Saffa

2 - 21/2 Hrs to charge. We normally use between 60 - 90AH / 24Hr period.

I run the engine until the after the Sterling drops the charge voltage from 14,8 to 14,2 V and my charge current is under 4 A for 10 mins. I also ensure my CE ( Ah used) has gone back to 0. ( I have taken this off the auto reset function.) I have a 160A Alternator.

So this rise from the solar is in effect giving me a false reading, not my true SOC. So while the solar is raising the voltage I could be draining the batteries past the 50% mark and not realising it. I run my engine daily to charge. My recently fitted Setrling alternator regulator does a fantastic job at doing this. I dont rely on the solar at all. Out of a 500Ah bank what is the usable Ah from this with low load? I would guess 120Ah - 180Ah??

In the morning first thing its -1.2A Later in the day it goes between + & -.but I would generally say its a minus value most of the time ( I only have 300w of solar )

Sorry to jump in with this. When I wake up at 5am ( Still dark ) My Victron Battery Gauge gives the following information. 80Ah used, current I Load: 1.2A Voltage 12.2V. When it starts to get light my MPPT Solar controller starts to raise the battery voltage according to the panel voltage, so mid morning my ViC Meter states 86AH used , Current I Load : 1,5A Voltage 12.4v. My batteries have drained further but my voltage is higher. Do I risk damaging the batteries like this as if I turn the solar off the voltage will drop to below 12v or is the solar helping the usage through the day?

Makes sense now thank you.

The supplier of the batteries sent me this this morning. "As long as the plates are covered this will be sufficient " Surely that's not entirely true? Does the level affect the capacity?

Does anyone have the same batteries? All the literature I read states 2 things Fill to 1/8" below the bottom of the vent well and the other is DO NOT OVERFILL. There is no specific literature on my batteries but I am unsure where the bottom of the vent well is. I have tried to take a pic but its not that clear. I have also drawn up how it looks, . The current water level is sitting just below and above point A. Any Idea where I should top the water up to? Thank you

I have recently had the same problem where the bar used to tighten my domestic alternator did not have much room to tension my flat belt properly and you needed 6 arms to be able to do this. I have a beta engine and contacted them after seeing the tensioner in the attached picture. I have managed to fit this with a couple of mods. The dimensions of the arm are 240mm long x 30 mm wide x 10mm thick. The length of the adjustment slide is 115mm. You can possibly adapt this to fit.

I did mention it to Sterling. LN have confirmed its a negative field. I will test this as per the Sterling sheet to confirm. LN have confirmed to me the 2 Field winding connections. So it should be all go. Watch this space.

Thank you for all the comments, some very interesting reading. I like the diode idea but have looked into somthing else after reading another thread on here. I was considering the Sterling AB charger but the price just put me off. I have spoken with Leece nevil and Sterling power ( Nice Chap) and it seems I can fit one of their alternator regulators. This sits in parallel with the current regulator and takes charge of the charging.

When I Charge I currently get 14.1V and possibly after a days cruising it will creep up to 14.2. So a Silicone diode will do the trip taking it up to 14,8 - 14,9V Can anyone recommend a diode. What rating. What size Would this do the trick? http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/p600a-6a-silicon-rectifier-uk59p

I got a reply from the manufacturer this morning regarding my alternator. The regulators on the 12V BLD range are not adjustable, however you could use the red lead from the regulator as a voltage sensing lead. Disconnect the lead from the B+ terminal on the back of the alternator and connect directly to your battery positive terminal. Keep this lead as short as possible to keep the resistance and voltage losses as low as possible. By doing this would I actually increase the voltage to the required 14.8v? My guess would be that this would make up for the voltage drop in the main cable??

I am unable to find a model number for the alternator. I did find a data sheet on http://www.prestolite.com/which I think is a similar unit. It makes no mention on how to turn up the voltage. Their webiste is down at the moment is seems . Will try and post it later

Thank you. I cant seem to find any model numbers.

Thank you .There is a sticker but all the details have faded. I know its a Leece-Neville unit and I was told when it was serviced that it was 190A. I will take some pictures and post. I have removed the 4% in the victron and changed it to 1% with a high voltage. This is to ensure the solar does not reset the meter and it will only reset manually. I normally run the batteries down to 5A @ 14,1V and if cruising the voltage will increase to 14,2 at the end of the day ( Highest output my alternator will do ). I was under the understanding that the AH used is calculated as every load goes through the shunt and then the same when charging. When the solar was doing its thing it was charging at max of 14,8v but now that does not do much.

So am I correct in thinking that when I charge the AH Used (CE) should return to 0 every time but as the charge current tails off towards the end it will take time. I currently charge down to a charge current of 5A with a voltage of 14,2v As another option, I could replace my alternator. What size should I be looking for for a 520Ah

So would the Sterling Alternator to battery charger solve this problem or would I be best to fit a new alternator? Or is there another product on the market that may help?

Im trying to understand this so as to know when my batteries are full charged andI want to look after my battery bank and the running hours of my engine. Sorry for the long story and thank you for taking time to read this. So I have been living on our first boat since May. It was an ex hire boat and when we bought her the domestic bank was tired. ( 4 x 110ah ) These have been replaced with 4 x 130ah Trojan batteries. Shortly after this I added 300w of solar with a tracer MPPT controller. We don’t have much of a high usage with the batteries. We do have a 12v shoreline fridge but apart from that its the lights and pumps. We do however use the inverter to charge laptops and various other battery items.Recently we have been using the Webasto for a few hours early morning. During the bright summer months the solar looked after everything and towards the end of summer I had to run the engine every couple of days to keep the batteries topped up.I also fitted a victron meter with a shunt. With the weather as it currently is, the solar is nul n void. On the victron I have altered the setting so the unit does not automatically reset the SOC & AH used (CE) when certain parameters are met ( a certain voltage & current for a period of time ) as I was having problems with the solar resetting it in the mornings. Now that the solar is not in play and we rely just on the engine to charge the batteries I have a couple of questions. Just to clarify I have a Brushless 190A domestic alternator for the domestic bank. Charge voltage gets up to 14,1 – 14,2 vdc. This has recently been removed for a service and has been given a clean bill of health. I was advised there was no way to increase the output voltage to 14,4v. In a 24 hr period we can use up to 120AH from the bank. (23 % of total available) the rest voltage will then be around 12,15 v ( after 5 mins ) 1. Why am I not getting more use from my batteries as I would expect to use up to 35-40% of my capacity? I have not used or tried any more as I do not want to let the batteries go below 12.1v 2. My understanding of charging is put back more that you take out and you should run the engine until the charge current is about 3-4% ( 20 A in my situation ) of the battery capacity for 30 mins and a voltage greater than 14v.( I may be totally wrong here). As my victron does not reset automatically I still find the AH used (CE) reading around 20ah when my charge current is about 5 A with 14,1 v after around 4 hours of runnig the engine Why is this?Why does the CE not go to 0 when the fully charged parameters are met?. To put back more than I have used( CE Reading back to Zero and some) I would have to run my engine for about 8 hrs/per day. When out cruising for a full day the CE does go down to zero, but for now we have to be stationary for a while and just run the engine to charge. What Im trying to understand here is when is it safe to say my bank is charged and why will the CE value not read 0 when it is. My MPPT controller looks after my batteries by going through the 4 stages of charge, without that they do not get this charging method and are only charged with a maximum voltage of 14,2 V from the alternator. I have been researching ways of looking after my batteries during the winter and have come across the Sterling Alternator battery charger. This takes the batteries through the different stages of charging and also claims to charge you bank faster. 3. Would this unit be a good investment to help look after my bank? And also benefit from the quicker charge time? Or am I looking at things all wrong.

Hi 1. The item you have selected is a pressure reducing valve. This will reduce the pressure in the pipework from one side to the other. You will need something similar to this. You will have to select the correct pressure rating for your system. http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/pressure-relief-valves/2110430/ 2. I no expert but I believe you get inserts for plastic pipe. Hope that helps

Thank you

What type of plastic film do you use? Thank You

This is a long shot but does anyone know of, or have an offside/end of Garden mooring with water available in Central Milton Keynes ( Nearish Hospital ) available for rent. I have tried the Marina but they are unable to accommodate us. We would require this for around 6-8 weeks and have a 65ft boat. As a separate question I did look at a site but it was unsuitable. The owner said we would have to contact CRT about paying them a mooring fee. I understand that under normal circumstances we would be able to purchase an annual mooring permit from CRT for an end of Garden Mooring but are we able to purchase a short term permit? Thank you

Chubby How did the installation go? What pump did you end up using?

Check the big multi connector plug ( Main engine loom). Make sure its pushed together properly and its making good contact. There is also a 30A relay behind that panel. My panel was randomly alarming and the lights would come on. There was a bit of corrosion between the terminals causing a short.