My turn for battery’s

Currently I have 10 Crown CR-225 6volt for the house batteries.
The mains have a total of 4 8D’s that are separate from all systems.
The bow truster and windless have their own set of 2-12v AGM’s.
The gen set has one 12v starter battery on its own system.
15k gen set
Old appliances,
Newer 4000 magnum? Inverter.
We like to stay out on the hook 75-80% of the time.
This averages about 3 nights in a row, 10-15 times a year. The rest of the time we have shore power

The 6v house batteries need to be replaced.
What would you replace them with and why?
We plan on keeping the boat for 5+ years.
But don’t want to reinvent the wheel.

My gut says replace with a sim size maintenance free.
My Cousins say to use
Ampere Time 12V 300Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate LiFePO4 Deep Cycle Battery, Built-in 200A BMS, 4000+ Cycles, 400amp Max, Perfect for RV, Solar, Marine, Overland, Off-Grid, etc.

But I think they are something like 3 Times the cost for twice the lifetime?

I don’t know much of anything about this stuff.

Thanks for the help.

I like Dyno batteries. Made in Ballard. High quality, heavy built, commercial boats like 'em. Flooded lead acid so you have to be OK with routine maintenance.

http://www.dynobattery.com/

Thank you Sir. I will call them tomorrow.

You seem to have too many, no, WAY too many batteries. Why?
If you are running Air Conditioning off your inverter, plus a residential fridge, +++, then OK, but aren't you in Everett? So no, you don't need that many.
If you have a residential fridge on the inverter, plus normal DC loads, 8 GCs for house, 1 4D for all starts, plus 1 car size for bow thruster. You don't need a separate windlass battery, it can use any of the others. If you have a DC firdge, you only need 4 GC FLAs for house loads.

If you are only thinking of 5 years in that boat, you won't benefit in longevity by going beyond ordinary FLA batteries. They typically last far longer than 5 years. I got 10 out of my last set, the current set are 6 to 8 and going strong.

koliver said:

You seem to have too many, no, WAY too many batteries. Why?
If you are running Air Conditioning off your inverter, plus a residential fridge, +++, then OK, but aren't you in Everett? So no, you don't need that many.
If you have a residential fridge on the inverter, plus normal DC loads, 8 GCs for house, 1 4D for all starts, plus 1 car size for bow thruster. You don't need a separate windlass battery, it can use any of the others. If you have a DC firdge, you only need 4 GC FLAs for house loads.

If you are only thinking of 5 years in that boat, you won't benefit in longevity by going beyond ordinary FLA batteries. They typically last far longer than 5 years. I got 10 out of my last set, the current set are 6 to 8 and going strong.

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No AC, But run the webasco in the winter.
Residential fridge in the kitchen, separate Ice maker, separate freezer. Lights, would not mind running the toaster, mico,coffee in the am with no gen set.
2x12v AMG's for 24v for the Bow/Windless.
4 8D's for the starting engines
1 12v for the gen set

What is a typical Amp hour boat?
How many hours do they figure between charges?

If you're looking to simplify, ditch the genset start battery and give the genset a switch to select which of the engine start banks it cranks from. Otherwise, there's nothing wrong with having a big house bank, especially if you don't have solar. Being able to go 2 - 3 days before needing to recharge is a nice convenience.

rslifkin said:

If you're looking to simplify, ditch the genset start battery

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To me the genset battery is like the red "break glass and pull handle". NOTHING is attached to it other than the genny itself. If somehow I mess up and deplete all sources of DC power below usable I can start my generator and get back in business.

So funny story. Friend of mine was working on large passenger ship many decades ago. They're holding position outside Casablanca in heavy weather waiting for it to calm down so they can go in. At some point the ship takes a monster wave on the beam and rolls just about on it's side. At that point every engine and generator shuts down due to low oil alarms..... Except one. One generator with a faulty low oil alarm which had been bypassed and put on close watch.... That got them going again or they would have been "Not Under Command" for the duration.

oscar said:

To me the genset battery is like the red "break glass and pull handle". NOTHING is attached to it other than the genny itself. If somehow I mess up and deplete all sources of DC power below usable I can start my generator and get back in business.

So funny story. Friend of mine was working on large passenger ship many decades ago. They're holding position outside Casablanca in heavy weather waiting for it to calm down so they can go in. At some point the ship takes a monster wave on the beam and rolls just about on it's side. At that point every engine and generator shuts down due to low oil alarms..... Except one. One generator with a faulty low oil alarm which had been bypassed and put on close watch.... That got them going again or they would have been "Not Under Command" for the duration.

Click to expand...

I treat my engine batteries that way as well. 2 start banks, 1 for each engine, gen shares with 1 engine. Nothing except the gen starter and engine key switches runs off those banks. So once the keys are off and gen is off, nothing can drain them.

Not everyone uses their boat the same. Not everyone wants to run a generator all day. Some people have refrigerators, ice makers, wine coolers, sub zero freezers, office networks with printers and multi screen monitors, satellite dishes, large screen TV, surround sound systems, microwaves, lights and they want to sit on the hook with out a generator.

I second the Dyno recommendation.

Hi RonR,

In my opinion (IMHO), attempting to do a re-design of a marine electrical system via input from an open forum is not a great idea. As already said by others, everyone has a different boat, lives and operates in a different environment, has different expectations for their boating experiences, and differing wallet sizes. All of which make their opinions on what YOU should do somewhat problematic. Yup, great experience to be found on this forum. Separating the wheat from the chaff is not trivial.

Again IMHO, I suggest you engage the services of a local, experienced, ABYC-certified marine electrician to step aboard, interview you, survey your boat, and provide you with both an as-built electrical system(s) circuit diagram, and a recommended redesign to your taste. This should include tradeoffs of battery number, placement, type, and associated auxiliary equipment and wiring changes needed to fulfill your personal expectations.

Then, you can decide how to execute this new design. Options abound, from do-it-yourself to total turnkey hands off. And in Everett, WA there's LOTS of options. Once armed with your electrician's final report and schematic, you can focus on your optimum solution.

It will be money well spent.

Regards,

Pete

Thank you everyone for the info. I ended up with 10 new DYNO 6v D-105's 225AH to replace the ones that were in the boat. Everything works as it should now !

RonR said:

The mains have a total of 4 8D’s that are separate from all systems.

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Would have guessed a single 8D for each engine would have been sufficient... given each bank is isolated to that one starting function.

Unless you've got 4 main engines.



-Chris

ranger42c said:

Would have guessed a single 8D for each engine would have been sufficient... given each bank is isolated to that one starting function.

Unless you've got 4 main engines.



-Chris

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Only 2 mains,,, maybe the next boat will have 4-DD's.
And I would agree, a single would have been enough, ex since there is a parallel system wired in.