Arthurc
Guru
Hi All,
I’m starting to spend many nights aboard her now and am finding that after a full night the main battery bank gets pretty low and the voltage drops below 11.5 volts. The problem I am having is that my equipment in the pilothouse is a bit more sensitive to voltage and also does use a decent amount of power since I run things like an 8 camera NVR at all times, etc. While I know I could spend time figuring out what to turn off I thought it might make more sense and give me more flexibility to add a second battery bank. I dont have much time to get this designed before I leave north so hoping for some suggestions. Also I already researched the Autostart generator option and thanks to great feedback from this group decided that’s not the right way to address this.
My boat currently has an Xantrex 3012 that charges the main bank (6v batteries, 12v system). The power then goes to two panels, one in the main salon which controls all the house systems (plumbing, lights, etc). And then a second panel in the pilothouse which just does running lights and electronics. There are a set of large power (+/-) cables running up to the pilothouse for this but no room to add a second set of cables.
My question is:
Would I either be able to add a second battery bank in the pilothouse charged by the 3012, the complication I see is that I only have that one set of power cables running up to the pilothouse.
Or what about adding a totally separate bank, charged by a 40a charger powered off the 110v inverter power in the pilothouse which would allow for full charging under power and prioritize charging the electronics/critical batteries versus the house system. If I did the separate system I would put a selector switch so the pilothouse panel could be powered by either the house bank or upper bank. This could be handy should the bilge ever flood (hopefully never).
I know little to nothing about proper DC power system design and could use some pointers in the right direction.
Thanks!
Arthur
I’m starting to spend many nights aboard her now and am finding that after a full night the main battery bank gets pretty low and the voltage drops below 11.5 volts. The problem I am having is that my equipment in the pilothouse is a bit more sensitive to voltage and also does use a decent amount of power since I run things like an 8 camera NVR at all times, etc. While I know I could spend time figuring out what to turn off I thought it might make more sense and give me more flexibility to add a second battery bank. I dont have much time to get this designed before I leave north so hoping for some suggestions. Also I already researched the Autostart generator option and thanks to great feedback from this group decided that’s not the right way to address this.
My boat currently has an Xantrex 3012 that charges the main bank (6v batteries, 12v system). The power then goes to two panels, one in the main salon which controls all the house systems (plumbing, lights, etc). And then a second panel in the pilothouse which just does running lights and electronics. There are a set of large power (+/-) cables running up to the pilothouse for this but no room to add a second set of cables.
My question is:
Would I either be able to add a second battery bank in the pilothouse charged by the 3012, the complication I see is that I only have that one set of power cables running up to the pilothouse.
Or what about adding a totally separate bank, charged by a 40a charger powered off the 110v inverter power in the pilothouse which would allow for full charging under power and prioritize charging the electronics/critical batteries versus the house system. If I did the separate system I would put a selector switch so the pilothouse panel could be powered by either the house bank or upper bank. This could be handy should the bilge ever flood (hopefully never).
I know little to nothing about proper DC power system design and could use some pointers in the right direction.
Thanks!
Arthur