Adding batts to house bank, remote location

[Dougcole]

Hi All,


I currently have a house bank comprised of 4 6V LA golf cart batts, installed in December of 2019. At the same time I put in the new batts I also installed a SOC monitor. I'd like to add 2 more batteries to the bank, but don't have room on the port side shelf in the ER where the current bank sits. I do have room on the stb side ER battery shelf, which is about 4' away (one way) from the current house bank.


I understand voltage drop as it applies to applies to whatever is using the voltage, but not so much as it would apply in this situation. I know that I would need to run heavy cables, but would it be feasible to split the bank into two spots?


On the same topic, I'm trying to think out of the box a little on this. My galley fridge, which sits very close to the shelf on the stb side, is my single biggest draw. I wonder if perhaps it might be better to create a stand alone bank on the stb side, with a dedicated charger, that only powers the fridge? Downside to this, I think, would be the complicated alternator wiring from two engines, a start bank and two house banks.


Thanks for any thoughts from the brain trust in advance.

 

[Larry M]

We have 10 Golf cart batteries on Hobo. Six on the port side and 4 on the starboard side in the ER. All the cabling is 2/0 except the positive and negative leads to the inverter with are 4/0. It’s work fine for 13 years. I did have to pay attention to how they were wired so positive and negative leads for charging and inverting come from opposite ends of the battery chain. Is it perfect, no, but we just replaced the batteries yesterday after 6 years and they weren’t dead yet.

 

[FlyWright]

You also have the option of a separate 2-battery bank charged with an ACR/Combiner off the main house bank. When the charge is present, they both share the charge. When the charge ends, they are isolated banks for their respective loads.

 

[Dougcole]

You also have the option of a separate 2-battery bank charged with an ACR/Combiner off the main house bank. When the charge is present, they both share the charge. When the charge ends, they are isolated banks for their respective loads.

That's a good thought. I currently have an ACR between my start bank and house bank. Would it be kosher to have a second ACR between the two new house banks?

 

[rgano]

Hop-scotching ACRs should be no problem. I like the LED option allowing me to see at the helm that my ACR is closed when the alternator/charger is providing charging voltage.