I've got the wiring catalog for my current *engine room* setup, and I have some items I'm going to be adding to the engine connectins (tach/vacuum/waterflow/fuel pressure) that I need to acquire over the next little while. Boat should be coming out on the hard in mid october and my projects will engage then. There are *tons* of good reading in this forum on electrical issues, and I've read quite a number of them.
I'm trying valiantly to understand the different methods of keeping a *house bank* charged. Currently (pun intended) *as far as I know at the moment* my boat has 2 batteries on board and they are both being topped off my the shore power connection through a (charger/inverter) that doesn't seem likely to do anything else at all. I have two 110v AC plugs on the boat but have not managed to chase down the wiring path for those and (at the moment) have this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that there is *no* AC breaker anywhere other than the one on the pier. (the item labelled 110v MASTER breaker does nothing and has no connections at this time.)
I would *like* to consider the following:
a) properly protect the 110v circuits on the boat with a breaker. I'm guessing that the amperage of that breaker should be appropriate to the *charging* side as well as the individual 110v curcuits having breakers appropriate to the usecase of the endpoint.
b) adding a new "engine" battery and moving the two current batteries to 'house duty'
c) I get the impression that to do this properly and ensure that all batteries get charged appropriately one needs a device that manages input power (from alternator/shore/solar/wind) and handles each battery target based on its cycle/duty state. I rather expect that it will be complex to install correctly and cost a small fortune. But if I want to go down hte long path I may need that facility.
d) I see a lot of commentary about not spinning the battery selector through OFF while the engine is running. I've not touched the red dial battery selector on my boat. I suspect that I should remove/disconnect both of the batteries before I even consider that as at this moment, I only see *one* wire connected to the battery selector switch, and because I've not gotten deep enough in that space I'm not sure what that connects to. (under stbd settee, by the 'chart table' station)
e) for a 28' day cruiser that can potentially sleep 6, does not have (at this moment) a stove/oven but does have an icebox and a BBQ and a hotplate, *is it worth* considering an inverter to pull power off the house bank in DC and convert it to AC?
f) if I can lay my hands on the 3 80w semi-flexible solar panels that I *technically* have space for over the transom, given that I draw up the rest of the electricals, is it possible that someone here could advise on how to connect them most effectively?
I do have pics, sadly at this moment, the sd card they are on is drying out after going for a swim this weekend (my own stupidity) and I will put them in my gallery and link them to appropriate posts.
I'm trying valiantly to understand the different methods of keeping a *house bank* charged. Currently (pun intended) *as far as I know at the moment* my boat has 2 batteries on board and they are both being topped off my the shore power connection through a (charger/inverter) that doesn't seem likely to do anything else at all. I have two 110v AC plugs on the boat but have not managed to chase down the wiring path for those and (at the moment) have this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that there is *no* AC breaker anywhere other than the one on the pier. (the item labelled 110v MASTER breaker does nothing and has no connections at this time.)
I would *like* to consider the following:
a) properly protect the 110v circuits on the boat with a breaker. I'm guessing that the amperage of that breaker should be appropriate to the *charging* side as well as the individual 110v curcuits having breakers appropriate to the usecase of the endpoint.
b) adding a new "engine" battery and moving the two current batteries to 'house duty'
c) I get the impression that to do this properly and ensure that all batteries get charged appropriately one needs a device that manages input power (from alternator/shore/solar/wind) and handles each battery target based on its cycle/duty state. I rather expect that it will be complex to install correctly and cost a small fortune. But if I want to go down hte long path I may need that facility.
d) I see a lot of commentary about not spinning the battery selector through OFF while the engine is running. I've not touched the red dial battery selector on my boat. I suspect that I should remove/disconnect both of the batteries before I even consider that as at this moment, I only see *one* wire connected to the battery selector switch, and because I've not gotten deep enough in that space I'm not sure what that connects to. (under stbd settee, by the 'chart table' station)
e) for a 28' day cruiser that can potentially sleep 6, does not have (at this moment) a stove/oven but does have an icebox and a BBQ and a hotplate, *is it worth* considering an inverter to pull power off the house bank in DC and convert it to AC?
f) if I can lay my hands on the 3 80w semi-flexible solar panels that I *technically* have space for over the transom, given that I draw up the rest of the electricals, is it possible that someone here could advise on how to connect them most effectively?
I do have pics, sadly at this moment, the sd card they are on is drying out after going for a swim this weekend (my own stupidity) and I will put them in my gallery and link them to appropriate posts.
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