batteries, bilge, booklet, anchor

[clyons]

New owner of 2000 Albin TE. Boating experience mostly fishing in workboat, edgewater. Looking to do more cruising, adventures. Boat in excellent condition, but having to find my way a bit. Four questions:

1. Have big battery, small battery. Received conflicting opinions for overnight. Do accessories run off of big battery or small battery. I thought small battery should be saved just for starting but got an opinion that it is the reverse.
2. Amazing self drain and drying on boat (went through edge of Irene on the Chesapeake just fine). But there is a little standing water in the bilge below the platform where the batteries sit. Don't know its source. Pump does not seem to totaly suck it up. Not a big problem.
3. No instruction booklet for the boat. Is there a place for old instruction booklets?
4. The plow anchor did not set well so we went w/ Danforth w/ chain but does not sit flat in the space for the anchor stem because chain wrapped around clete raises it. Need someway of keeping anchor flat or a raised block to stabelize in rough weather.

Lots to ask. Thanks for any help.

[jcollins]

Congratulations on the new boat! I'll give my 2 cents on a couple of your questions. Others will jump in as well.

1. - Usually the "big" battery is the house battery. The "small" battery is reserved for starting after a night or two on the hook. Be sure they are separate so you don't kill both of them.

2. Standing water in the bilge is a common concern around here. Use the search function for related posts.

3. There is information in the document library. When you become a supporting member you'll have access.

4. I really can't comment on this. I have a plow and haven't had problems getting it set. I'm on the Chesapeake as well. Most of my anchoring has been in muck and sand.

[Pitou]

Welcome to AOG.
Something said here often is that all of the same models are the same, but different.

1. Battery set-up : In the battery set-up page in the documents library it shows that on your selector switch 1 = House battery 2 = Starting battery. Both will make House & Starting batteries live. I would start this sequence and be sure which position on the selector switch matches your boat. After determining which position is for which battery I would then disconnect the terminals on one battery to determine which battery is connected to 1 or 2. Who knows which battery goes where. My boat was set-up by Albin with the larger battery (4D) as Starting aand a Group 27 as House. The House was inadequate for a full day on the hook or overnight with the fridge running. I swapped the House out with another 4D then a few years later with 2 6 volt Golf Cart batteries ... things were fine after the 2 swap outs.

2. Standing water : I'm assuming your batteries sit under the hatch in between the helm & companion seats / perfectly normal : here's a good link that will take care of that at some point if you get itchy :http://albinowners.net/aog/viewtopic.php?t=785

3. Supporting members have access to the documents library.

4. My 22 lb. Delta Plow works great in all conditions ... remember : at least 30 ft. of chain / lack of chain is often a culprit of an anchor not setting.

[RobS]

My 2000 had a house 31 and a starting 4D from the factory. Now has 2 4D's. Do you have a 14 or 22lb plow. No issues with my 22. What hull number is your 2000?

[Russell]

I do not like to have water sitting in the area under the hatch so when I am returning to the harbor I switch on the bilge pump before coming down off the plane. Once the boat is level that water will not run back into the deeper part of the bilge. The bilge seems to slant forward from just in front of the engine. I thought about filling it in with something but have not been irritated enough to get around to it.