Charging Anker Solix C1000 Using Alternator

[CaspersCruiser]

On my 2012 R27, I have an Anker Solix C1000 lithium battery to supplement the house batteries when anchored or when shore power is not available. I use it to power the Engel 22qt freezer I added to the boat and to charge phones, watches and the iPad I use for an anchor alarm.

After a night or two at anchor, I tried charging the C1000 a couple times when underway to the next destination using the boat’s 12V power plug at the cave entrance. Each time, the cord from the 12V power plug to the C1000 became very hot, almost too hot to touch. I discontinued charging the C1000 in that manner and charged it only when on shore power.

I really like the C1000, so much so, I recently bought a C2000 for added capacity. The 12V charge cord supplied with the C2000 is much more robust than the one that came with the C1000. I may try charging the C2000 via the 12V power plug again, but I have a couple questions:

1) Is it reasonable to charge such a battery using the stock 12V power plug?

2) Does it stress the boat’s alternator to charge such a high capacity battery?

 

[Red Raven]

Hi Caspers Cruiser,

I have a Jackery 1500 and use it in a similar fashion. We were charging ours from the same 12 volt connection on our 2014 R27 Classic on the way home one day when I smelled burning plastic. After a bit of troubleshooting I determined it was the Jackery connection at the cve entrance. In my case the Jackery Plug was melted as well as the boat receptacle.

I don’t think the cigarette style receptacle and plug should be trusted for this 10A connection. The plug contact is very small and can easily vibrate loose. It is good you stopped using it when you did. I would not recommend using that plug/receptacle style again for charging your Anker. I modified my Jackery 12v charging cable to use the Scotty down-rigger connection in the cockpit. The Scotty Down-rigger style receptacle and plug is rated to 40 amps is more secure and much safer.

If you do not have down-rigger connections on your boat they can easily be added in the cockpit with sufficient wire size and fuse, and used for fishing, crabbing, and shrimping, or just as a swap out in the cave entrance. If you do the swap out at the cave entrance just be sure you label it for 10 amps max don’t plug in any items needing greater than 10 amps as the wiring there likely is not sufficient to handle much more than 10 amps or so even with the higher rated receptacle.

Curt

 

[NorthernFocus]

The alternator isn't likely an issue. The wiring/12v plug is another story. I'm pretty sure the power station shows how many watts are charging. From that you can see what size wiring/connection you need. Amps = watts/12v. The advice above is sound i.e. install a high amp outlet. There may also be a way to turn down the charge rate on the unit.

If you have an inverter on your boat that is another option is to charge it with 120v power. The 12v system from batteries to inverter is designed for relatively high loads.

 

[CaspersCruiser]

Thanks for the insightful replies. I do have unused downrigger wiring on both the starboard and port sides. I will investigate modifying my downrigger wiring in a similar way.

 

[GTilley]

I picked up the same Anker battery recently. They also now come with a variety of different solar panels as well which can help to charge the Anker battery specifically. The solar panels fold up when not in use for pretty easy storage. You can get them on Amazon, but just make sure to include the cables to attach the solar panels to the Anker. I’m planning on using the 200w Anker solar panel to recharge the Anker battery when possible, and will just place the solar panel on top of the Bimini to do so.