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06-22-2020, 11:21 AM
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#1
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Senior Member
City: myrtle beach
Vessel Name: Jubilee
Vessel Model: Marine Trader 36 Sundeck
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 215
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RO Water for Batteries?
Six new Trojan 105's come in this week and the thought occurred to me. Can I use RO water from my watermaker to top off the batts?
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USCG 100 Ton Captain Near Coastal
ASA Certified Instructor
Yacht Broker
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06-22-2020, 11:29 AM
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#2
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Guru
City: Los Angeles
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,487
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Always use distilled because I would be worried that the RO might be malfunctioning.
Also, I have occasionally had a bit of growth in the RO storage tank that needed cleaning.
If you are somewhere so remote you can't get distilled and the batteries are getting
low then RO water will be better than tap water.
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06-22-2020, 11:41 AM
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#3
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Guru
City: Portland, OR
Vessel Name: Our Heaven
Vessel Model: 1997 4800 Navigator
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 801
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Dehumidifier
I would say if you run a dehumidifier on the boat that's better! I typically on a wet day can get a quart to two.
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“Try something you could fail at. We all do things that we can comfortably achieve, but rarely do we set the high bar one notch above what we think we can clear, and that’s what’s driving me on here.” Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Edward Henry Worsley MBE (4 October 1960 – 24 January 2016) Explorer
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06-22-2020, 11:42 AM
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#4
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Guru
City: Nanaimo
Vessel Name: former owner of "Pilitak"
Vessel Model: Nordic Tug 37
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 1,703
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I agree with KY! Carry a gallon of distilled water. It is not that hard to store, and a gallon should last all season (or more).
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Tom
Nanaimo, BC
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06-22-2020, 12:15 PM
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#5
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Guru
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 5,034
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Quote:
Originally Posted by firehoser75
I agree with KY! Carry a gallon of distilled water. It is not that hard to store, and a gallon should last all season (or more).
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I typically go thru more like 2 + gallons per season with 4 GC batteries.
__________________
Jay Leonard
Ex boats: 1983 40 Albin trunk cabin, 1978 Mainship 34 Model 1
New Port Richey, Fl
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06-22-2020, 12:15 PM
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#6
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Guru
City: North Carolina for now
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,348
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This will be handy for you. If you have further questions, call Trojan, they are usually very helpful.
https://www.trojanbattery.com/pdf/Tr...UsersGuide.pdf
__________________
George
"There's the Right Way, the Wrong Way, and what some guy says he's gotten away with"
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06-22-2020, 02:00 PM
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#7
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Guru
City: Gig Harbor
Vessel Name: Kinship
Vessel Model: North Pacific 43
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 9,046
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FWIW, when I was using wet cells, I just used the water off the dehumidifier that we always had running on the boat when we were away from it. I ran the hose from the dehumidifier into a water bottle set in the galley sink. I it would fill up and overflow into the sink. It meant that I always had a convenient amount of distilled water available for the batteries.
The water from the dehumidifer is actually distilled, not RO. I used it for years with no problems.
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06-22-2020, 08:03 PM
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#8
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Guru
City: Nanaimo
Vessel Name: former owner of "Pilitak"
Vessel Model: Nordic Tug 37
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 1,703
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Jay,
I have 6 golf cart house batteries, and use about 1 gallon per cruising season or about 1.5 gallons per year. At $1.49 per gallon, not a big expense!!
I only run a dehumidifier in the winter, so it is definitely better and easier to just use the bottled gallon containers of distilled water for $1.49 each
__________________
Tom
Nanaimo, BC
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06-22-2020, 09:10 PM
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#9
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Guru
City: Los Angeles
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,487
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dhays
FWIW, when I was using wet cells, I just used the water off the dehumidifier that we always had running on the boat when we were away from it. I ran the hose from the dehumidifier into a water bottle set in the galley sink. I it would fill up and overflow into the sink. It meant that I always had a convenient amount of distilled water available for the batteries.
The water from the dehumidifer is actually distilled, not RO. I used it for years with no problems.
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Dehumidifier water contains whatever ions are suspended in the boat environment air.
There is no 'brine' component as there is with RO water. You know that residue that
ends up on surfaces inside your boat before you turn on the dehumidifier? It winds up
in the discharge tank. Then in some cases it winds up in the battery electrolyte.
Kidding aside, there's no comparison to distilled water. Dehumidifier water has no filter
to remove dirt and organics that are routinely airborne along with the moisture.
That being said, flooded batteries contain gallons of electrolyte and some impurities can
be tolerated for sure.
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06-22-2020, 09:32 PM
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#10
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Guru
City: Seattle
Vessel Name: AZZURRA
Vessel Model: Ocean Alexander 54
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 4,281
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I’ve used tap water for years and typically get 8-10 years out of my batteries. I think lack of water is a bigger issue than tap water. Now, I’m not saying tap water is as good as distilled, I’m saying Type of water is less critical than some people make it out to be.
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06-22-2020, 09:48 PM
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#11
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Guru
City: Los Angeles
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,487
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tiltrider1
I’ve used tap water for years and typically get 8-10 years out of my batteries. I think lack of water is a bigger issue than tap water. Now, I’m not saying tap water is as good as distilled, I’m saying Type of water is less critical than some people make it out to be.
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In Seattle you should have been using rain water!
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06-22-2020, 10:15 PM
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#12
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Senior Member
City: Poulsbo
Vessel Name: Water Music
Vessel Model: Grand Banks 49 classic
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 220
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Seems like high boil off, What are your charge and float voltages during operation and when connected to shore power?
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06-22-2020, 10:19 PM
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#13
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Guru
City: Between Oregon and Alaska
Vessel Name: Charlie Harper
Vessel Model: Wheeler Shipyard 83'
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 3,021
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I've been using RO water for more than 10 years. I use 8Dd & 8Dc batteries. Last ones lasted 9.5 years for deep cycle and about 8 for starting. Could have gone longer. Dyno batteries.
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06-23-2020, 05:27 AM
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#14
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Guru
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 22,553
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"In Seattle you should have been using rain water!"
All rain water contains condensation nuclei and should be filtered or at least allowed to settle the dirt for a couple of days.
https://www.google.com/search?client...nsation+nuclei
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06-23-2020, 06:38 AM
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#15
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Guru
City: Cape Cod, MA
Vessel Name: Island Seeker
Vessel Model: Willard 36 Sedan
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,303
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RO water is de-mineralized and fine for storage batteries. Have been using it for decades.
However, some RO systems have re-mineralizers.
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06-23-2020, 09:13 AM
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#16
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Guru
City: gulf coast
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 3,440
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Condensate from a dehumidifier is full of undesirable stuff.
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06-23-2020, 09:24 AM
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#17
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Senior Member
City: myrtle beach
Vessel Name: Jubilee
Vessel Model: Marine Trader 36 Sundeck
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 215
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DennisB1
Seems like high boil off, What are your charge and float voltages during operation and when connected to shore power?
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Our last boat had 440 AH battery bank consisting of four golf cart batteries from Costco. It seems they drank water like crazy. I checked and rechecked charging parameters to make sure that was ok. The charger was a ProNautic charger at 50 amps. Great charger. The only thing I could think of causing all the water usage was that we lived on the hook nine months out of the year depending on those batteries. Three months were in a marina. On the hook, 500 watts of solar took care of charging. I see folks on here using a gallon or so a season and I wish I could say the same. I was using gallons and gallons, to the point it was a nuisance keeping the batts topped up. I would have rather changed the oil then to top the batts.
The current boat has a 660 AH bank so maybe with a little more reserve I won't be drawing the batteries down so deep. With the 440AH they were taken down close to 50% on a regular basis.
__________________
USCG 100 Ton Captain Near Coastal
ASA Certified Instructor
Yacht Broker
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06-23-2020, 09:40 AM
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#18
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Guru
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 22,553
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Hydrocap |
Batts that work hard always require more water than those that mostly sit on a charger.
These caps need to be purchased for your set up and room to install them .
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06-23-2020, 11:07 AM
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#19
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Moderator Emeritus
City: SEWARD ALASKA
Vessel Name: DOS PECES
Vessel Model: BAYLINER 4788
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 6,263
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I’ve used RO water for years and got 9 years out of my last house bank.
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06-23-2020, 11:48 AM
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#20
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Guru
City: Los Angeles
Join Date: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,487
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FF
Hydrocap |
Batts that work hard always require more water than those that mostly sit on a charger.
These caps need to be purchased for your set up and room to install them .
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X2 for Hydrocaps. They seem to last at least as long as the batts and minimize the
need for constant watering.
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