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Old 12-02-2020, 09:16 AM   #20
catalinajack
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City: Edgewater, MD
Vessel Name: Catalina Jack
Vessel Model: Defever 44
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,585
+1 on not having dedicated starting batteries. IMHO, the boating world is rampant with "what if, what if, what if" for the extremely unlikely event. Same for those $1,400 dual Racor, space-hogging, rarely, if ever used, filter heads. As you no doubt have, I, too, have starting batteries for my generators which can be used (the generator) to recharge the house bank or the drive engines started with jumper cables if one must move immediately. Plus, a boatload of wiring and switches are absent with a combination starting-house bank. Yeah, but, yeah but .......
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordon J View Post
I installed fire fly batteries 18 months ago and have been more than pleased. I have about 930 amp hours of fire fly batteries and one battery bank which both starts the engines and provides house current.

I chose fire flies because I did not want to put lithium batteries in the engine room which in summer can get to 100 to 110°. Lithium batteries do not like high temperatures. Actually no battery likes high temperatures. But lead acid batteries and fire flies are a bit more resilient to such heat.

My batteries seem to maintain voltage even when they drop below 50%. This past summer the power pedestal on our dock malfunctioned. I had a dehumidifier hooked to a circuit powered by the inverter. The voltage dropped to 11 1/2 V by the time I learned of the pedestal issue. I was able to bring the batteries back to 100%. I am guessing that these are the last batteries I will have to put in this boat.

I replaced 8D start batteries with two group 31s. I replaced two 8D house batteries with 3 L-15, 4V batteries. All of these batteries comprise one large battery bank.

Before anyone talks about the danger of not having a dedicated start battery, I have to tell you I have two generators each with its own dedicated start battery.
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