I have 3 AGM 8Ds completed 7 seasons but will not replace in kind. A pair of GP31s are roughly equivalent and more reasonably handled.I got rid of those POS and installed 2 group 31 batteries
I’m like Lepke 10 years on 8d’s but I too have Dyno 8d batteries. Menzies, how do your 8D’s get charged. My 8d’s are charged off of the house bank via a Smart ACR. Just using a standard ACR to charge start batteries will shorten their life. What happens with an ACR is start batteries get over charged, water boils out and the plates sulfate.
11 years out of start FLA 4D.
I have only 1.
It starts 2 propulsion engines and 1 generator. It has no other duties. It charges off a dumb regulator on the original 50 amp alternator that came on the Starboard engine. That alternator has no other duties.
Do you have a charged spare on board?
Buy Dyno batteries, charge them with a quality charger. Never worry. They last years, lots of years, under heavy use. Yes, I know you're on the east coast and Dyno is west coast. But shipping costs are small compared to failed batteries when you really need them.How long do you guys get out of them on average?
Menzies, what engines do you have? A single Group 31 AGM is plenty to start our twin Lehman 135s and Westerbeke genset. A Balmar Duo Charge lets the alternators keep it topped up while we’re running. In an emergency, I can throw a switch and start any of the diesels with the house bank (a 1,248 A/H “charged spare”). I cursed my luck when I killed four 8D AGMs during the 2015 Polar Vortex. In retrospect, I see it as a lucky day which prodded me to redesign much of the electrical backbone on Stella.
Buy Dyno batteries, charge them with a quality charger. Never worry. They last years, lots of years, under heavy use. Yes, I know you're on the east coast and Dyno is west coast. But shipping costs are small compared to failed batteries when you really need them.
Happened while a transient in Hilton Head. No time to shop around.
Well I think I just discovered my issue.
Cruising from JAX to Marineland for a couple of days. I noticed the lights on my Glendinning controls started flashing. That's their alarm status. Usually a battery level issue. I went to the PH to check the voltage and found them reading at the top of the gauge - which goes to 32. (24v system). I pulled the throttles back and got it down.
When I had the new batteries installed in Hilton Head I had him check the alternators and they were "golden." I just had them refurbished last September.
So I suspect the Balmar regulator has gone bad. By trial and error I found that pulling the engines back to 1600 (we usually cruise at 1800) keeps the charge in the right place. I would imagine that I didn't notice the overcooking going to HH and that's how I over cooked the previous batteries.
She is going to the yard on monday for some new teak so I will have them look at it.
Over charge agms by high voltage is certainly a death sentence even for the new ones. Do whatever you have to to stop that immediately!