not much and the thruster battery none at all. This is not good. One can determine the ACR open/closed status by looking for a green light display on the ACR housing. If you see green on, then the ACR is closed i.e. the battery pair connected to that ACR are linked.

 

[R Baker]

I too depend on the solar charger to look after the AGM batteries over the 6+ months of winter; and it has. I leave the combiner switch set so all batteries act as one. That overcomes the 90 / 10 split. The boat is stored inside a fabric covered barn and there is enough light transmitted to keep the system working. By pressing the two buttons on the solar control panel, it will be reset to 0; so you will be able to see the solar amp hours added to the battery over the winter.

 

[rpmerrill]

Green light on the ACR... never seen it, never looked.
I'll check.

The "combiner switch" I'm assuming is the Parallel switch?
Good idea.

Thanks

 

[Osprey]

My understanding is that the "parallel" battery switch combines the house and starter batteries. So yes, it would take care of the solar controller 90/10 issue. However, the thruster battery is not part of this paralleling. In order to keep the thruster battery charged there needs to be sufficient circuit voltage present to close the ACR. The require voltage is certainly present on my R27 with the solar panel fully exposed to the sky. What I was wondering is "does sufficient light penetrate the shrink wrap to allow the panel to generate the required voltage ?". "Yes" or "no" depends on the nature of the wrap. The green light will answer this question.
While on the topic of the ACR green light, the light can be "on", or "off", or "slow flashing", or "fast flashing". Each behavior conveys important information. Go to the bluesea.com web site for a complete explanation. Previous threads on the Tugnuts site have covered the same information.
Owner Modifications
The above relates to an unmodified factory setup. One modification I have done is change the controller charging priority from 90% engine / 10% house to the reverse: 90% house/ 10% engine. A 50/50 setup is also available. I did the flip because I often anchor for a few days at a time. At anchor the house batteries have to provide power for lights, the refrigerator , the furnace and whatever. I depend on the panel output to keep the house battery sufficiently charged. The engine battery needs little charging during the anchoring interval. Note, however, that with the ACRs closed the controller priority setting is mute.
Another modification is that I have wired in an additional paralleling battery switch which links the thruster battery to the house batteries. Two benefits here are I now have 3 batteries to support loads when at anchor and 3 batteries to run the thrusters. See earlier threads for a fuller description here. Knotflying comes to mind as one poster who has clearly covered this topic.

 

[LAKERtoo]

.. not to hijack the thread, but related question .. does keeping the 120V controller left hooked up to maintain the batteries (R211 Classic ), protect the batteries from freezing ? .. boat is under tarp, on the trailer, with circulating fan in the aft end (no heat) to take care of condensation .. air flow comes in from bow and exits stern .. engine box is propped open .. so far bone dry .. TIA .. Rob

 

[R Baker]

My parallel switch has two settings, 1 and 2 plus off. So the 1 setting adds the starting battery to the house bank, and the 2 setting creates one banks of all six batteries. All three battery voltages indicators on the panel volt meter read the same on this setting, so I assume 2 combines all.

 

[Osprey]

Regarding LAKERtoo's question regarding battery freezing, batteries keep fully charged are not prone to freezing. This would be particularly true for the winter lowest temperatures expected at your location.

 

[Osprey]

R. Baker, from what you describe in your last post, i.e. a second "on" position for your parallel switch and equal V for three voltmeter settings, I agree that your boat has the option of paralleling all 6 batteries. This assumes that the equal readings are not the result of ACRs being closed - unlikely I would expect. I looked up the relevant circuit diagram for a R29 and the diagram shows only single "on" position for this switch. It would appear that the double "on" option was added after the circuit diagram was prepared. The diagram for my R27 also shows a single "on" position. Perhaps I need to take a closer look at the actual circuit.

 

[Levitation]

Trickle current during the bright part of the day from your solar panels is perfect for keeping the batteries from sulphating.
Check that all batteries show the charge voltage, including the thruster - use a VOM at each battery to check, not the gauges up front
(the factory's less than stellar wiring practices always leave room for doubt)
A jumper from the positive pole of the house set to the positive pole of any battery not charging will solve that
(all negatives are tied together and don't require you to do anything).
The jumper wire can be small, it will be carrying less than an amp of current - a small alligator clip jumper is perfect..

 

[rpmerrill]

OK, that 90/10 thing is new to me.
I looked at my solar panel controller, Blue Sky 3024i, and at the manual and see nothing about 90/10 or otherwise.

I did find out where the LED's are on the charging relays. Probably won't see them in action until next spring when attached to shore power or have the engine running. I learn new stuff every day.

That being said, I started to look around to see where the Blue Sky output goes and where it enters into the battery group. I gave up. The wires disappear into a harness that disappears into strange spaces. And it is not shown on my R-27 Manual wiring diagram. Anyone care to jump in here?


I did find a couple wires hanging loose in the battery compartment. Was able to follow them back to a cockpit fusebox. "Downriggers" with 40 amp fuses. One for port and one for starboard. I just checked on Al Gore's amazing internet and I'm pretty sure I don't have them. BUT I have the wires and fuses. (Optional item but I know the previous owner was not a fisherman.) Now that I think about it, I wonder if the fuses are blown. (Stay tuned.)

 

[Osprey]

The 90/10 issue relates to a Morningstar SunSaver Duo Solar Controller. It has two sets of output terminals which connect to two batteries (banks). Morningstar is the controller the factory installs. Your Blue Sky 3024 is a different unit possible installed post factory. My brief internet search leads me to believe the Blue Sky basic unit only has a single output (but options seem to be available.)
The downrigger wires and 40 A fuses you located were a standard feature of my R-27. The related circuit is shown in the R27 user manual. Normally they do not "hang down" but are inside a plastic "conduit" pipe along with a host of other wires.
There are also backing plates in place should you wish to install downriggers. You will have noticed that on both port and starboard sides there are sections of SS railing that can be lifted out. Removal of the rail sections yields a place to install the downriggers.

 

[Red Raven]

Regarding the 90/10 settings on the Morningstar controller and add to what Osprey has correctly written. Note that per the Morningstar manual the preset is 90/10 for the house/engine combo. The problem is that Ranger hooks up the engine as battery 1 and the house as battery 2 which is the opposite of what the Morningstar manual states and thus the preset becomes 90% engine and 10% house which is not what Morningstar intended nor likely what most would want.

I switched ours to 50/50. I could not find a setting for 10/90 without swapping the wires to the battery. Doing this swap would be confusing because the main panel uses house as battery 2. I don't want to have to remember that the Morningstar is different. In any case as noted earlier it is all moot as the ACR will combine the batts when it sees a charging voltage applied.

Just an interesting point about the factory setup.

 

[knotflying]

Keep in mind that the (at least my understanding) the ACR's open and close depending on charge state. I assume that also happens during charging by the solar panel. If that is true, how you have the morningstar set eventually won't matter because the ACR's will eventually joint them at some point during the charging cycle.