Albin 28 - Upgraded Bow Thruster

[jleighton1977]

i have a 1996 Albin 28 with a failed Vetus 23K Bow Thruster. I've installed a new Vetus BOW45 into the original tunnel. Now it's time to upgrade the power supply. The original cabling is much too small and measures about 48 feet round trip following the original wiring harness. This cable length exceeds the 40 foot Vetus max using the recommended 00 Battery cable and leaves me concerned about electrical drops when using Group 31 AGMs. I'm interested in hearing from Albin 28 owners with larger Vetus BOW45 or 55 bow thrusters. I see two options: 1) try to reduce the cable length to under 40 ft and use the Group 31 starting battery or 2) install a dedicated Group 31 battery near the bow thruster (if you have this configuration, how do you charge the battery).

[Nancy]

Hi Jim --

Just going to paraphrase from our email exchange earlier today. When we installed the new 4512D, we installed a dedicated Group 24 battery under the port dinette seat. We'd already built a shelf in that area, which was amazing for extra storage, and then I had to mostly give it up for a battery.

We decided to go this route because it was easier and less expensive than running two lengths of 2/0 cable from the center bilge to the bow.

I don't remember the details of the charging setup, but I'm pretty sure it's only off the battery charger. New owner Mike Gutshall might be able to confirm.

I know Vetus specs a Group 31, but that just seemed excessive. Our mechanic said:
>>The battery we put in it has more cca and mca than the 31 series. 31 series is 675 cca and 845 mca. The 24 series is 800 cca and 1000 mca. Much more cranking power on demand.Also the 24 is smaller so it fit better in the space.<<

dinette settee shelf-1-082812-1600.JPG

dinette settee shelf-2-082812-1600.JPG