R21 house-battery capacity

S

Steamboat_Willie

Active member
Joined
Nov 27, 2008
Messages
28
Fluid Motion Model
C-24 C SE
Vessel Name
Steamboat Willie
I'm having an issue with the overall capacity of the house battery on our 2008 R21 "Steamboat Willie". Willie sits in slip at a lake here in northern NJ and we normally only get to use it on the weekends. During the week I've got a small Sunsei SE-700 solar trickle charger connected to the house battery to keep it topped off so that there's enough power to source the on-demand operation of the bilge pump. Between the bilge pump and the cockpit canvas cover we installed the residual water down in the bilge with any appreciable rain is kept to a minimum. (thankfully)

However we're disappointed that we really don't have all that much "useable" capacity with the house battery to operate the other electrical accessories on the boat. (The engine starting battery seems to not be an issue.) While staying on the boat for the weekend we've accidently left the wash basin water pump electrical switch in the "ON" position and in a matter of an hour or so (maybe?) the house battery was dead. (we ran the engine for about 20 minutes to give it a quick re-charge.) Same disappointment when attempting to use the frig or radio/CD player as well. Unfortunately there is no 110 shore power available at our particular marina. I did replace out the single channel Guest brand charger that came with our 2008 model with the 2 channel model last fall so that I could keep both batteries maintained during winter storage. I have not however tested the battery cells with a hydrometer. (that's next.) What's the typical life span of those batteries?

I'm thinking of changing out the EXIDE battery that came from the factory with a sealed Optima BlueTop marine battery which I've used before and seems to work well. Also, has anyone installed an SECOND house battery to address this capacity issue? I'm thinking of maybe putting this additional battery up in the storage area under the forward vee-berth sleeping quarters and running heavy gauge wire back to the battery box at the engine and connecting it in parallel with the existing house battery. Any suggestions or comments from prior experience appreciated.
Thanks. Hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe boating season.
Ed
 
First thing, I'd get a "draw" test done on your batteries to make sure they're worth saving. It wouldn't be the first time batterries have gone bad after 3 years. I take mine to a local golf cart place to get the batteries checked. When removing them, do yourself a favor by "zip-tying" the cables and wires for each terminal together so you don't mess up the re-install.
Too much chargeing can be as bad as too little by "boiling" off the water and exposing the cells to air if not topped off religiously. Sometimes a battery ( i've been told) can be saved by "conditioning" but I haven't had much luck in that.

My favourite battery for the buck is the Trojan AGM group 27 deep cycle...no more top ups. vibration proof for those long trailer rides. If you want to put another battery in the pilothouse they won't gas off enough hydrogen to be a problem in the enclosed space (boom!). Check with the local police or fire dept to see where they buy their batteries for emergency vehicles because often that guy will have excellent used agm's (cops etc..change them annually and usually use deep cycles in their vehicles) At least they do it around here (and SanDiego where I used to live). AGM's ain't cheap, but if you can get one year old "surplus" batteries from a reputable dealer for half the cost of new replace both batteries, you may find no need for that extra house battery.
 
I would definitely get the batteries load or draw tested like jack said. West marine should be able to do that for you too. Depending on your batteries many companies offer 3 year warranties so you can just swap them out for free. I have good luck the seavolts group 24's from west marine (they have a good return policy). If you are going to add a second battery i would switch to 6 volts for the house batteries. Your average seavolt 12volt Group 24 battery has 65 "Amp hours" (which is everything when talking about house batteries). When you make the switch to Two 6 volts wired in series, ie. from negative terminal on the first battery to the positive terminal on the second battery it jumps it to 12 volts, you will have 215 amp hours, for the cheaper of the two choices from west marine, and 370 amp hours for the more expensive. If you don't have 110 at the dock the two six volts would be a great way to go. A little pricey but you would NEVER have to worry about them failing on you. In case you don't know an amp hour is the ability to run a single amp for 1 hour. So if you add up your boats demand (stereo- 2 amps, frig- 6 amps, courtesy lights- 2 amps, just guessing on the numbers) your boat draws 10 amps an hours so with a group 24 you can run that load for 6.5 hours and with two six volts you can run it for 21.5 hours or 37 hours. I would put the start battery under the back bench and put the house bank in the engine compartment. Hope this helps

Shaun
 
I just had to replace both of my EXIDE house batteries. They are just over 3 years old. They would lose charge very quickly (2-3 hours) where, in the past, they would last 8-12 hours during normal usage.
 
I think I'm going to go the conservative route and replace both batteries. Even if I pull both out and have them stress tested under load they'll still be "suspect" (at best) in my mind and I'll lose sleep! I'll look into the Trojan AGM group 27 deep cycle one recommended. I would think that the physical dimensions for that battery are the same as the EXIDE's in order for it to fit in the existing battery bank tray. Great info. Thanks for your insight.
Ed
 
I have been driving boats around for 40 years.
I go to Wall-Mart and get the cheapest Deep Cylcle batteries they have.
Every three years I replace them with new ones.
I do the same thing with my car.
I have never had a battery related problem.
Am I just lucky, or am I on to something here?
 
Looks like the Exides in my R21 are size group 24's and not 27's. I looked at my notes and measurements and my dimensions match those of the group 24 size. The group 27 size would not fit in the battery compartment. Since there's already grp 24's in there, I can replace with the same size.
 
I have been down the same road on this topic with the Laurie Ann and some other projects. Jack's advice is right on about doing an assessment. In three years, I have replaced all but the starting battery. I am a huge fan of the twin 6 volt batteries as described in this thread. Now, we can be "off the grid," not run the engine and be comfortable on only battery power for 4 days. No, we do not have solar or a generator.
 
The original Exide's in my 07 R21EC were never right from delivery. I replaced them with WalMart group 24's and got two and a half years out of them. I just replaced them again with the 100 amp hour deep cycle/starting variety at WalMart. Cost was something like $65 each. I am like others in that I don't want to worry about batteries... I figure $65 a year is a small price to pay for peace of mind. I have had great luck with having a couple of spare portable batteries aboard as well. I run a couple of extravagances off them and leave my permanently installed batteries for the critical functions. I am now experimenting with a solar panel to be mounted between the foward handholds on the pilot house to see how much additional charging I can get from the 18 watt panel. It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

Texas Steve
 
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