what battery should be house

[saltshaker28]

On my 28 te with a yanmar 315 there are two batteries a 27 series and a big 4d what one should be the house and what one should be the engine battery at the battery switch there are two labels one says house and the other says engine?

[RobS]

The 4D is likely the start (engine) battery

[saltshaker28]

I do not have a generator and the 4d is the engine battery but when we go away for the weekend and are on a mooring my 27 series goes dead from using the refrigerater ect I would think the 4d should run the house?

[mike66]

A group 27 is very small to expect to run a refrigerator for more than a day. You'll need to run the engine a few hours/day or get more deep cycle battery capacity. http://www.victronenergy.com/upload/doc ... imited.pdf

[DougSea]

... I would think the 4d should run the house?

Perhaps the only thing worse than warm beer in the fridge is the "click" of an engine that won't start.

The correct answer for your situation is a better house bank, not using the 4D! As Mike notes, the single group 27 is inadequate for your use.

[saltshaker28]

Doug that is the way Albin built the boat should I change things and if so how?

[DougSea]

Doug that is the way Albin built the boat should I change things and if so how?

Well, first would be to look at how your existing batteries are arranged, both electrically and physically.

The most straight forward, depending on room, would be to increase the size of your house battery, and next up would be to add a second battery to the house bank. Sonny III had two Group 31's as it's house bank, and an 8D for engine start. If memory serves she was good for an overnight, and then I'd need to charge. (Plus running the engine heated the water heater for showering!)

And you need to be realistic. If you have a lot of electrical loads and a small to modest house bank you WILL need to charge the bank by running the engine on occasion. You can extend time between charges by being more careful with your power use. Keep that refrigerator full and don't open the door very often. Change your lighting over to LED if you haven't already. Don't run the stereo too much.

Also, as noted above, you want to have the right type of battery. You want a deep cycle for your house battery as this will give you more usable capacity and can withstand being deeply discharged much better that a cranking battery.

One thing to keep in mind is to not mix battery chemistry's. This is to make sure that you don't have charging problems. You almost certainly have lead-acid batteries now, so don't try adding an AGM (for example) unless you change both batteries and your charger settings.

That should get you started!

[RobS]

The fridge has a thermostat so yes it will be most efficient the easier you make it's job. Freeze anything possible before you put it in the fridge. Let the fridge run and maintain it's temperature, shutting it off for periods only causes it to run for an extended period. When you run the boat make sure your battery selector switch is set right to charge what you want charged.

[saltshaker28]

thanks for the info guys I have to do some research as to where I can fit another battery in my bildge

[Chris & Dale]

I had the exact same setup when we bought Steel Hers. Since we wanted to cruise, hang on the hook, etc., and didn't have a generator I took a different approach. Here's a link to the post on our Battery Upgrade project:

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=5951

We now have the battery capacity we need and without a generator. There is a bountiful wealth of information on this site that will guide you in any direction you wish to go. Good Luck!

[saltshaker28]

Great thanks

[Pitou]

One more addition -

Original set-up from Albin was: Engine - 4D for starting
House - Group 27

Ken at Standish advised that when on the hook and away from shore power that I should shut down the House at night or else the fridge would drain down the Group 27 by morning. He was right and I decided to upgrade the House Bank.

Upgrade:

House - 2 / 6 volt golf cart batteries providing 340 amp hours. Since the upgrade, I never had issue & my fridge is 12 volt only as well and I stopped turning off the House at night.

The House was also used to run the 1800 Pro-sine inverter from Xantrex for a quick spin of the microwave or a pot of coffee. The 2 golf cart batteries were a major important improvement.

To conserve amp hrs., all lighting was upgraded to LED as well.

[bccanucker]

Suggest you look at whether 340 amp hours is really correct. Last I bought a 12V set of 2 6V golf cart batteries should be about 230 amp hours. And don't forget, for a longer life of your battery you should only use 50% (115 amp hours) before recharging

[saltshaker28]

Pitou where did you fit the golf cart batterys?

[Pitou]

Suggest you look at whether 340 amp hours is really correct. Last I bought a 12V set of 2 6V golf cart batteries should be about 230 amp hours. And don't forget, for a longer life of your battery you should only use 50% (115 amp hours) before recharging

The 340 Reserve Capacity on the 2 golf cart batteries combined is correct. These were very heavily plated Exide bats that were replacing my first upgraded house battery which was a 4D Rolls Battery that was a 6 cell bolt together at a Reserve Capacity of 344 amps. When I had purchased the Rolls it was $ 600 and a new one was about $ 875. No way I was doing that. Rolls Battery of New England in Salem, MA is where I shop for batteries and they suggested the 2 Exides to achieve almost the same Reserve Capacity for about $ 350. You are correct that you only should use approx. 50%. These were their top of the line and are now on their 4th season. Exide also had lesser golf cart batteries at lower Reserve capacity.

Pitou where did you fit the golf cart batterys?

I boxed all of my batteries in Dyna Battery Boxes. Nice sturdy polyethelyne boxes that took up the smallest footprint that I could find. Fisheries Supply carries them.

Here are a couple of pictures. The first is of the boxed Rolls Battery (red box) and the second is of the 2 Exides boxed in Dyna battery box sized for 2 golf carts (white box). My Group 27 was in this location as well.

2Small-2.jpg

IMAG0063 (640x480).jpg